ROAD TEST/Hyundai Coupe: Michael McAleer finds that the Hyundai Coupe has a lot going for it before you even consider the price.
This is as close as you get to a Korean Ferrari. And yet you can buy nearly 10 Coupes for the price of a single 550 Maranello. It's foolhardy to mention any Asian car in the same breath as Ferrari. Yet the new Hyundai Coupe is the best looking car to originate from the land that brought us half the World Cup and exotic culinary tastes (down Fido). From this divided Asian peninsula comes a worthy competitor to sporty coupes such as the Audi TT and Toyota Celica.
Korean credentials for car manufacture used to be akin to its estranged northern neighbour's reputation for open government. However, in recent years the Korean car marque, Hyundai, has begun to offer greater promise for the future.
Back in Seoul, senior management has set as its goal to make Hyundai one of the world's five biggest marques by 2010. It's an ambitious target.
In a world divided between innovators and imitators, the South Korean firm has historically chosen the latter path to success. What it does best is study what works in the market and try to repeat the formula, but at a better price. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. With the Coupe they seem to have pulled it off.
This third-generation Coupe marks the maturing of Hyundai into a maker of products now seriously rivalling the European mainstream.
The latest version is a true coupe, where its predecessor was a cub. The older model, with all its bumps and flares, muddled up the coupe's clean lines. It had a strong coupe front, but these promising lines tapered out and the rest lacked passion and seemed a melange of saloon and bodykit.
The new version is edgier, with sharp creases in the front bonnet and a smoother, more tautly stretched skin overall. Even on initial inspection the latest version looks more mature. Behind the wheel it also feels more substantial.
Enough about predecessors. The latest coupe is a serious competitor in the category and if deep within the recesses of your heart burns the desire for a more racy mode of transport, this is a must drive before making any purchasing decisions.
At €33,750 for the top of the range 2.7-litre V6, on price alone it is worthy of a test drive by those at the middle to upper end of the company car fleets who don't have a house-full of progeny in tow. And if you think coupes are solely the playthings of full-blooded males, take note. Hyundai estimate Coupe sales to be split 45/55 in favour of females.
The engine range also opens it up to those more interested in image than substance. With a 1.6-litre option at €24,345 it would seem to offer great value if you're looking for a cruiser rather than a racer.There is also a mid-range 2-litre 138 bhp option.
Our test car was the 2.7-litre, in bright red, the traditional colour of a coupe. Forget your Artic white, steely silver or matt black, the true colour for a coupe is red.
The V6 167 bhp block is the same that appears in the Sonata and Santa Fe. It's strong and offers plenty of torque, especially mid-range, pulling smoothly to its 6,000-rpm redline.
IT comes with a nice chunky six-speed short-throw manual gearbox, which helps you work the engine to best advantage and cruise comfortably at high speeds. However, a little more growl from the engine and a throatier exhaust note would greatly enhance the notion of sports performance. Competitors may also grab an advantage from the fact that, since the 2.7 litre unit is larger than many of the competing coupes, it brings with it the higher tax rate that others such as the 1.8-litre Audi TT don't have to contend with.
In terms of ergonomics, space isn't bad for a car of this type. The front Recaro bucket seats are comfortable and very supportive. The shape of the roof accommodates tall front-seat occupants, and there's plenty of legroom. However, the rear seats are really only for children and there's not much headroom back there.
As for the boot, a hybrid of the many theorems and physics equations drummed into us at school was that: 2 door car + curved lines/engine larger than 2-litres = just enough bootspace to carry home your copy of The Irish Times. The Hyundai however has managed to incorporate an adequate boot, albeit a little shallow, offering 418 litres (yes, enough for two sets of golf clubs with the rear seats folded down). A word of warning though: slamming the boot shut with an adult in the back seats could result in a quick spin to the emergency room.
Visibility is quite good, despite the car's high waistline and thick rear pillars. The two well-positioned side mirrors, set back in the doors for that formula One feel, are very effective and the lack of headrests in the back means you can actually see out the rear window. All this, along with a good turning circle, makes it relatively easy to manoeuvre in tight town conditions.
The ride is stiff and quite rigid, if offering itself to understeer. The stiffly-sprung suspension eases over rough surfaces, and it's hard to believe that the Coupe's underpinnings are derived from the Elantra platform. Overall the driving position is commanding and all the controls and instrumentation are well-placed and easy to use.
As for the specification this is where eager manufacturers like Hyundai excel. They throw in leather seats, air conditioning, climate control, and a host of electric gadgetry, including the sun roof, all as standard in the 2 litre and 2.7 litre versions. There's even a Pioneer CD player, with its superfluous digital display and enough buttons to force new owners to turn directly to the manual
If you had to nit-pick, the overwhelmingly black interior lacks any sort of accents to break up the monotony and the result is a rather spartan look. Greater abundance of the brushed aluminium used on the console would have brought a great deal more character to the interior. Thankfully the glass sunroof adds light to the cabin when the screen is pushed back.
THE dials are almost Germanic in look and well laid out. The three central dials in the console add to the sports car image sought by all coupes. The stubby red hands on the torque gauge and mpg gauge flutter when you depress the accelerator. They are far better than attempts by other marques to mimic race car gauges using time clocks and such like, which bear no relation to the action under the bonnet.
However, setting aside their aesthetic contributions, we have yet to understand the reasoning behind them.
Why anyone in a coupe needs to know the engine's torque as they pull off from a traffic light is beyond us. As for the gauge measuring voltage levels in the battery, that's for the birds. It's only when asked by an inquisitive admirer of the car that you realise how unnecessary they all are. But they look great.
Finally, a more sporty gearknob wouldn't go amiss and the steering wheel is a little large for such a spirited car.
However, all this is merely carping and none of these points are going to bother the buyers at whom the Coupe is aimed.
For some owners, there is still the issue of the Hyundai badge. However, if any car is capable of dispelling the prejudices, it will be the Coupe - it's fashionable, it's aggressive, it's striking and well-proportioned, and importantly for many buyers, it looks and feels far more expensive than it actually is.