Hyundai's Genesis Coupe: Handsome, quick, and capable.
“Hyundai Genesis Coupe.” Words that engender confusion and consternation. Is this car, as Hyundai Motor America president and CEO John Krafcik claims, a spiritual successor to the Nissan 240 SX, or is it a competitor for the present-day Infiniti G37? Is it a Korean pony car? A track car? A drift car? A competitor to the Honda Civic Si and VW GTI? Is it a grand touring car? Judging by the mixed signals that surround it, the answer to all of these questions is, “Yes.” Which means that the Coupe could be a jack of all trades and master of none.
The Genesis Coupe isn’t a cut-down two-door version of the Genesis sedan. That car, about as big on the inside as a BMW 7 Series but priced and focused more at the 5 Series, is too bulky for a sport coupe variant. “When you carry everything over like GM did with the G8 and Camaro or like Chrysler did with the 300 and Challenger,” says Krafcik, “you get a 3,800-lb. coupe. We didn’t want that.” Nor did they get it. The base 2.0-liter turbo Coupe weighs 3,294 lbs. while the base 3.8-liter V6 is less than 100 lbs. heavier at 3,389 lbs. So the Genesis Coupe is relatively light, especially when compared to cars like the Camaro (3,780 lbs), Challenger (3,819 lbs), and Mustang (3,401 lbs., but without the other’s independent rear suspension).
Hyundai kept all of the mechanical bits and their “pierce points” from the sedan and attached them to a unique floorpan. This allowed them to lower the cowl height for better forward visibility and less blocky styling, but constrained them from putting the sedan’s 4.6-liter V8 under the hood. Of course, doing that would have made this car even more schizophrenic than it is already.
Hyundai says the Infiniti G37 coupe, Mazda RX-8 and BMW 335 were benchmarks for the Genesis Coupe. As a result, the car uses lots of ultra-high-strength steel in its body to meet tough structural rigidity and weight goals. Not only is the Coupe light, it has a bending rigidity 24 percent higher than the last-generation BMW M3. That’s not bad.
Neither is the 210 horsepower and 223 lb.-ft. produced by the 2.0-liter turbo motor, or the 306 horsepower and 266 lb.-ft. of torque you get from the 3.8-liter V6, both on regular gasoline. Unfortunately, the four-cylinder is about as sonorous as a fart in a bathtub. Even with continuously variable valve timing on both the intake and exhaust cams, an aluminum cylinder block and head, and a free-flowing exhaust, the engine doesn’t emit a precision sound. Perhaps Hyundai will follow the lead taken by the VW GTI and Ford Mustang GT by fitting a tuned tube between the engine compartment and interior to pump in a precision engine sound without resorting to an obnoxious muffler like those found in the aftermarket.
The front suspension features a dual-link MacPherson strut design, while the rear is five-link fully independent. Both have anti-roll bars with a 24mm bar in front and 19mm bar in the rear. Steering is by a speed-sensing hydraulically boosted power rack and pinion unit. Brakes are 12.6-in. ventilated rotors in the front and 12.4-in. solid rotors in the rear, both clamped by floating single-piston calipers. But the real fun comes with the Track package that replaces them with a Brembo-designed system built around 13.4-in. ventilated rotors in front, 13.0-in ventilated rear rotors, and four-piston calipers. Unlike the Infiniti G37 that Hyundai brought along for comparison at the track, the Track-equipped Genesis Coupe’s brakes (2.0T and 3.8) exhibited no fade. Impressive.
