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Review: 2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe -- a sporty coupe with some sophistication behind it
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The 2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe (2.0T Track shown) shares its basic design with a full-size luxury sedan, but it had no
problems tackling rural Virginia's narrow winding roads. For more photos of the Genesis Coupe, check out today's slideshow
below the article. (Photos by Brady Holt)
Chantilly, Va., is classic suburban sprawl, a haphazard collection of residential, commercial, and rural land alongside crowded streets. Not the most pleasant place to drive your average sporty coupe.
As it happened, I wasn't supposed to be driving then new 2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe on these streets for more than a half a mile or so. My co-pilot and I had immediately gotten lost, wandering off the planned route that would take us to rural Middleburg, Va., via splendidly winding back roads.
Fortunately, this Hyundai was as well-behaved in gentle suburban driving as it later proved to be, after we were patiently directed back to the sort of roads sporty coupes are really built for.
The Genesis Coupe, which first began to appear in dealerships in late February, shares its name and many of its mechanical components with Hyundai’s Genesis sedan that appeared late last summer. But the two cars are unrelated in character.
The Genesis sedan is a full-size luxury car, with prices ranging from the low $30,000s to past $40,000. With its spacious accommodations, ultra-refined interior quality and noise levels, and comfort-tuned suspension, it is designed to offer higher-end alternative to a like-priced Toyota Avalon, not to take on a like-priced BMW sports sedan.
The Genesis Coupe was originally going to follow this same model, offering sleeker styling but similar driving dynamics to the sedan, chasing the Mercedes-Benz CLK, Hyundai Motor America president John Krafcik said Friday in a pre-drive presentation on the car. But with such a car projected to sell under 1,000 units in a year, the automaker looked for something else to do with its new rear-wheel-drive architecture. It settled on offering something for the performance seeker.
With rear-wheel-drive, a 6-speed manual transmission, a 210-horsepower turbocharged 4-cylinder engine standard at $22,000 – a 306-horsepower V6 and automatic transmissions are also offered – Krafcik said the Genesis Coupe is offering an alternative to “sporty front-wheel-drive pretenders” in that price range, referring to economy cars with bigger engines like the Honda Civic Si and to the two-door versions of family sedans like the Nissan Altima. The Infiniti G37 coupe also saw frequent mention.
(Krafcik avoided too much discussion of the 304-horsepower 2010 Chevrolet Camaro that starts at around the same price as the 4-cylinder Genesis Coupe, but that car is bigger and heavier and currently sells with huge dealer markups.)
The Genesis Coupe doesn’t drive like those cars. The Civic and its ilk are small and light, whereas the Hyundai has not abandoned the dimensions of the large sedan on which it’s based. The compact Honda is nearly seven inches shorter and over four inches narrower and weighs some 400 pounds less than the Genesis Coupe. And the Nissan Altima and Honda Accord coupes only look different from family sedans; the drive is largely unchanged.
Comparisons to the Infiniti might not be as far off. The Genesis Coupe has a refinement in its suspension that didn’t disappear from the luxury sedan. The first of the two versions I drove – the fully loaded V6 Grand Touring with an automatic transmission, photo at right – was very comfortable cruising on the interstate or gently motoring around suburban streets, once you get used to the abrupt throttle. A smooth ride, excellent straight-line tracking and stability, and good noise suppression impress for a sporty car. And in this sort of driving, the car’s extra width is a plus – you get big, wide, well-bolstered and very comfortable seats and a usefully wide center console between them. It would be easy to recommend the Genesis Coupe for someone who’s looking for a sporty look but doesn’t want to make many sacrifices to get it. (Rear seat and trunk space is very limited compared to the average front-wheel-drive coupe, however.)
Fortunately, there’s more to the Genesis Coupe than that. While it is good for Hyundai that it will be able to tap into the mainstream market, it would have been unfortunate to sacrifice the packaging efficiency of front-wheel-drive to get nothing more than a new take on the Honda Accord coupe or the Mitsubishi Eclipse.
The Genesis Coupe will also go when you ask it to. The V6 is smooth and very strong, and sounds very nice even at high rpms. The steering is responsive, accurate, and very nicely weighted. Body roll is minimal, even without the upgraded “Track” suspension. A smaller, lighter, narrower car can be more tossable, but this Hyundai goes where it’s pointed with minimal fuss. A Honda Accord coupe could likely do the same, but it would fuss, and it wouldn’t be able to handle the same level of engine performance.
