2003 Hyundai Tiburon

First of I must say I am a GM person. It's not that often that I find myself straying from the GM pack. But Because of certain reason I now find myself looking for an new car and as a joke I went to the local Hyundai dealership to test drive a new Tiburon with the 2.7L V6. By the end of the test drive I found that what I thought would be a poorly built joke to be a very nice affordable sports coupe that gives competition a huge run for the money.

First Impressions
Exterior:
There were 2 models I was looking at one was silver the other was black. Both had very unique styling. This gave it a very sporty and appealing look. I noticed the large sport spoiler which made the car look even better. The tail lights gave the car a sporty look but also offered other motorist visibility. It also had dual exhaust which sounded amazing when the sales person fired up the car. I couldn't resist and had to take it for a spin.

Interior:
When getting in the car I had mixed feelings. The first thing I noticed was leather seats. And what got me was not only did it have leather seats but they are standard in the V6 model. What cars do you know that offer standard leather seats for under 20K? The dash and gauges seemed a little plain which is where I get the mixed feelings from. But really when looking at the overall design of the car it fits in quite nice. And with the dealership installed dash kit you can add some color and make them look fantastic. The sets were a little stiff and I'm not sure how well the leather seats would hold up long term. The gauges are easy to read it did take me awhile to get everything adjusted (but I wouldn't really consider that as to being a design problem)

The Test Drive:
I have had an automatic for the last 2 years so I was expecting to kill the car a few times due to some hills and snow. However not once in the test drive did I kill the car or did it hesitate. The 6 speed manual was extremely simple to operate. The only thing that we couldn't figure out was how to put the car in reverse. It took about 10 min to figure it out (you have to pull up on the handle and then put it in reverse). I headed straight for the highway after leaving the dealership to see what the V6 6 speed combo was made of. There was a base mustang next to me in the other lane. And he was showing off trying to be cool. So I decided to test shifting. I downshifted and took of down the street. The look on the guys face was worth the test drive alone. The gears are easy to find and the clutch is excellent. Indianapolis is going through a lot or road construction so there were a lot of bumps and bad roads. The car did well over them but at times it seemed the car was so stiff that it just kind of jumps over them. That created a somewhat harsh ride quality.

Specifications:
The Hyundai Coupe is offered in either 2.0L 4 cylinder (producing 133hp@4800 rpm) or 2.7L V6 (producing 177@4000 rpm). Both have a standard 5 speed manual with an optional 4 speed shiftronic automatic. The V6 model has an available 6 speed manual available with a package group. Front Suspension on both is an Independent McPherson struts w/Coil springs and a rear Independents Multi-link with coil springs (sport tuned n the V6 models). 4 wheel disc brakes are standard all around abs is optional. 16" silver painted alloy wheels are standard on the base model and the automatic V6 model. 17" Machine-finish alloy wheels are standard on the manual V6's.

Dimensions
Exterior:
Wheelbase 99.6
Length 173.0
Height 52.3
Width 69.3
Track (front/rear) 58.7

Interior:
Head Room (fr/rear) 38.0/34.4
Leg Room 43.0/29.9
Shoulder Room 53.9/50.6
Hip Room 51.6/44.7
Cargo Volume 14.7
Passenger Volume 81.9

EPA:
2.0L 4 cyl. (City/Highway)
5-Speed Manual 23/31
4-Speed Auto 23/30
2.7L V6 (City/Highway)
6-Speed Manual 18/26
5-Speed Manual 19/26
4-Speed Auto 20/26

Fuel Capacity 14.5 Gallons

Pricing:
The base Tiburon (if that's what you want to call it) starts at 16.7K (with destination charge) with the standard package. The only thing that's optional is the rear spoiler, leather seats, sunroof, and abs. The auto starts at 17.6K.

The Tiburon GT V6
Starts at 18.5K with the 5-speed manual transmission, 18.7K for the 6-speed manual and 19.4K for the shiftronic automatic. Options for the GT model include sunroof, abs, aluminum foot covers. And high body spoiler on the GT 6 speed.