Speaking of the track, both versions acquitted themselves well, with the lighter four-cylinder proving to be a bit more tossable and fun. It’s apparent that Dave Dutko, Senior Engineer Vehicle Development Chassis and Brake at the Hyundai-Kia Design and Technical Center in Irvine California, paid attention when he worked closely with the legendary Roger Becker of Lotus. Dutko says he adapted many of the tricks Becker taught him when they worked together on Kia vehicles. As a result, the Genesis Coupe exhibits excellent stability under braking and turn-in, it has a well-resolved front-to-rear roll couple (in the simplest terms, this is the rate at which the front and rear ends lean into a turn and how well they work together), and pretty good shock absorber damping. However, and I preface this by saying that my time in the car encompassed part of one day split between street and track, there is some need to rethink the steering response, at-limit shock absorber valving, and suspension bushing compliance. They aren’t far off–the car seems, from my short time, to be very, very good if not excellent in these areas–but a few small changes could make the Genesis Coupe truly spectacular.
The Coupe’s trim level stair steps are pretty straightforward, with the $22,000 base 2.0T Coupe leading to the 2.0 Premium and 2.0 Track models. Leather is standard on all 3.8 models, and its stair steps walk from the base 3.8 to the 3.8 Grand Touring to the $30,250 3.8 Track. Adding all the bells and whistles to the 3.8 Track model, including the 6-speed ZF automatic with paddle shifts, shouldn’t break the $31,000 barrier. Plus, there is a tuner-focused R-Spec model built around the 2.0T that has standard 19-in wheels and tires, Brembo brakes, larger anti-roll bars, a Torsen limited-slip differential, quick-ratio steering, air conditioning, iPod/USB/Aux jack connectivity, and not a lot more so it can be customized as the buyer sees fit.
My initial impression? Hyundai has hit the nail on the head with this car. Comparing it to the G37, pony cars, the Civic Si and VW GTI, and the 3 Series offers handy points of evaluation for buyers, but does little to place it in context. So here goes:
- The 2.0T is the inexpensive rear-drive sports coupe the market has been waiting decades for, and will appeal to both young and old, though it will trend young.
- Building it with turbo plumbing from the factory will make it popular with tuners, and tuners who are now grown up but still want an exciting car. The aftermarket will deliver no end of up-sized turbos that package perfectly, piggyback ECUs and the like.
- Building a drift team around the Genesis 2.0T and offering a build-it-the-way-you-like-it R-Spec will cement the car’s standing with tuners.
- The 3.8 Grand Touring will attract the very oldest of Gen Y/Millenials who are just now leaving school with professional degrees, and who have been weaned on Asian cars. They’ll eventually go for that BMW status symbol, but for the short-term this car is a bridge to adulthood.
- It will appeal to older Gen X buyers, too.
- And buyers will probably go for the black/saddle brown interior because it has a real upscale feel.
- Oh, and I predict Hyundai will revamp the front end to allow their V8 to sit under the hood, but that car will not be sold as a Genesis Coupe. It will be a unique, and more upscale, car.
A full review will follow when we get a chance to spend more time with the car.
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In the course of our regular email ping pong, a few years ago I was exchanging with Pete Brock about the need for a low-priced rear-wheel drive car. Pete said then and says now that the company that builds this type of rear-wheel drive car will win over a wide number of young performance enthusiasts. There will never be another Datsun 510 like the one Brock raced and made legendary in the sport compact world. But the Genesis Coupe 2.0T could be a modern successor to that legend.
By building a turbo motor, Hyundai also ensures strong appeal with tuners and racers. Adapting turbos and superchargers to an existing naturally aspirated engine is never a good approach–you want the plumbing and related internal modifications like low-compression pistons handled by the factory. Hyundai has ensured that the engine compartment is properly plumbed to take a bigger turbo, or allow modification to the existing one. That means horsepower gains are cost-effective. The only threat is that the insurance industry will single out the car for its turbo.
Comparison with “Pony cars” doesn’t make much sense, really, though I guess it makes good headlines for magazines. The car is smaller and more wieldy, and the modern iterations of the Detroit Pony cars are positively massive, even if they are exceptionally good cars. This gives a rear-wheel drive option to people raised on Honda Civics and Altimas, and a more entertaining option to guys who are now tired of WRX and EVO. If the steering is improved as Chris has called for, the Hyundai will offer a much purer RWD experience, something the all-wheel drive cars can’t match.
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