“The goal was to make sure passengers felt connected to each other and the urban environment around them,” said Bradley Arnold, Curb interior designer. “We wanted to empower the passengers with information and make them feel that the exterior was connected to the interior.”
The windshield of the Curb reportedly resembles the face shield of a sportbike motorcycle helmet, while the profile is dominated by a boomerang trajectory bodyside line. The headlamps and the taillamps create the illusion that they are connected into the engine compartment or interior. Designers added 22-inch five spoke wheels and Michelin tires with a custom saffron colored tread pattern to match the interior.
What is really interesting about the Curb, is that one simply drags their finger across a touch pad to open the doors and enter the vehicle. At startup, LED lights illuminate sequentially, starting with the outside rows, while the Curb’s badging illuminates through the One-Way paint finish by Shamze Custom Coatings.
The Curb is powered by a turbocharged 1.6-liter Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) four-cylinder engine mated to Direct Shift Gearbox (DSG). This powertrain is capable of developing 175 horsepower and 169 lb. ft. (229 Nm) of torque. By adding Idle Stop and Go (ISG) technology, the Curb would deliver 30+ miles per gallon in the city and 40+ miles per gallon on the highway.
“We wanted the Curb to be urban tough without looking like a Brink's truck,” said Jason Brown, Hyundai designer. “City driving was going to be its forte, not crossing the Rubicon trail, but we wanted it to have urban armor for daily driving on city streets. It needed to empower its passengers in this setting.”
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