Friday 24th June 2016

Shed of the Week: Hyundai Coupe

The thinking man's sports coupe? At £675, don't think about it too long!

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The Hyundai Coupe is one of those cars that you feel should have done better than it did. Surveys have shown that ordinary Joes in the street really rated its looks, particularly in the much cleaner and more attractive second-gen bodystyle, unencumbered as it was by the (facelifted) Mk 1's goofy front end.

This isn't the Shed...

Fans love their Coupes, but there aren't that many of those folk around. Why is that? Is it because they were regarded as a midlife crisis choice for cougar-seeking men wearing medallions, Old Spice and aviator shades? Or is it something as basic as car enthusiasts not accepting Hyundai as a genuinely sporting brand?

Ignore all that. The way to approach this bright-looking Shed is to think of it as an Alfa or something else with a similarly Latin bent, but with nowhere near as many potential issues.

In fairness to the Italian motor industry, Shed does remember UK Hyundai Coupes having alarm-related problems. In fairness to the Korean motor industry, he also seems to recall that these alarms were retro-fitted here at the port of entry. In fairness to British ports of entry, they were handy if you wanted to go somewhere else.

Moving on from all that kerfuffle, what do you get in a Hyundai Coupe, or Tiburon as it was known outside Europe (Spanish for shark), or Turbulence as it was known in the domestic Korean market?

In this particular case, you get a 2003 model, which means the desirable Mk2 shape. The Mk3 is even nicer, but they didn't come along until 2007 and aren't yet in Shed territory (although they're not far off).

... neither is this...

You get a 2+2 that is more than agreeable to drive, especially (not to say unusually) in big-engine guise. Heaven knows that PH has no beef with big oily six-cylinder lumps, but sticking one into a chassis that's also got to function successfully with a smaller four-pot sometimes results in compromised nose-pushing handling.

The Hyundai feels like it's been designed for the big engine first, with the little 'uns coming later. Grip and handling are surprisingly well sorted. With 167hp at 6,000rpm, it's amply rather than massively powerful, but our Shed has the six-speed manual for you to play with. Some owners did report heaviness and/or notchiness with that, but things improve with warmth and good quality oil.

An average mpg figure in the high 20s sounds a bit depressing but the trade-off is a decidedly unshabby 137mph top end and a 0-60 time in the low eights or high sevens, depending on your dexterity with the left boot. Bolt on a few inexpensive induction and exhaust mods and you're easily into the low sevens or (whisper it) high sixes.

In V6 manual spec the Coupe came with the rather nice 17-inch alloys you see here. The back seats fold individually and the boot is large so it's even a bit practical.

... and nor is this! But it's still worthy

Coupe downsides? Well, you probably wouldn't want to use one as a taxi, as the turning circle is biggish. The rear brake pipes on '02 and '03 cars are known to corrode, but there was a technical service bulletin issued on that so the chances are that this has been rectified on our Shed. Other than that, reliability is excellent. If there seems to be a problem with the alarm this can usually be fixed by resetting the fobs.

Because nobody seems to like Hyundai Coupes, you get amazing value. £675 for a stylish car with such a comprehensive spec is pretty decent. Add in the one-owner full service history, new rad, new wheel bearings and new clutch (this was a weakness on the V6s), and things start to look interesting. Or at least, they should do.

For reasons of weather, idleness or something good suddenly coming up on the box, the vendor has only supplied one pic. That is regrettable, especially as the V6 has a smooth Alfa-esque leather interior. To make up for it, here are some random Coupe snaps snaffled off the web at great risk of copyright litigation.

These are not, repeat not, shots of the Shed. Just in case you were thinking of suing Dan for that as well. He can't afford it, being from Yorkshire and everything.

Here's what a V6 Coupe can sound like with a few mods.

And here's the ad for this one.

SINGLE OWNER, FULL SERVICE HISTORY
NEW CLUTCH, NEW RADIATOR, NEW WHEEL BEARINGS
Adjustable Steering Column/Wheel - Reach,Air Bag Driver,Air Bag Passenger,Air Bag Side ,Alarm - Remote Control,Alloy Wheels - 17in,Anti-Lock Brakes,Armrest - Front,Body Coloured Bumpers,Central Door Locking - Remote,Climate Control,Computer - Driver Information System,Cruise Control,Electric Windows - Front,Electronic Stability Programme,Front Fog Lights,Head Restraints - Front,Immobiliser,In Car Entertainment - CLARION Radio/CD,Mirrors External - Electric/Heated,Mirrors Internal - Auto Dipping Rear View,Power-Assisted Steering,Seat t - Two Seat,Seat Height Adjustment - Driver,Seat Lumbar Support - Driver,Seating Capacity - Four Seats,Spare Wheel - Space Saver,Speakers - Six,Sunroof Electric - Glass Tilt/Slide,Traction Control System,Upholstery Leather.

 

[kellyt]

Hell no. I'd rather walk.

[daveco]

Good shed and it will likely go on forever.

I remember these being called a budget 550 Maranello at some point

[dunnoreally]

Were these supposed to have been unsuccessful? I see the things everywhere.

From the reviews I've read, the problem with them is that the looks make cheques that neither the performance nor the handling can cash; get past the styling and they're apparently a bit dull. I'd always mentally written them off in favour of the Celica because of that.

Mind you for v6 coupe that looks like that at that price, I'd love to hear that the press were wrong.

