Genesis Coupe Serious Sport Contender

LAS VEGAS – Don’t let its name confuse you. Hyundai Motor America’s new Genesis coupe has little in common with the large, luxury sedan that shares its moniker.

And that’s a good thing, given Hyundai’s intentions with the new coupe, pitting it against Detroit’s finest metal, such as the Chevrolet Camaro, Dodge Challenger and Ford Mustang, as well as luxury 2-doors from the BMW and Infiniti brands.

Unlike “sporty” Hyundai models of the recent past, the Genesis coupe has the specs, not just special badging and unique wheels, to command respect.

In back-to-back driving, Ward’s finds the new 2-door a closely benchmarked clone of Infiniti’s inspired G37 coupe, with direct, precise steering and crisp handling. The Genesis coupe’s 3.8L V-6 stacks up well against its 6-cyl. rivals, although the 330-hp G still leads the pack.

Built on the same platform as the Genesis sedan, but weighing in at 350 lbs. (159 kg) less and nearly 13 ins. (33 cm) shorter, the coupe is Hyundai’s attempt at an affordable, rear-wheel-drive, performance-oriented 2-door.

The coupe has dual personalities, leading Hyundai officials rightly to presume wildly different buyer demographics.

There’s the sporty, unassuming 2.0T Genesis – named for its 2.0L turbocharged 4-cyl. engine – in base, Premium and Track trims.

Hyundai Genesis coupe in Mirabeau Blue.<link rel=

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And there’s the refined, luxury-oriented Genesis 3.8 coupe, in base, Grand Touring and Track grades, powered by the V-6 shared with the Azera and Genesis sedans.

As in the sedan, the V-6 is situated longitudinally in the engine bay, and Hyundai squeezes out 16 more hp and 2 lb.-ft. (2.7 Nm) of additional torque for the V-6 coupe.

The engine, never a standout in the Azera, is a revelation in Genesis coupe applications, producing an impressive 306 hp and 266 lb.-ft. (360 Nm) of torque.

When editors tested the 3.8L in the Genesis sedan for the 2009 Ward’s 10 Best Engines competition, the V-6 proved to be a silent stunner, surprising with power but also boasting great noise, vibration and harshness characteristics. The same attributes hold true for its application in the coupe.

Also carried over from the V-6 sedan to the 6-cyl. 2-door is a 6-speed automatic transmission, from Germany’s ZF Friedrichshafen AG, with standard steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters.

The 6AT in the Genesis coupe 3.8 is excellent, with near-imperceptible gear changes. The unit holds the lower gears longer, enabling impressive off-the-line acceleration.

The turbocharged 2.0L I-4, Hyundai’s first in the U.S., emits just the right growl.

The 2.0T coupe offers two transmission choices: a 6-speed manual or 5-speed automatic. The latter, a Hyundai design unlike the ZF 6AT, is surprisingly good. It holds third gear in hard acceleration up to about 5,000 rpm and shifts almost as smoothly as the 6AT.

Ward’s 2.0T test car in Premium trim also boasts standard paddles with the 5AT, to further imitate a true sports-car experience.

The 6-speed manual, standard with both engines and tested in a 2.0T, lacks sharpness but gets the job done. It will suffice for the average Genesis coupe customer, who likely will spend more time in a Target parking lot than on the track.

With power-assisted rack-and-pinion steering, the coupe conveys a new level of confidence and directional stability to the Hyundai brand. Extremely responsive, the Genesis’ steering is less twitchy than that of the G37.

The Genesis coupe rides on a standard dual-link MacPherson strut front and 5-link independent rear suspension, the latter carried over from the sedan.

As its name suggests, the “Track” trim, available with both engines, is geared for racing-oriented customers, featuring a more tightly sprung suspension (7% higher in front, 18% higher in rear), plus a Torsen limited-slip differential and “staggered-width” summer tires.

More serious tracksters will await fall’s arrival of the bare-necessities R-Spec model.

Standard single-piston brakes have floating front and rear calipers, 12.6-in. (32-cm) ventilated front rotors and 12.4-in. (31-cm) rear rotors.

Track models get standard 4-piston Brembo stoppers, with monoblock fixed calipers front and rear, 13.4-in. (34-cm) ventilated front and 13.0-in. (33-cm) ventilated rear rotors.

Inside, Hyundai skillfully applies a host of high-quality materials. The headliner fabric in the 2.0T Premium model matches the slick, sporty mesh swathing the car’s seats.

The center stack is clean and uncluttered, and large buttons and knobs control stereo volume, fan-speed and temperature.

However, the cockpit occasionally fails to compensate for a lack of features: Without the optional Infinity audio system, a cheap-looking piece of plastic covers for the missing, 8-in. (10-cm), deck-mounted subwoofer.

Other interior dislikes include the lack of grab bars – often handy in sports cars of this ilk – and a weak latching mechanism on the glove-box door.

Both front seats are extremely comfortable and supportive, keeping occupants planted during hard cornering.

The two rear seating positions offer surprising leg room, and there’s a clever seatback release in the middle of the front-passenger seat for easy exit. But, as is the case with most small coupes, head room is scarce for average-size adults.

Looking nothing like the Genesis sedan, the new coupe shares a close resemblance with Hyundai’s recently departed front-wheel-drive Tiburon. Loyalists to the Tiburon will like the Genesis coupe, assuming they are looking for a much better car.

However the new 2-door deserves a more unique front end, not a rehash of the wide-mouth-bass grille introduced in the mid-1990s.

The Genesis coupe is an above-average first effort by Hyundai, destined to steal market share from competitors. And it costs thousands less than luxury coupes, making for a compelling value proposition.

True, coupes remain a discretionary purchase. But if Infiniti and BMW intenders do the math, Hyundai could become a player in the sports coupe segment.

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