ORANGE, Calif. — Tacking $6,600 onto the price of any new car — let alone a Korean family sedan — doesn’t usually enhance its prospects. But a move to the $33,000 neighborhood seems to suit the Hyundai Azera just fine.

If the Azera name doesn’t ring a bell, there’s a reason: First offered in 2006, the original Azera was a limp and indifferently styled Lexus pretender. Hyundai ceased production of this slow-selling model in late 2010; an unceremonious burial for the Azera had seemed likely.

Hyundai, of course, has grown up to conquer the United States. And if the previous Azera was the last vestige of the brand’s awkward adolescence, the idea of a deluxe Hyundai sedan seems perfectly rational today, especially with the brand offering even more expensive four-doors like the $40,000 Genesis and $60,000 Equus.

The redesigned 2012 Azera moves into a segment that’s as thin and tricky as spring ice. These big sedans cannot quite be described as luxury cruisers, but they are roomier and more lavish than, say, the midsize Sonata. If the automaker gets the positioning wrong, it ends up with something like a Nissan Maxima, a front-drive car whose price seems dubious when viewed from above or below. It is barely cheaper than the superior rear-drive Infiniti G37 sport sedan but hardly seems worth its premium over the trusty Altima.

The new Hyundai is vastly more successful. The Azera, in fact, is my instant-favorite Hyundai sedan — in part because it’s a winning car but also because it follows the brand’s template so faithfully: generous features, modern style and practicality at a fair price.

Unlike the more expensive rear-drive Equus or even the Genesis, the Azera has no pretensions. This Hyundai isn’t trying to be a Mercedes stand-in or a BMW fighter. Its $32,875 base price keeps it well outside the country-club gates.

Yet for people who’d like an extra-large Sonata with more spice and toppings, the Azera delivers, and quickly, with a 293-horsepower V-6. With nearly 50 percent more power than the Sonata’s 198-horse four-cylinder, the direct-injection 3.3-liter engine moves the car from a stop to 60 mph in a discreet 6.7 seconds, according to InsideLine.com.

The silky, unobtrusive V-6 resides in an elegant cruiser for relaxing commutes and road trips. Hyundai says that the Azera has more interior space than any car in its class, including the Buick LaCrosse and the Toyota Avalon.

Compared with the Sonata and Elantra hatchback, the Azera’s body is more grown-up, with fewer swoops and curlicues. The angry-bird headlamps recall BMW, and the rear deck’s gentle swell and finely drawn lip are pure Lexus. Rich-looking taillamps, which seem an ode to Jaguar, really pop at night.

Overall, the Hyundai carries itself with an appealing stateliness. Yet unlike the Avalon, it looks fresh and not at all stodgy.

The inviting cabin shows Hyundai’s continual commitment to raising its design game. Leather seats are handsomely shaped and bolstered, if a bit squishy, with standard heated chairs in front and rear, a feature missing from a $60,000 BMW 5 Series that I recently drove.

The center armrest, smartly wrapped in leather, is wide enough for two elbows. There is generous storage up front, with a deep console box and a binnacle in front of the shifter with Hyundai’s familiar, easy-access USB, iPod and auxiliary ports.

The Hyundai mimics the door-mounted seat controls of Mercedes-Benz, with knobs that correspond to the shape of a seat — one each for the cushion, backrest and headrest. I deducted points after flicking the Azera’s ostensible headrest control, finding instead a fixed button, useless and entirely for show. I added points back when I saw the optional power control that lengthens the driver’s cushion for added thigh support, another feature typically limited to top-rank luxury cars.

The front seats offer a class-best 45.5 inches of legroom, and the rear seat easily accommodates adults taller than 6 feet. A 16.3 cubic-foot trunk showed itself to advantage when a stray bolt flattened a tire on an Orange County freeway. After hoisting the huge 19-incher — man, today’s wheels are hernias waiting to happen — into the trunk, I still had enough room for my luggage.

The front-drive Azera cruises quietly, if not with the dead quiet of the Buick, and takes the edge off virtually any road surface. The body leans over in faster corners but not excessively. All-season tires are the soft-serve variety, with little grip, but the rear multilink suspension and Sachs shock absorbers nicely avoid bobble and float.

The six-speed transmission feels as creamy and unobtrusive as a Lexus unit. Shifts are on the lazy side, although popping the shifter into its manual setting delivers surprisingly crisp reactions. The mileage rating is 20 mpg in town and 29 on the highway.

But the car did betray a continuing deficiency of Hyundai, one for which the brand has sometimes received a free pass: its steering feel.

Several Hyundais, this Azera included, transmit a weird, artificially stiff or springy sensation through the wheel. It’s as though a ghostly hand is clamping onto the steering rack. On-center tracking is equally lacking. With the Azera pointed dead ahead on flat roads, I often had to apply resistance in one direction or the other to keep the car on the straight and narrow.

Given the old Azera’s starting price of barely $26,000, a new model that can reach $36,875 may raise eyebrows.

Big Barcalounger sedans from Toyota, Chrysler and Buick have made the mid-$30,000 neighborhood their own. The 2012 Azera is just the latest Hyundai that’s enough of a threat to draw the neighborhood watch.