[Bennet]

I'd be really interested to know whether the author has driven one. As a former owner - honestly, though terrible at nothing, they're mediocre at everything. The only standout feature is the sound - nice (if a little metallic) in the upper rev range and it growls nicely on startup. Not especially short on grip, but then neither is my dad's diesel Avensis and it's about as engaging to drive. Poor mpg for the pace. Crashy ride as well. Much happier with the far older and slower mondeo I now tool around in.

Try a celica instead. (Or even a cougar, if you could find one in acceptable nick.)

[Barchettaman]

Regardless of its (apparent) mediocrity as far as driving dynamics are concerned, you can't deny that it's a lot of handsomeness for £675.

[WigWonder79]

I test drove one of these about 9 years ago, can't remember if it was a 2.0 or V6. I was truly underwhelmed but perhaps I was naive to think that it was a sports car rather than GT (esque) cruiser, I remember the paint quality being a poor, but I think the owner may have parked the car under a tree, and birds took their revenge.

I liked the torque meter, though it was a bit gimicky...

In the end I bought a 306 XSI...

[craigjm]

I had one for a while. Nose heavy and understeering was the norm. Not particularly fast and thirsty at 27mpg combined. Looked good for the money though and back then 5 year warranty

[Mr2Mike]

My wife has a very tidy 2005 2.0L SE and loves it. It's actually pretty nice to drive, firm suspension with almost no body roll and plenty of grip, but performance is a little mediocre by comparision. 40mpg is quite possible on longer runs, though usually closer to mid-30's if I'm driving it...

She's been talking about selling it, but I don't think she'll be too impressed with the money they are fetching - a look on eBay shows there is a huge choice under 1k now.

FWIW it's been reasonably reliable during her ownership, the worst fault was the body control module which suffered some water ingress (fairly common) which stopped the immobiliser working. I repaired a couple of corroded tracks on the PCB and waterproofed it with conformal coating and resealed windscreen. One of the ABS sensors (or possibly a reluctor ring) has died a few days ago and is causing the ABS to activate at very low speeds, so that's a job for the weekend.

[Turbobanana]

My thoughts, based on selling them for 4 years and using them as company cars most of that time:

-Badge snobbery the biggest issue, then and now, already prevalent in this thread. Get over it - Hyundai (and sister Kia) is one of the more successful brands these days because they make cars that work well for sensible money. These were right at the beginning of Hyundai's rise in fortunes and tempted many an owner of more upmarket brands with their combination of looks and value
-V6, although fun, probably not as good as the 2.0 4-pot which, from memory, was only about 20 or so BHP down and a lot more economical
-Talking of power, Hyundai didn't try too hard to push the envelope because they were going for reliability, hence the 5 year warranty (the first of its kind). Target audience (and price) was always sub-Celica
-That said, dealers were very keen to replace stuff like discs / pads waaaaaay before they needed to, in order to maintain that warranty
-If you're over about 6'1" only buy a 1.6 (or one of the rare, special order non-sunroof cars) because you won't fit. Similarly if you have big hair
-Handling is very tyre-dependant: as has been said, it's never ground-breaking but competent, until you put crap tyres and oversize rims on it when it becomes lethal
-Paint was usually a bit orange-peel because they put so much on in order to maintain a deep shine. So I was told...
-My dent man used to love working on them as the metal quality was pretty good, and you rarely see rusty ones

[otolith]

One of the few cars that makes the RX-8's ratio of straight line performance to fuel consumption look not too bad.

[Dion20vt]

What o co incidence! I passed one for sale yesterday, it was a 2007 car in a very light metallic blue. I must admit if it wasn't for that badge you could have mistaken it for a much more expensive GT car! £2.5k they were asking which I thought was good value considering it had only done 35k miles!

[williamp]

A girlfriend had one of these and I rather liked it. Her on the other hand...

[tedman]

Good looking cars, but the engines were never particularly inspiring and a bit low-tech.

[Bennet]

Turbobanana said:

Badge snobbery the biggest issue, then and now, already prevalent in this thread.

Really? Because I just re read the thread and I can't see even one comment about the badge or the brand.

Prevalent - widespread in a particular area or at a particular time.

[J4CKO]

Quite a good looking thing really, remember in the nineties when the first one came out, also a looker, drove one my boss had and loved it, I remember it having a nice view down the bonnet, then they facelifted it and it was an utter abomination, who signed those off ?

Not a huge amount of want but for £675, if you can live with the fuel consumption it is a quite a striking car for the price of a pretty average TV.

[Bladedancer]

It is a coupe but not a sporty one.

[s m]

Bladedancer said:

It is a coupe but not a sporty one.

I wonder if the Genesis Coupe would have been better received?

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/hyundai/genesis/89617...

[MiniMan64]

kellyt said:

Hell no. I'd rather walk.

Why?

[PistonBroker]

I remember a chap I worked with - nearing retirement having just sold his business to the company we worked for - buying one of these new in a fetching shade of dark metallic blue. It didn't look too bad but I imagined it to be a bit mediocre to drive, as suggested here.

A few years later my brother-in-law asked me to look at a 'Hyundai Coupe' he was planning on replacing his Clio 1.2 with. It turned out to be an Accent Coupe. Imagine my disappointment!

[Snubs]

daveco said:

Good shed and it will likely go on forever.

I remember these being called a budget 550 Maranello at some point

I thought it was supposed to be a budget 456?