Hyundai's Coupe a real coup: All-new Genesis affordable and incredible

Hyundai’s all-new Genesis Coupe is one of the 2010 model year’s more intriguing propositions. Sport coupes rarely are mainstream sellers, so the Coupe won’t have a big impact on the sales charts, but Hyundai has come up with an interesting car that is cleverly positioned.
The Coupe is unique because of its low price point and the fact its rear wheels do the driving. Affordable sport coupes almost always are derived from the basic structure of inexpensive economy cars — and inexpensive economy cars typically are front-wheel drive.

You usually don’t get rear-wheel drive until you start talking about the more serious money it takes to get a coupe based on more-expensive underpinnings. That’s why most rear-drive coupes these days are from the premium brands such as BMW, Lexus or Mercedes.

The 2010 Genesis Coupe can hit the market with a tempting entry price of just $22,750 because it makes use of the same platform as Hyundai’s Genesis sedan.

The new Genesis Coupe’s lithe responses — the communicative steering is an unqualified treat — exceed what even sport-coupe buyers might legitimately expect from a rear-drive chassis. And because it’s based on a structure designed for a luxury car, there’s an atypically generous 111-inch wheelbase that assures the car doesn’t buck fore-and-aft like a carnival ride.

We can report the Genesis Coupe generally handles superbly, so it can be considered a legitimate and less-expensive alternative to pricier coupes such as the Nissan 370Z, Infiniti G37 or Lexus IS 250. Even the more-expensive Genesis Coupe powered by Hyundai’s 306-horsepower 3.8-liter V-6 starts at still rock-bottom $25,750.

But the best money’s probably spent at the bottom of the Genesis Coupe’s lineup, where the models powered by the athletic 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder maximize the Coupe’s combination of rear-drive and relatively light weight.

We’d recommend the 2.0T Premium trim as the best all-around model, but another $2,500 nets the Track trim, which gets you a bunch of fine mechanical upgrades, such as brakes from the Italian specialist Brembo.