The Genesis Coupe has been a great asset to Hyundia’s recent charge up market. In its current form the 2.0T offers a solid entry-level rear wheel drive platform, and the 3.8 offers some solid competition to the Nissan Z, Camaro V6, and Mustang V6. The Genesis has proven a worthy competitor in the lower range of the sports car market for sure, now I think it is time for Hyundai to turn up the heat even more with a few changes to the Genesis Coupe line.   

First off, the 2.0T is vastly underpowered by all accounts. 200hp may be decent for competing with GTis and Civic Sis, but the Genesis Coupe should be above that level altogether. The obvious change that needs to occur is the 2.0T needs to be brought up to the same spec as the one in the Sonata turbo, 274hp. They already are producing the in this spec for the Sonata, so it would literally cost Hyundai next to nothing to implement the change and prices would stay the same. The 2.0T would just be a much more respectable car that would compete with much more serious cars like the Subaru WRX, and Mazdaspeed3 in performance. As far as I am concerned it is a no-brainer.

The V6 model was updated this year to make 333hp, or as much as an Audi S5 that is double the price.  This increase allows the 2.0T’s increase to work smoothly without risking too much internal competition between models. Overall, because of this recent update, I think the V6 Genesis Coupe is right where it needs to be.

The current Genesis stops at the V6, but many of its competitors do not. I think it needs to compete even higher up in the market with a new, full on sport model that would feature the 429hp 5.0L V8 found in the Equus flagship model and the Genesis Sedan. This addition would allow the Genesis coupe to compete with the Mustang GT, and the Camaro SS, as well as vastly undercut the likes of the BMW M3 and Mercedes C63 AMG.

I envision the Genesis Coupe 5.0R, as I like to call it, to be a full on sport model that would focus more on performance than luxury unlike the other two models. I think a 6 speed manual should be the only gearbox offered, and that it should have a suspension and brake setup that is well above even the current V6 R-Spec offering. The 5.0R should be a proper performance machine that is equally at home on the track as it is on the street, not unlike the Mustang Boss 302, at which I think this Genesis should be aimed.

Marketing wise I know it would work, and be one of the best performance bargains out there. On the Genesis sedan the upgrade from the fully optioned V6 model to the 5.0L V8 costs about $5-6k, so that is the extra money for the upgraded engine and suspension parts there. Taking into account the V6 Genesis top of the line price of around $33k, and adding $6-8k for the upgraded parts gives us a car that would come out to be $39-41k and would offer incredible performance. At this price it would even undercut the Mustang Boss 302 in price by a few thousand, and the base Corvette by an even greater margin. It would also blow away any other offerings from Asia, short of a Nissan GTR,  by an enormous margin.

If Hyundai would implement these basic changes, all of which they are currently set up to do with minimal cost and effort, then it would bring them up even further in the market than they already are. They have been on an incredible roll over the past few years, and I see no reason for them to not want to accelerate things even further by allowing the Genesis to reach its full potential in the market.

-Nick