The pair were trapped in the vehicle in Penza and died “almost immediately”. Distressing pictures showed their bodies being lifted by crane from the 75C water alongside wreckage of their Lada Largus car.
A burst hot water pipe under a car park was seen as the cause of the horror.
In Russia hot water is piped to work and residential buildings for heating during the severe winters.
“What an horrendous way to die – one moment you are driving a car, the next underground drowning in hot water,” said one woman.
The dead men were not named.
The local Ministry of Emergencies said: “A car fell as a result of the ground collapsing.
“Sadly people were killed.”
A journalist from Penza Vzglyad local news website said:“Another car drove over the same spot minutes before the accident.
“The driver noticed ground beginning to steam – and quickly drove off.
“Then these two men came.
“They parked – and the asphalt collapsed right under them.”
There was an outpouring of anger with the local authorities on social media.
Senior officials were at the site of the tragedy.