|
By
ALISTAIR KENNEDY
2 April 2007
Hyundai has released the latest version of its Tiburon two-door
coupe with a facelifted body, extra safety features and some interior
upgrades.
One of the lesser-known models in the Hyundai
range, Tiburon has been on sale here since replacing the Hyundai
Coupe in 2002.
While it does have the look of a sports car
Tiburon belongs to the sporty cruiser category of affordable
coupes, a class long dominated by the Toyota Celica and aimed at
those, predominantly young, people who’d love to own a true
sports car but will make do with one that looks the part until
they can earn enough money to step up to the real thing.
Needless to say styling is critical in this market
and Tiburon’s second facelift has completed the job of
transforming Tiburon from a rather gawky-looking car into a real
head-turner. The bonnet has a smoother look flowing down to a new
‘letter box’ air intake and full width lower grille with two
horizontal bars.
The ‘T’ badge has been retained on the centre
of the front bonnet something we’ve never really understood
given the importance of brand identification. The Hyundai
corporate badge is used at the rear.
The rear of the car has also been given a smoother
appearance with stronger shoulders, offset by a higher, more
prominent wing with an integrated LED brake light and bolder,
oval-shaped twin tail pipes. The 17-inch alloy wheels have a new,
more intricate design.
Inside the Tiburon there’s reasonable interior
space for the driver and front seat passenger although the
optional sunroof fitted to the model that we drove caused headroom
to be severely restricted, although this is a widespread problem
for taller people in this type of car. The rear seats are best
left for children.
Safety on the 2007 Tiburon has been enhanced with
the addition of stability and traction control, together with
front side thorax airbags. Ongoing safety equipment includes ABS
brakes with electronic brakeforce distribution (EBD) and load
llimiters.
Other new features include attractive blue
instrument lighting and an integrated auxiliary jack for
connecting iPods and MP3 players.
Tiburon’s suspension has also been tweaked and
provides a nice blend of good road feel without compromising
comfort. Road grip is good and steering feedback is strong making
the little Korean coupe a most enjoyable little car to drive on
your favourite piece of rural road.
Power comes from the same 2.7-litre V6 as before
with only some minor tuning changes which result in power dropping
marginally from 127 kW to 123 kW. Torque remains at 245 Nm at 4000
rpm. At this stage Hyundai has no plans to bring in its more
modern 3.3-litre V6. A four-cylinder engine was offered in the
original Tiburon but is unlikely to return to here.
Transmission options are six-speed manual and
four-speed automatic with tiptronic-style manual override.
Prices start at a very affordable $34,990 for a
manual Tiburon and $36,780 for an automatic.
A limited edition TS version is also available.
Easily recognisable by its vivid blue colour it comes with a
sunroof, perforated black leather interior trim and monogrammed
carpet mats. Initially only 62 of these models will be sold
although, subject to demand, they can be place on special order.
TS models sell for $37,590 (manual) and $39,380 (automatic).
Tiburon’s combination of good looks, competent
on-road ability, price, not to mention the free-kick given by
Toyota’s withdrawal of its evergreen Celica, could see Hyundai
on a winner with this neat little semi-sports car. Add to this
Hyundai’s new five year, unlimited kilometre warranty
(previously limited to 130,000 km) and the package is even better.
© Copyright
Marque Publishing Company
|
