The recipe is a simple one for the South Korean car company.

Put a V-6 inside a mid-size body with some nice curves and a liberal dash of chrome, add leather seats with power, a decent CD stereo and some other goodies and you end up with -- a Korean Buick, kind of.

The car in question is the 2004 Hyundai XG350L, the company's flagship sedan, available this year with a significant restyle outside and some retouching of the design inside.

Seventeen years ago, Hyundai first stepped out on our shores with a forgettable compact called the Excel, which didn't succeed at anything other than being inexpensive compact car transportation, although it sold well (263,610 in 1987). Over the years, the company has steadily improved its lineup and fit and finish, while still offering a lot of car for the money. It dabbled in the luxury car market first with the small mid-size Sonata in the early 1990s, with an available V-6 so it could go head-to-head with the Camrys and Accords out there.

The line was expanded to include a new compact Elantra, plus a sub-compact Accent, Tiburon sports car, Santa Fe sports ute and a larger luxury car called the XG300 (now 350). Now a bigger sports utility is coming, and the XG350 has become a legitimate sub-luxury sedan.

The American Hyundai is based on the Korean-market XG Grandeur, and drops plumb in the middle of a mid-size sedan market filled now with the Nissan Maxima and Lexus ES330. The 194-hp XG350's overall length is 191.9 inches, almost an inch longer than a 225-hp Lexus ES330, and a bit under 2 inches less than the 260-hp Nissan Maxima SE.

For 2004, the XG350 received a new grille, plus redesigned front design. The result is a bright chrome, vertical bar grille that looks a bit like the late1990s Infiniti I30's, flanked by quad headlights under clear plastic, each unit framed in a chrome collar. The front bumper gets twin chrome spears, while the slatted lower air inlet has inset fog lamps. The waistline molding is wider, matching the chrome trim on the bumper as it rides under chrome door handles, with more chrome framing the side windows. The rear fenders are accented by large taillights that flow around its corner like a Buick or even Bentley sedan, while the trunk lid has a rounded, almost elegant bustle and a redesigned rear fascia with more chrome trim and integrated back-up light, the license plate moved from the bumper to decklid.

Our Celadon Green test car ran on 12-spoke alloy wheels wearing Michelin MXV-4 Pilot P205/60R16-inch rubber, the paint and body panel fit and finish quite good. But, boy, there was a lot of chrome.

Open the door, and the frameless window may catch a bit in the rubber molding as you step over a brushed metal kickplate with the XG350 name on it, and settle into a mocha-over-tan interior with faux wood trim on the doors, dash and steering wheel, and stitched leather on the seating surfaces and door panels.

The driver's and passenger's bucket seats both have power recline and seat bottom functions, the driver getting two memory preset buttons on the door panel. The seats are firm and comfortable, but lack in side support and could use a bit more cushioning. The four-spoke steering wheel tilt adjusts, but seemed a bit far away when the seat was set for my 6-foot frame. Its plastic wood accents also got very hot on sunny days. But it didn't block the 150-speedometer center stage, flanked by a backlit 8,000-rpm tach on the left and gas and temperature gauge on the right, all housed under a gently curved, padded leather-grain vinyl dash top.

The dash design is simple and ergonomically OK, the simple trip computer display meshed with the clock up high, with a decent AM-FM-CD stereo with big buttons and a good climate control system below. A nicely damped felt-lined storage tray slides out under that, with an ashtray at the bottom. The rest of the center console is made up of a brushed alloy trim plate for the automatic transmission, itself topped with a leather-clad knob, and a padded armrest with lots of storage and a 12-volt outlet underneath.

Back-seat room is pretty good for two adults, the head and legroom OK. Back-seaters get a center arm rest with slide-out cup holders, another hidden storage area and two a/c vents at the rear of the center console, which can be shut off up front. You even get elegant reading lights in the C-pillars. The trunk lid gets gas-operated cylinders to make it easier to open, and there is lots of space in there, with a cargo net.

But wait, there's more.

The driver gets an auto-dim rear-view mirror with a three-channel HomeLink garage door transmitter, both of which are optional on other mid-size sedans. Tap a button, and both side-view mirrors rotate down when you are in reverse so you can see behind. The spare tire goes from space-saver to full-size Michelin on a matching alloy wheel.

OK, so it's a pretty car, with a lot of chrome outside and room inside. What motivates it?

The first XG was first introduced in 2001 with a 192-hp, 3-liter V-6 with 178 lb-ft at 4,000 rpm. For 2004, the DOHC engine size is boosted to 3.5 liters, with only a 2-hp boost in power, but a 38 lb.ft. of torque boost at 3,500 rpm. It has a variable intake system and anti-vibration balance shaft, plus five-speed automatic transmission with Shiftronic manual control.

The engine is quiet at idle, and the whole car is pretty quiet at speed bar some tire noise. The XG300 got to 60 mph in a stately 10.3 seconds, barely squeaking the front tires off the line at full throttle. Our 7,000-mile-old XG350 did it in a much better 8.5 seconds, feeling pretty healthy as it ran up the revs and shifted its five-speed Shiftronic transmission smoothly, the powerplant sounding a bit strained when pushed, with something whistling a bit as it accelerated.

The suspension features independent double wishbones in the front with an anti-roll bar, and a multi-link suspension in back. The result was soft, comfortable ride on good rides that floated a bit on less-than-perfect lanes and rolled a bit in turns, the front Michelins whispering their complaints even at moderate speeds in turns. The Japanese import sedans in this segment are not sports sedans either, but do offer better control in the twisty bits.

The power steering was direct but a bit over-boosted in feel. The four-wheel, four-sensor, four-channel anti-lock braking system with bigger front rotors and Electronic Brake Force Distribution stopped the sedan well, with nose dive and some fade after a few hard uses from 60 mph. Simulated panic stops saw the ABS activating noisily.

The XG350 is available in two trim levels -- XG350 and our XG350L, which had a base price of ,599 with standard 12-spoke alloy wheels, 210-watt six-speaker Infinity AM-FM-CD stereo, power moonroof, leather-wrapped steering wheel rim with woodgrain inserts, HomeLink transmitter, heated power front seats with dual memory presets for the driver, power door locks and windows with heated power mirrors. The only option we had was an set of carpeted floor mats, for a manufacturer's suggested retail price of ,688.

Bottom line -- the fit, finish and quality of the Hyundai sedans have certainly come far up in the past decade, and everything on the XG350 felt and looked solid. Yes, some switchgear didn't have the silky precision feel of a Camry or Accord, but for the price, a V-6 sedan with most of the luxury options standard and room for four people and their stuff is a good deal.

Just tone down the chrome a bit, OK?