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By
EWAN KENNEDY
12 February 2006
Tiburon has finally made it in the styling stakes. After trying
for five years with a rather odd shape, which became even stranger over
several facelifts, Hyundai has stunned the critics by producing a model
that looks so much better it’s almost a miracle. Talk about making a
purse out of a sow’s ear!
The awkwardness has been taken out of the front of the Tiburon
by an extensive nose job that gives the car an air of neat
aggressiveness that works well. The frontal changes are
complemented by a taller-than-ever rear wing. The 17-inch alloy
wheels have an all-new design.
Out of sight, but just as important, is an electronic stability
program (ESP) as Hyundai is putting a lot of emphasis on this
potential life saving crash-avoidance feature.
The first public showing of the latest Tiburon at the Brisbane
Motor Show certainly attracted a lot of attention with many
commenting that the car had finally matured to the stage where it
could be treated very seriously in the affordable sports car
segment.
With a real emphasis on ‘affordability’. Because slow sales
have seen Hyundai trim the price of the Tiburon V6 by over $8000
since its 2002 introduction in a desperate attempt to stimulate
buyer interest. Now it has a retail price of only $34,990.
That’s for a sporty coupe with a 123 kilowatt, 2.7-litre V6
and a six-speed manual gearbox sitting beside it. (Incidentally,
the four-cylinder Tiburon is no longer on the Australian market.)
Just $1790 more buys you a four-speed automatic transmission, a
pretty reasonable price in this day and age. It has tiptronic-type
manual overrides.
For a limited time Hyundai is offering a special edition in the
same Vivid Blue hue in which it was displayed the Brisbane show.
That model, the Tiburon TS, comes with a standard powered sunroof,
black leather trim, and TS badges, and mongrammed carpets with a
TS logo.
Coupes are out of favour in Australia at present, replaced in
the popularity department by, of all things, 4WDs and utes.
Toyota's seemingly evergreen Celica after being a stunning seller
for years slowly faded from the scene over a period of two to
three years, until being quietly withdrawn from our market midway
through 2006.
Which may well have left a gap into which Hyundai Tiburon can
now jump with gusto. Now that the bargain-priced Tiburon has
finally made it in the appearance stakes, there may well be a rush
by buyers to get back into coupes, particularly if they are still
spooked by last year’s petrol price scares. Interesting times
may be just around the corner in the trendy-car scene in
Australia.
© Copyright
Marque Publishing Company
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