FINALLY, A LITTLE FEEDBACK
Racy Genesis Coupe is a welcome throwback to sports cars of old
Give Hyundai credit. Through thick, thin and appreciating Won, it remains committed to its proletarian roots. As sophisticated (think: new Genesis sedan) and luxurious (have you sat in a Sonata lately?) as its portfolio has become, the company doesn’t stray far from the big bang/small buck messaging that has propelled it to top-flight mainstream automaker status in little more than two decades.
So it’s no surprise, then, that Hyundai Canada makes much of the fact that its Genesis is the most powerful coupe under $30,000 sold in Canada. Oh, perhaps we’re not used to seeing Hyundai and sporty/powerful in the same sentence, but the under $30,000 part of that statement is, of course, smack dab in the company’s marketing wheelhouse.
But while I suspect it will be a bit of a stretch to get typical muscle car intenders to start thinking Korea rather than Detroit, the most interesting part of my week spent in the 2015 R-Spec version was the revelation that the Genesis really competes with Mustang and Camaro rather than with other Asian sport coupes.
Indeed, the R-Spec — the raciest of Hyundais — competes most assiduously with Mustang and Camaro. There is just something old-fashioned — albeit endearingly so — about the Genesis Coupe. For instance, long accustomed to being castigated for its flighty, insensitive steering, Hyundai has gone almost overboard in trying to render the R-Spec’s handling seriously sporty.
The steering is most definitely on the heavy-handed side of communicative. Not quite the-powersteering-on-my-’69-ChryslerNewport-is-kaput firm, the R-Spec’s steering is nonetheless of the old-school variety where, to get the feedback you want at high speed, you have to put up with a little Charles Atlas “I can make a new man out of you” heaviness at low speeds. Race the R-Spec round a racetrack and you’ll love it; try whipping around a supermarket parking garage and you’ll be signing up for Atlas’s 15-minute isometric exercise program. That walk down manly-men memory lane is also apparent when you switch off the R’s traction control. As electronic traction control systems go, the Genesis’s is a model of sophisticated comportment, bits and bytes keeping wheels in line and power under control. Disable the traction nanny and the once-well-behaved R-Spec reverts to a tail-wagging, end-swapping hooligan.
Lurid slides are the order of the day, aided, of course, by that torquey 3.8-litre V6. Indeed, keeping the R-Spec in a goforward direction can sometimes be a handful, the Hyundai doing a fair impression of an old Camaro as it tries to pivot 90 degrees to the desired direction of travel at the very hint of an apex. And, yes, all you sports car sophisticates out there, it is not the fastest way to circumnavigate a racetrack. But, boy oh boy, it sure beats the homogenized online video gaming precision of the modern sports coupe. If all this all-wheeldrive, electronic stability control mollycoddling is starting to wear thin on your sporting soul, I think Hyundai might have the car for you.
Pistons and gears feel oldschool as well. The six-speed manual, for instance, has a heavy pull to the 1-to-2 and 3-to-4 shifts, the clutch also requiring a little more fast-twitch muscle fibre than most. The big 3.8-litre V6 backs up its impressive 348 horsepower with a basso profundo exhaust beat that is actually more American muscle car than the vaguely European timbre to the new Camaro’s V6. Even its 295 pound-feet of torque at 5,100 rpm feels more torquey North American than revvy Asian.
For those looking for maximum power for minimum buck the 3.8-L engine makes for an impressive package, its only significant failing a tendency to stall, thanks to a combination of stiff clutch and limp throttle. Also, it sucks back high test like a good ol’ ’Merican V8.
The one arena where the Genesis Coupe diverts from this Milwaukee-via-Seoul motif is in styling. More classically coupeish than the overtly Hollywood Camaro and the still-retro Mustang, the R-Spec is Nissan’s 370Z with less origami or Subaru’s BRZ with some actual muscle in its haunches.
The design may be getting a little old but that it still looks so current, speaks to how well penned it was seven years ago.
The interior is a little less sparse than the Mustang/Camaro twins, especially compared with the outgoing versions of each, which were, to be kind, 1980s basic. Even the latest versions of the North American duo are hardly Guggenheim-ish stylistic triumphs, giving the Hyundai a competitiveness it should have long left behind. Even the soft materials are, well, OK: not worthy of comparison with Audi but more than capable of mixing it up with the likes of Dodge and Chevrolet.
Interior foibles are limited to the standard lack of rear-seat room (though this is one arena in which the domestic competition is markedly superior) and a complete lack of power functions to the front seats.
The “torque” meter is also a little tacky; as far as I can see, it’s nothing more than a vacuum gauge.
Of course, most of its interior limitations are the compromise made to that boast of more horsepower for less and are hardly a deal-breaking sacrifice. More limiting will be that heavy-handedness I have alluded to throughout this review.
Fast, stylish and cost-conscious as it is, its popularity is still limited to those committed to true sports cars. The R-Spec version of the Genesis is a throwback to the days when sports cars challenged biceps and demanded commitment to the cause.
All for less than $30,000, of course. Overview: A budget sports coupe whose rortiness disguises it roots Pros: Torquey V6, dramatic handling, stylish exterior Cons: Heavy steering, tailwagging oversteer might not be everyone’s cup of tea Value for money: It’s a Hyundai What I would change: Have speed-sensitive variable-effort steering. Put real performance gauges in there or ditch the ones it has How I would spec it: Hyundai doesn’t really option the Genesis Coupe, so if you want leather, you’d have to move up to the Premium model. Not sure I’d want to lose the R-Spec’s well-bolstered seats, but the 360-watt Infinity audio system would definitely be a step up.