Ahhh... What a wonderful day yesterday. What you about to see is the ONE AND ONLY, 2009 Hyundai Genesis Coupe, which is never make it into Malaysian market. This particular car was actually brought from South Korea about 2 or 3 years ago, and it wasn't showed up all the time in the big city to avoid any paparazzi around.
Let me tell you something. I know the Genesis Coupe back when it shows up in Burn Notice as a hero car, even though that I'm not a fan of the show itself.
Back in the 2000s, the Nissan Fairlady 370Z was the best sports car to own. However, it only has two seats. Then, there's a Nissan Skyline 370GT Coupe. It is awesome but expensive like a typical BMW. So, Hyundai made a brilliant idea to make a perfect blend with the same power, adding some convenient features like a luxury coupe and having the same driving experience like its competitors with a cheaper price.
The Genesis Coupe is the only rear-wheel drive sports car made by Hyundai, and it is not a successor of the popular Hyundai Coupe, as it replaced by the Hyundai Veloster. It only has two engine options, a Theta four cylinder turbocharged 2.0 engine (which is not popular among Hyundai fans) and a Lambda V6 3.8 MPi engine (the one that you see right now). It is actually meant to be against the Nissan Fairlady 370Z, and the Ford Mustang GT.
The Genesis Coupe has a sleek fast back design, and it is nearly have the same rear look like the Hyundai Coupe, albeit the boot opens like a normal car. However, it is still not as attractive as the Fairlady Z because, well, the brand, as many people oppose them. Actually, I love the back itself more than the front.
This one also comes with 19 inch wheels and Brembo brakes as standard. Too bad a normal 370Z moved to OEM brakes after a conspiracy with Brembo due to the brake design at that time.
Dem tail lights are smexy.
As I mentioned before, this one uses the Lambda V6 3.8 MPi engine that produces 303 bhp and 361 Nm of torque. To cut costs, there is no engine covers to hide all the veins of the engine, which is so eerie for a sports car like this. Normally aspirated is the king bro!
Now here's the boring part. The interior design. Above all Hyundai vehicles, every interior design is all the same. Even it has different color trims, it's still gives me a vibe which is called; "I'm driving an Elantra!".
Enough with the crap already. This one has an aftermarket video player and navigation (sadly it is in Korean) that plugs into the AUX jack for sound. So you have to adjust the volume separately so you won't make any odd encounters from a radio volume and that.
I don't really like the way of the gearbox shifter behaves as it feels cheap as a Hyundai Accent.
The driver's cockpit is nice to look at though. Not too high, not too low. Just perfect.
The seats aren't actually real leather. Looks like PVC to me as it degrades easily if you see closely.
Alright. Let's start this thing up. And I will talk about the expression and the aura of the Genesis.
First of all, when you get inside the Genesis Coupe, you might bothered with the boring and dull hard plastic interior. However, you will be comfortable with the cockpit's view. Blindspot is not that bad and it's easy to handle and park compared to the Skyline that I've driven. Also, this one is only available in left hand drive, and you will be afraid a little when you drive it for the first time, in a left lane country.
The way that the Genesis perform is more than a grand tourer. Since it is a 2+2, it behaves like a real sports car in terms of handling. The steering feel is hard and direct, unlike other cars which are too soft to handle. And of course, it's very fun on wet as I nearly made a huge wheelspin on wet. Yup, I test drive this during rain. Besides that, the body roll is lesser as the chassis itself is stiffer than other cars like the BMW M3.
The sound system is not as great as what you expect, as it had a 6 speaker JBL sound system over the 10 speaker Infinity audio system that you can find on the top-of-the-line Genesis Coupe. The bass is rough and it has too much treble.
Performance-wise, it accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h about 6.2 seconds. It is a little slower than the 370Z due to the weight. Much like the Skyline, but not at all. I don't get to test the way that the gear shifting behaves manually as the paddle shifters won't work. The switches need to be replaced to make it work again.
Overall, I think the Genesis Coupe is a great sports car on a budget, if you want practicality to add into it. Although is not as great as the Z, but it has almost the same power and feel.
Note that this car is currently sell online. Try to have a look there if you're interested with this Korean gem.
As usual, I made a photoshoot alongside my Skyline too as a comparison. Feel free to lavish these photos and leave a comment down below about the Genesis Coupe.
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