On this episode of Ignition
Category
🚗
MotorTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:04 This week on Ignition, we find out
00:06 if the Genesis Coupe gets the enthusiast car formula right.
00:09 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:15 The Hyundai Genesis Coupe has never been a beautiful car.
00:18 And with this latest update, Hyundai's
00:20 ensured that it won't be anytime soon.
00:22 But that's not the most important part.
00:24 What is is that the V600, this thing's hood,
00:26 now makes 348 horsepower.
00:29 Now that's more horsepower than you get in a Nissan 370Z.
00:32 And the power comes from the addition of direct injection,
00:35 which also increases torque to 295 pound feet.
00:38 Now that's nice and all, but what I'm more interested in
00:41 is how this car behaves.
00:42 You see, this is the classic sports car recipe
00:45 when all enthusiasts should enjoy.
00:47 It has a big engine.
00:48 It has six-speed manual transmission
00:51 and its rear-wheel drive.
00:52 On top of that, the car behind us
00:54 also has a Torsen limited slip differential,
00:57 larger anti-roll bars, firmer spring rates,
00:59 and larger front and rear brakes.
01:01 It's called the Track Edition.
01:03 And I think we can put that name to the test.
01:05 [MUSIC PLAYING]
01:12 You know, it's been so long since I've
01:14 launched a rear-wheel drive car with a manual transmission,
01:16 I've almost forgot how to do it.
01:18 Good thing the Genesis Coupe makes it easy.
01:20 You dial in about 2,500 RPMs and just dump the clutch.
01:24 Ride out the wheel spin, grab second.
01:27 That chirp is good.
01:28 This transmission sometimes can pause in between shifts,
01:30 like just there.
01:31 0 to 60 comes in 5.2 seconds.
01:35 And they're fourth at 100 miles an hour.
01:37 Quarter mile goes 13.8 seconds at 102 miles an hour.
01:41 Respectful performance from the Genesis Coupe.
01:46 All right, 60 to 0 braking.
01:51 Let's see what we can do.
01:54 Pedal feel pretty good.
01:55 It dances around quite a bit.
01:56 Our best stop from 60 is 112 feet.
01:59 OK, traction control off, stability control off.
02:04 Figure 8 test is go.
02:06 All right, so we're beginning the figure 8 test
02:09 with the Genesis Coupe.
02:10 And this car's interesting, because it
02:11 does things that I really like, and it does
02:13 things that I really don't like.
02:14 What I don't like is that it understeers heavy on turn-in,
02:17 no matter what you do.
02:19 You can go in fast, go in slow.
02:21 You can trail brake.
02:22 You can just chuck it in.
02:23 It's going to understeer, no matter what.
02:26 What I do like is when you start getting aggressive
02:28 with the throttle, it'll start to slide.
02:30 And it slides gleefully, just like that.
02:33 So controllable, so much fun to do.
02:36 It makes you go slower, because you
02:38 want to keep sliding everywhere.
02:40 So not too great when you're setting a lap time,
02:42 but a lot of fun when you just want to show off.
02:44 That's good stuff.
02:49 Now we have the test data, but that only
02:51 paints part of a car's picture.
02:53 The rest, well, I've come up with four criteria
02:56 that I believe makes an enthusiast car special.
03:00 The first is visual appeal.
03:02 You should want to look at your car.
03:03 When you walk away after you park it,
03:05 you should want to take a last look before you have to go
03:07 wherever it is you need to go.
03:09 And while I like the majority of the Genesis,
03:11 its proportions are nice.
03:13 Its rear 3/4 looks like a proper rear-drive car.
03:17 But I can't understand the front end.
03:19 It looks like what happens when you stick your head out
03:21 the window of a moving car.
03:23 And those vents in the hood, they're fake.
03:25 On balance, I give the Genesis a B-.
03:28 Secondly, the car should sound aggressive.
03:31 [ENGINE REVVING]
03:34 [TIRES SCREECHING]
03:37 Now I really admire the way Hyundai's tuned
03:40 the exhaust on this V6.
03:41 You get all the growl you would want,
03:43 but not much of the drone on freeway speeds.
03:47 Even downshifts, you get a nice verbal when you match revs.
03:51 [ENGINE REVVING]
03:53 I got to give Hyundai's sound design A.
03:59 The third most important thing are the driver inputs.
04:02 Your steering, your shifter, your pedals.
04:04 They should all engage you, make you want to drive harder,
04:06 faster, and better.
04:08 Now while the shifter throws nicely,
04:11 I don't miss shifts too much.
04:14 It does feel a little rubbery.
04:16 I'd have to give the driver inputs on whole a C-plus.
04:19 [TIRES SCREECHING]
04:23 Now the fourth one is the rate of lateral slip
04:27 during high-yaw events, or basically
04:29 what we like to call drifting.
04:30 [TIRES SCREECHING]
04:36 The Hyundai enters slides so easy.
04:38 It's so controllable.
04:40 It's almost hard not to do it.
04:42 [TIRES SCREECHING]
04:46 You get a lot of understeer.
04:49 But when you're on the power, it'll
04:52 do that until you run out of tire.
04:55 That's what's fun.
04:56 I got to give the way this thing drives an A-plus.
05:00 [TIRES SCREECHING]
05:06 The Genesis Coupe is almost there.
05:08 It gets 90% of that enthusiast car formula right.
05:12 And I'm sure that with a few tweaks,
05:14 it'll be in the front of the pack.
05:15 Tweaks like a revised suspension,
05:17 tweaks like a new shifter.
05:19 But I don't mean to sound disappointed.
05:22 I'm not at all.
05:23 I'm happy this car exists.
05:24 I'm happy cars like this exist.
05:26 I'm happy that in this day and age of eco-sensitivity,
05:29 you can go out and buy a manual rear-drive simple sports
05:33 coupe for not a lot of money, whether it's this, the 370Z,
05:37 the upcoming Subaru BRZ, or the Scion FR-S.
05:41 Cars like these show that we are living
05:43 in the rebirth of the enthusiast era.
05:45 And that's something we should all be happy about.
05:48 [MUSIC PLAYING]
05:51 [TIRES SCREECHING]
06:00 [TIRES SCREECHING]
06:04 [TIRES SCREECHING]
06:12 (tires screeching)