Car enthusiasts that want an affordable sports car that can also get crazy every once in a while should take a closer look at the facelift for the Hyundai Genesis Coupe that was just introduced at the 2012 edition of the Detroit Motor Show and which reflects the Korean carmaker’s desire to evolve in all areas, including performance cars.
The Hyundai Genesis generated a lot of buzz ever since it debuted, offering a layout specific to thoroughbred sports cars (front mounted engine and rear wheel drive) and also a great price performance ratio. And now the facelift comes with a refreshed styling following the carmaker’s recent design philosophy: very aggressive headlamps, an impressive front grille and sculpted front hood.
Overall, the Hyundai Genesis Coupe facelift remains a beautiful coupe, without any excessive aggression, which will stand out more thanks to the revised styling. But the styling isn’t the only area refreshed by Hyundai, because the interior also has several new features such as the “hourglass” shaped central console borrowed from the popular Elantra sedan.
Just like the rest of the models in the Hyundai lineup, the new Genesis Coupe facelift is counting on an entire arsenal of interior features, plus high quality materials, much better than what we saw so far. The interior ambiance is modern and pleasant, without any special sporty elements, except maybe for the three analogic clusters on the central console.
But more important is what the new model brings under the hood. The smallest available engine, at least on the North American market, is a turbocharged version of the 2.0-liter unit that delivers an impressive power output of 274 hp and peak torque of 373 Nm. The other option is a 3.8-liter V6 engine that delivers 348 hp and 400 Nm of torque, this unit delivering 42 hp more than the previous version and powering the Hyundai Genesis Coupe facelift from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in just 5 seconds and up to a top speed of 149 mph (240 km/h).
Both engines are offered with a six speed manual transmission, but there’s also an eight speed automatic transmission available as an option, which features steering wheel mounted paddles. This automatic transmission, mated with the 2.0-liter engine offers a fuel economy of 20 mph in the city and 31 mpg on the highway, impressive values for an engine that delivers almost 300 hp.
As for the pricing, according to the press release, Hyundai is confident their pricing policy will make the Hyundai Genesis Coupe a feared competitor in the affordable sports car market.