All-new Hyundai Reina: A drive fit for a queen

Tastefully designed fascia of the new Hyundai Reina

Photos by Ardie O. Lopez

When nearly every major automotive manufacturer has a stake in the commercially hyper-active subcompact car category, it becomes a veritable no-holds-barred competition to vie for the potential customers’ final nod.

Typically it’s about achieving the tricky balance between offering the best overall features over an attractive and ideally irresistible sticker price.

Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as that, for there are more than a handful of variables for customers to ponder on, and not all manufacturers are truly pushing to lay their best cards on the table as some corners have to be cut, and a stick with a short end has to be snuck in to tip the balance in the favor of a sales and revenue quota.

Quite rarely though, an entry in the segment rolls in that seems to lord it over any compromise that one might expect to find when presented with a certain look, set of features and a particularly impressive sticker price.

That was the prevailing effect after the motoring media’s initial mingle with the regal Hyundai Reina.

Apart from its tastefully designed fascia, the rest of the car might strike you as a bit bland. The absence of any garnish at the rear end does make it look plain, as it’s basically just the large compartment lid meeting the bumper, flanked by uncomplicated taillight clusters.

The 1.4L 4-cylinder gasoline engine is rated at 95 ps, and mated to a 4-speed automatic transmission.

Give it a thorough walk-around though, and its profile offers a more interesting view, where Hyundai’s current Fluidic Sculpture 2.0 design theme becomes more apparent.

It’s a seamless fusion of sleek flowing curves and prominent character lines. Of note is the gradual swell towards the rear fenders, and the aggressively scalloped areas where the headlight and fog lamp clusters are situated.

Apt to its namesake, the Reina unravels its style and sophistication with a bit of restraint. In other words, its design is clean and seems well calculated to grow on you, guaranteeing a long shelf life in the market.

Like royalty, it looks and acts quite reserved. And reserved is the word to summarize its handling, deserving of a rating notably above its class.

Starting with the minus, straight-line acceleration via its 1.4L 4-cylinder gasoline engine—rated at 95 ps mated to a 4-speed automatic transmission—is a bit sluggish.

It’d make you think twice about taking a full complement of passengers up North to our summer capital.

Once it gains an average cruising speed of about 70 to 90 km/h though, its demeanor changes to pleasurably assertive, meaning, give it a certain amount of action, and it’ll reward you with sure-footed dynamics, and tenacious grip on the tightest of curves.

The new Hyundai Reina never lost composure while taking on the challenging twisties en route to the windmill farm.

Steering is pleasurably light but precise.

The choice of taking our long convoy to Pililia in Rizal was a perfect opportunity to showcase what could be considered as the Reina’s second best selling point.

On the road, it simply takes on the personality of a bigger car.

And a bigger car it is, especially from the inside. The Hyundai Reina rewards its occupants with generous headroom and class-leading legroom especially at the rear.

The dashboard and instrumentation design is a bit uninspired, but ergonomics are pleasantly intuitive, and the audio from the stereo system has surprisingly good sound quality.

In terms of safety features, the Hyundai Reina comes equipped with the essentials, like dual SRS airbags up front, and an anti-lock braking system.

What could be considered as the Hyundai Reina’s best selling point is its P598,000 base price, although some would still choose it for its very “un-subcompact car” handling and creature comforts.

To that, we tip our hat and applaud to the Queen—the all-new Hyundai Reina.