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SI/NaRI///My take of South Korea and their cars
I recently took time off in South Korea for the first time. Like all car enthusiasts, I was curious to see what was normally on the road and also had the opportunity to rent and drive there. Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to go to any of the auto museums as we had a packed schedule with in-laws, etc. This experience comes from Seoul, Busan, and Jeju Island.
***General Observations***
**Local Brands:** Hyundai and Kia (incl. Genesis) dominate the streets. This is expected and no surprise. There were a lot of models that I didn’t recognize. (Grandeur https://imgur.com/YCkzUKJ Genesis Wagon https://imgur.com/JcbrIBj Casper https://imgur.com/wc1fyBh Lux van https://imgur.com/cUt9QAv). also noticed that Hyundai releases models earlier than the US including the Sonata and Sante Fe. It was cool to see future vehicles on the road.
**Foreign Brands:** Can also be seen including MB https://imgur.com/h35eClk, enault https://imgur.com/cDmtj9r, nd Audi https://imgur.com/b3gyyzo. ot many BMWs, surprisingly. Japanese brands were non-existent vs. what you see in the US. Could be intentional given the history between the two countries and now that Korea has their own successful car models. I saw one ES Hybrid and a couple white Altimas (in *good* shape). Lastly, there were exotics, but we’ve all seen these before so I’ll spare the pics except this 911 https://imgur.com/Ein5XpW.
**Taxis:** Taxis included the Ionic 5 & 6 (Pic https://imgur.com/HAz6lJB Pic https://imgur.com/ZLhBdHq). am impressed with the Ionic 5 as it was able to fit all 5 traveling adults, our luggage, and the driver. I’ll caveat that some of the luggage had to be in the cabin area. I would consider a similar type of EV once infrastructure, range, and charging speed are more developed.
**Misc:** Door sponges. Apparently, these come on new cars to help prevent door dings and owners decide to leave them on after purchasing. Nice feature. (Look at the picture of the Lux van)
***Rental & Driving Experience***
**Where:** I got to drive in Jeju Island, not in Seoul or Busan. The general vibe of Jeju Island is like Maui. The island is spread out and driving is required to get around vs. public transportation.
**Rental:** I rented a Kia Carnival https://imgur.com/Qs1DDdQ. urprisingly, this was diesel. I only had to fill the tank once driving across the island multiple times. This was the perfect size for 5 adults and our luggage. I was debating between the van vs. a large SUV and I feel I made the right choice. My brother in law would have had to crawl over the second row everytime we drove somewhere. Given the amount of time spent driving, the extra room was well worth it. I see the appeal of vans and would definitely choose them over an SUV with 3 rows. People are scared of the stigma.
**What is it like driving in Korea (Jeju only):** Speed cameras…speed cameras everywhere. Navigation will sound alarms until you pass and traffic adhere to these cameras so I think they are legit. You also can’t use Google Maps for real time navigation (due to national security) and will need to use the local apps including Naver or Kakao. Both of these apps are inferior IMHO and PITA to use. Driving is similar to the US on the right lane and it’s pretty easy switching to kilometers.
Overall, I’m not surprised with what I saw or experienced with driving in Korea. I still like driving in the US and the options that we have. Hope you found this interesting.
source
I recently took time off in South Korea for the first time. Like all car enthusiasts, I was curious to see what was normally on the road and also had the opportunity to rent and drive there. Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to go to any of the auto museums as we had a packed schedule with in-laws, etc. This experience comes from Seoul, Busan, and Jeju Island.
***General Observations***
**Local Brands:** Hyundai and Kia (incl. Genesis) dominate the streets. This is expected and no surprise. There were a lot of models that I didn’t recognize. (Grandeur https://imgur.com/YCkzUKJ Genesis Wagon https://imgur.com/JcbrIBj Casper https://imgur.com/wc1fyBh Lux van https://imgur.com/cUt9QAv). also noticed that Hyundai releases models earlier than the US including the Sonata and Sante Fe. It was cool to see future vehicles on the road.
**Foreign Brands:** Can also be seen including MB https://imgur.com/h35eClk, enault https://imgur.com/cDmtj9r, nd Audi https://imgur.com/b3gyyzo. ot many BMWs, surprisingly. Japanese brands were non-existent vs. what you see in the US. Could be intentional given the history between the two countries and now that Korea has their own successful car models. I saw one ES Hybrid and a couple white Altimas (in *good* shape). Lastly, there were exotics, but we’ve all seen these before so I’ll spare the pics except this 911 https://imgur.com/Ein5XpW.
**Taxis:** Taxis included the Ionic 5 & 6 (Pic https://imgur.com/HAz6lJB Pic https://imgur.com/ZLhBdHq). am impressed with the Ionic 5 as it was able to fit all 5 traveling adults, our luggage, and the driver. I’ll caveat that some of the luggage had to be in the cabin area. I would consider a similar type of EV once infrastructure, range, and charging speed are more developed.
**Misc:** Door sponges. Apparently, these come on new cars to help prevent door dings and owners decide to leave them on after purchasing. Nice feature. (Look at the picture of the Lux van)
***Rental & Driving Experience***
**Where:** I got to drive in Jeju Island, not in Seoul or Busan. The general vibe of Jeju Island is like Maui. The island is spread out and driving is required to get around vs. public transportation.
**Rental:** I rented a Kia Carnival https://imgur.com/Qs1DDdQ. urprisingly, this was diesel. I only had to fill the tank once driving across the island multiple times. This was the perfect size for 5 adults and our luggage. I was debating between the van vs. a large SUV and I feel I made the right choice. My brother in law would have had to crawl over the second row everytime we drove somewhere. Given the amount of time spent driving, the extra room was well worth it. I see the appeal of vans and would definitely choose them over an SUV with 3 rows. People are scared of the stigma.
**What is it like driving in Korea (Jeju only):** Speed cameras…speed cameras everywhere. Navigation will sound alarms until you pass and traffic adhere to these cameras so I think they are legit. You also can’t use Google Maps for real time navigation (due to national security) and will need to use the local apps including Naver or Kakao. Both of these apps are inferior IMHO and PITA to use. Driving is similar to the US on the right lane and it’s pretty easy switching to kilometers.
Overall, I’m not surprised with what I saw or experienced with driving in Korea. I still like driving in the US and the options that we have. Hope you found this interesting.
source
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