Nonetheless, this Grand Touring Genesis Coupe kept things relaxed. It’s highly capable, but doesn’t feel like the toy that some drivers will be looking for: the sort of car other reviewers have likened to a puppy pulling on a leash, always wanting to go. On parts of this drive, it was just as well that the Genesis Coupe was comfortable driving gently; at times it seemed that every other vehicle on winding Route 626 in front of us was a Chevrolet Silverado full-size pickup towing a boat.
But the car’s performance and handling capabilities are high enough that the only exciting moment was when the car’s other driver unknowingly put the automatic transmission into the manual-shifting mode, which kept the car in first gear and which did not amuse the Chevrolet Silverados backing up behind us. Interesting as this was, car enthusiasts tend to prefer a different sort of entertainment from their drives. Hyundai promises the Track edition will appeal more to those drivers.
Before I drove the 4-cylinder manual-transmission Genesis Coupe Track (photo at left), I had seen reviews suggesting that the stiffer-suspension car is less than pleasant to drive. “It rides like the wheels are bolted to the frame and the tires are filled with concrete,” said one. Another said a touchy clutch “actively resists a driver’s attempts at smoothness.”
“We don’t care how the ride comes out on this car. We just want it to be great on the track,” Krafcik told us before we went out. Nonetheless, “I think the ride came out exceptionally well, considering the no-compromise mandate.”
Bumps will indeed punch through sharply on the Genesis Coupe Track models – which also include upgraded brakes and are available on both 4-cylinder and V6 models – and the car I drove didn’t track as well in a straight line on the highway as the Grand Touring did. But the reviews I had read – and seeing the driver of a Track in front of me take pains to avoid a speed bump in a parking lot – prepared me for much worse.
What I didn’t expect was that driving on the streets at approximately legal speeds, I found minimal difference between the Track and the standard “sport” suspensions. On a racetrack, you’ll need higher handling limits and you need your brakes to avoid fading after repeated hard stops, but this seems to be of minimal utility if you aren’t planning weekend track visits. You’re not giving up so much ride comfort, but if you’ll only be driving on public roads and with the slightest regard for posted speed limits, you’re giving that up for nothing.
I also didn’t find the manual transmission on the four-cylinder Genesis Coupe to be in any way fighting me, though more reviews were of the V6, which could be more resistant. My only complaint would be that first gear and reverse are too close, especially if you’re quickly going back and forth between them when you’re constantly making three-point turns. Hyundai obviously realized this issue, as the car beeps a warning at the driver whenever you go into reverse, but that doesn’t save you any time as Chevrolet Silverados bear down on you.
But more importantly, the four-cylinder’s boomy engine note is at odds with the sophistication of the rest of the car. There’s plenty of power, but it sounds very econo-car under acceleration. Drivers interested primarily in going fast may not mind, others likely will. The car is also very noisy on the highway, likely a combination of the Track’s tires and the four-cylinder’s engine.
Small details also greatly let down the premium quality displayed by the interior, the suspension, and the V6, making even the priciest $30,000 Genesis Coupe look like Hyundai’s $17,000 front-drive Tiburon: the gray plastic that’s all over the car’s front fascia. While it at least appears intentional rather than a cost-cutting move, you would not see Infiniti do something like that to its G37. It’s less obvious on darker-colored Genesis Coupes.
But overall, Hyundai made few mistakes with the Genesis Coupe. There’s an excellent ride/handling balance on the standard sport suspension, a crisp-shifting transmission, strong power yet relatively good gas mileage – 21 miles per gallon in the city and 30 on the highway with the 4-cylinder, 17 city / 27 highway with the V6, both on regular fuel – and a comfortable and well-finished interior for two occupants.
However, as good as it is, not everyone will want quite what the Genesis Coupe is good at. It handles very well, yes, but a good smaller car will be more nimble. It’s very quick, yes, but some will prefer the V8 grunt of one of the three American retro muscle cars: the Camaro, Dodge Challenger, and Ford Mustang. It's fun, yes, but more willing than eager.
But if you’re looking for something stylish to cruise around in, check out the Genesis Coupe. And if you’re looking for a fun car that’s unflappable on public streets, check out the Genesis Coupe. You may find it doesn’t quite match your tastes, but if this is the sort of car you like, you’ll find little to complain about.
Vehicles tested: 2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe 2.0T Track / 3.8 Grand Touring
Vehicle base price (MSRP): $22,000
Vehicle prices as tested (MSRP): $27,500 / $29,750
Estimated transaction prices as tested: $26,479 / $28,220
Test vehicles provided by: Hyundai Motor America
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