Genius of a cheap Genesis
Korea’s fastest sportscar is currently confined to North America and its home market, but the Hyundai Genesis Coupe is bound for New Zealand release next year, when right-hand-drive versions become available. Paul Owen reports from the United States.
Puts a new standard of Noise Vibration and Harshness suppression into an ordinary car. A great looker and remarkably competent handler, it has typically high Volvo safety and surprises all who drive it for the first time. Barely a Car-of-the-Year passes without BMW’s executive four-door gaining a gong. The latest model’s array of amazingly frugal turbo petrol and diesel fours conspire with its brilliant chassis and cabin to make it a contender again. Offering more choices in the light SUV slot than anyone: two or four-wheel drive, six-speed manual or auto, and turbodiesel or petrol super-frugal SkyActiv engines, as well as three trim levels, Mazda covers all bases with an irrefutably best-in-class car. NEXT YEAR, Hyundai NZ will unleash the ‘‘genie’’ that is currently bottled for release in selected left-hand-drive markets only.
The coming Genesis Coupe will grant the wish of those who desire an affordable Asian alternative to the likes of the Porsche 911. It’s almost as fast as the expensive European sportster, has a powerful six-pot engine that sounds just as evocative and inspiring, and similarly incisive handling. Best of all, it is unlikely to cost anything like as much, and I’m willing to bet that you’ll be able buy four of Korea’s fastest sportscars for the tag attached to the 911.
Here in the US, where the Genesis Coupe has just carved up the underpopulated roads traversing the volcanic peaks of the Cascade ranges in Oregon in my hands, the R-spec model you see before you costs about NZ$ 35,000. That’s supercalifragilous value given the performance that the car offers. Thanks to the powerful 260kW/ 400Nm 3.8-litre direct-injection V6 that the GC received for its first big upgrade in 2012, it is capable of sprinting from rest to 100kmh in less than six seconds when equipped with the sample car’s sixspeed manual gearbox. Further driver appeal comes in the form of a sweetly balanced rear- drive chassis, equipped with a variable torque- distributing diff and the extra body stiffness reinforcement of a front strut tower brace, powerful Brembo brakes, 19-inch alloy wheels shod with Bridgestone’s stickiest licorice, and seats-for-four clad in red leather/perforated fabric that Recaro would be proud to claim as their own.
All this is made available for the equivalent of $ 35,000. It’s little wonder that the Genesis Coupe has become the ascendant car in recent sports- coupe comparison tests conducted by US car mags.
Before you get too excited about the prospect of buying a white-hot V6-powered four-seater sportscar for the price of a four-cylinder family hatchback, it’s time for a bit of a reality check. The US market embraces bang- for- buck to the point that the performance cars on sale here are often stripped of their comfort/convenience features to ‘‘pay’’ for more dynamic enrich- ments. The R-spec model therefore wears the brand of the world’s most- revered brake component manufacturer on its red- painted calipers, but it lacks stuff like cruise control, a proximity key, a touch screen interface, satellite navigation, or a reversing camera. The GC-R might have a strut brace to add more aggression to its bite into corners, but automatic temperature control is a glaring omission from its rudimentary airconditioning system.
While I personally wish that more sporty cars sold here would adopt the accessible no-frills marketing of many US models, it’s highly likely that the New Zealand Genesis Coupe will be loaded with the equipment missing from the R-spec model, and that the price will be adjusted to match. Ah well, the dynamics of this car will be well worth paying potentially double the US price for.
The new direct-injection engine alone is worth the price of ownership, as it is imbued with the highly tuned sportiness and rev- happy nature that is usually the preserve of European sportscars. With its high compression pistons and lack of flywheel mass, this isn’t a V6 engine that prefers mooching around town at low revs.
It’s preferred operating zone is far higher in the rev range, holding a low gear over a twisty mountain road, its rasping exhaust note echoing into the valleys below. For townies attracted to the distinctive style of the Genesis Coupe, Hyundai NZ will offer an eight- speed automatic gearbox option that will undoubtedly make driving in urban climes less jerky and stallprone.
However, the headstrong nature of the V6 comes to full froth with the manual, and driving the threepedal version on the right road in the right conditions will result in the more memorable driving experience.
Hyundai’s beefier suspension tune for V6 versions of the GC (a 2-litre turbo is the other engine sold in the US) hits the ideal compromise between bump absorption and tyre-grip enhancement smack between the eyes. With the torquesensing diff tightening the car’s line when powering out of corners, and a suitably quick-steering rack, my only driving complaint is the lack of tactile sensation when the wheel is held in the straight-ahead position. It all adds up to an attractive sportscar that was simply too good to be confined to just three world markets – Korea, the US and Canada. Nissan’s perky 370Z two-seat two-door had better watch its rear-view mirror, for the ‘‘Genie’’ is coming to get it.