|
By
EWAN KENNEDY
31 March 2008
If there's one thing that differentiates the low-cost
mass-market car from the prestigious European marques it’s the
use of front-wheel drive in the former and rear-drive in the
latter.
The ever-ambitious South Korean maker, Hyundai, is well aware
of this distinction. And is aiming to substantially lift its
public perception by building an upmarket rear-drive machine.
Hence the birth of a sporting coupe called the Hyundai Genesis.
These days it’s possible to engineer a front-wheel drive car
so that at everyday speeds it almost feels as though the rear
wheels are driven by the engine. But as soon as you pedal a bit
harder than average the added mass over the front wheels upsets
the overall balance. Thus rear-drive is the choice of all who like
their cars to have nimble handling and the ability to change
direction sharply.
Hyundai Genesis has just been unveiled to a fascinated public
at the New York Motor Show. We are delighted to report that it
looks like a Korean machine, not like yet another Asian imitation
of a European car. Just look at the unusual shape of the
headlights, the rising lines of the in-bumper air intakes, and the
strong upward swoops of the style lines on the sides of the coupe
to see what we mean.
In the past Hyundai has had to back off its Korean styling
themes following criticisms from people who think that only the
Europeans know how to pen cars. Let's hope the Hyundai chiefs in
Seoul stick with their styling guns this time around. The shape
certainly looks good in the metal, just ask anyone who saw the
concept Genesis at the recent Melbourne International Motor Show.
Having said all that on the matter of body shape, the Genesis
does take the European line in engine options in offering both
four- and six-cylinder variants. There's a hot 2.0-litre
four-cylinder powerplant fitted with a turbocharger to boost its
output to as high as 158 kW. And a full-on 3.8-litre V6 with a
very healthy 228 kW.
In full-on sports car manner Hyundai says the latter powerplant
can take its new coupe past 100 km/h less than six seconds after
it leaves the start line.
In true sports car fashion the standard transmission with both
engines will be a six-speed manual. To cater for the American
market automatic transmissions are offered behind both engines.
Though it could be said the Genesis is a descendant of the
Hyundai Coupe and later the Hyundai Tiburon, it really does take
an altogether different approach to car design. Especially in its
mechanical makeup and in pushing a long way further upmarket.
Hyundai is playing it cautiously at this stage by saying the
Genesis is aimed at tackling cars like the Japanese Lexus and
Infiniti (Nissan) sports models, not those sports coupes that hail
from Europe. But there seems little doubt that the ambitious
people at the helm of Hyundai would eventually like to tackle the
English, German and Italian car marques at their own game.
The good news is that the Hyundai Genesis is no longer a
concept that has been floating around motor shows for too many
years. In New York this week it finally became a reality. However,
it won’t be on the road until 2010. The bad news is that Genesis
has not definitely been scheduled for Australia, although the
local importer says it’s very keen to have the car on our roads.
© Copyright
Marque Publishing Company
|
