2011 HYUNDAI AZERA WITH PHOTO

2011 HYUNDAI AZERA WITH PHOTO

Hyundai has announced some significant changes for its Azera for 2011 that should altogether help this large sedan perform better, use less fuel, and look a bit sharper inside and out.

The V-6 engines in the 2011 Hyundai Azera lineup are the same size as last year, but they're more powerful and significantly better on gas. The 3.3-liter now makes 260 horsepower and 233

pound-feet of torque (almost as many horsepower as the larger engine last year) and has fuel economy figures that have improved by two in both the EPA city and highway cycles, to 20 mpg city, 28 highway. The larger 3.8-liter V-6 gets a bump up to 283 horsepower and 263 pound-feet, with ratings up 2 mpg in city driving and a mile per gallon on the highway, to 19/27.

The engines in the 2011 Azera have been modernized to include Hyundai's Dual Continuously Variable Valve Timing (DCWT) and a variable intake system; they have all-aluminum construction and a four-valve-per-cylinder design.

Paired with either of these revised engines is a new six-speed automatic that Hyundai designed in-house. Hyundai says it's one of just three automakers to design their own six-speed automatic; the new transmission is lighter than the former five-speed automatic. Like nearly all the automatics in Hyundai's stable, it comes with Shiftronic manual control in a separate gate.