2013 Hyundai Genesis Coupe 3.8 Track: A true Enthusiasts Car? - Ignition Episode 7 - video Dailymotion

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On this episode of Ignition

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00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:04 This week on Ignition, we find out

00:06 if the Genesis Coupe gets the enthusiast car formula right.

00:09 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:15 The Hyundai Genesis Coupe has never been a beautiful car.

00:18 And with this latest update, Hyundai's

00:20 ensured that it won't be anytime soon.

00:22 But that's not the most important part.

00:24 What is is that the V600, this thing's hood,

00:26 now makes 348 horsepower.

00:29 Now that's more horsepower than you get in a Nissan 370Z.

00:32 And the power comes from the addition of direct injection,

00:35 which also increases torque to 295 pound feet.

00:38 Now that's nice and all, but what I'm more interested in

00:41 is how this car behaves.

00:42 You see, this is the classic sports car recipe

00:45 when all enthusiasts should enjoy.

00:47 It has a big engine.

00:48 It has six-speed manual transmission

00:51 and its rear-wheel drive.

00:52 On top of that, the car behind us

00:54 also has a Torsen limited slip differential,

00:57 larger anti-roll bars, firmer spring rates,

00:59 and larger front and rear brakes.

01:01 It's called the Track Edition.

01:03 And I think we can put that name to the test.

01:05 [MUSIC PLAYING]

01:12 You know, it's been so long since I've

01:14 launched a rear-wheel drive car with a manual transmission,

01:16 I've almost forgot how to do it.

01:18 Good thing the Genesis Coupe makes it easy.

01:20 You dial in about 2,500 RPMs and just dump the clutch.

01:24 Ride out the wheel spin, grab second.

01:27 That chirp is good.

01:28 This transmission sometimes can pause in between shifts,

01:30 like just there.

01:31 0 to 60 comes in 5.2 seconds.

01:35 And they're fourth at 100 miles an hour.

01:37 Quarter mile goes 13.8 seconds at 102 miles an hour.

01:41 Respectful performance from the Genesis Coupe.

01:46 All right, 60 to 0 braking.

01:51 Let's see what we can do.

01:54 Pedal feel pretty good.

01:55 It dances around quite a bit.

01:56 Our best stop from 60 is 112 feet.

01:59 OK, traction control off, stability control off.

02:04 Figure 8 test is go.

02:06 All right, so we're beginning the figure 8 test

02:09 with the Genesis Coupe.

02:10 And this car's interesting, because it

02:11 does things that I really like, and it does

02:13 things that I really don't like.

02:14 What I don't like is that it understeers heavy on turn-in,

02:17 no matter what you do.

02:19 You can go in fast, go in slow.

02:21 You can trail brake.

02:22 You can just chuck it in.

02:23 It's going to understeer, no matter what.

02:26 What I do like is when you start getting aggressive

02:28 with the throttle, it'll start to slide.

02:30 And it slides gleefully, just like that.

02:33 So controllable, so much fun to do.

02:36 It makes you go slower, because you

02:38 want to keep sliding everywhere.

02:40 So not too great when you're setting a lap time,

02:42 but a lot of fun when you just want to show off.

02:44 That's good stuff.

02:49 Now we have the test data, but that only

02:51 paints part of a car's picture.

02:53 The rest, well, I've come up with four criteria

02:56 that I believe makes an enthusiast car special.

03:00 The first is visual appeal.

03:02 You should want to look at your car.

03:03 When you walk away after you park it,

03:05 you should want to take a last look before you have to go

03:07 wherever it is you need to go.

03:09 And while I like the majority of the Genesis,

03:11 its proportions are nice.

03:13 Its rear 3/4 looks like a proper rear-drive car.

03:17 But I can't understand the front end.

03:19 It looks like what happens when you stick your head out

03:21 the window of a moving car.

03:23 And those vents in the hood, they're fake.

03:25 On balance, I give the Genesis a B-.

03:28 Secondly, the car should sound aggressive.

03:31 [ENGINE REVVING]

03:34 [TIRES SCREECHING]

03:37 Now I really admire the way Hyundai's tuned

03:40 the exhaust on this V6.

03:41 You get all the growl you would want,

03:43 but not much of the drone on freeway speeds.

03:47 Even downshifts, you get a nice verbal when you match revs.

03:51 [ENGINE REVVING]

03:53 I got to give Hyundai's sound design A.

03:59 The third most important thing are the driver inputs.

04:02 Your steering, your shifter, your pedals.

04:04 They should all engage you, make you want to drive harder,

04:06 faster, and better.

04:08 Now while the shifter throws nicely,

04:11 I don't miss shifts too much.

04:14 It does feel a little rubbery.

04:16 I'd have to give the driver inputs on whole a C-plus.

04:19 [TIRES SCREECHING]

04:23 Now the fourth one is the rate of lateral slip

04:27 during high-yaw events, or basically

04:29 what we like to call drifting.

04:30 [TIRES SCREECHING]

04:36 The Hyundai enters slides so easy.

04:38 It's so controllable.

04:40 It's almost hard not to do it.

04:42 [TIRES SCREECHING]

04:46 You get a lot of understeer.

04:49 But when you're on the power, it'll

04:52 do that until you run out of tire.

04:55 That's what's fun.

04:56 I got to give the way this thing drives an A-plus.

05:00 [TIRES SCREECHING]

05:06 The Genesis Coupe is almost there.

05:08 It gets 90% of that enthusiast car formula right.

05:12 And I'm sure that with a few tweaks,

05:14 it'll be in the front of the pack.

05:15 Tweaks like a revised suspension,

05:17 tweaks like a new shifter.

05:19 But I don't mean to sound disappointed.

05:22 I'm not at all.

05:23 I'm happy this car exists.

05:24 I'm happy cars like this exist.

05:26 I'm happy that in this day and age of eco-sensitivity,

05:29 you can go out and buy a manual rear-drive simple sports

05:33 coupe for not a lot of money, whether it's this, the 370Z,

05:37 the upcoming Subaru BRZ, or the Scion FR-S.

05:41 Cars like these show that we are living

05:43 in the rebirth of the enthusiast era.

05:45 And that's something we should all be happy about.

05:48 [MUSIC PLAYING]

05:51 [TIRES SCREECHING]

06:00 [TIRES SCREECHING]

06:04 [TIRES SCREECHING]

06:12 (tires screeching)

2013 Hyundai Genesis Coupe 3.8 Track: A true Enthusiasts Car? - Ignition Episode 7

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