Hyundai took a gutsy and expensive gamble by developing a rear-drive platform, but the payoff in looks and performance is right there to see in the 2010 Genesis Coupe.
Notice the short overhangs past the front wheels and take in that low stance. That's not really possible with a front-drive car; too many mechanical bits and pieces are up front when the drive wheels are there.
Then there's the 55-to-45 front and rear weight distribution. I know, it's closer to 50-50 in the Genesis sedan, but the short rear deck of the coupe makes perfect front-rear balance difficult, if not impossible.
Hyundai types, such as marketing vice-president John Vernile, say a 55-to-45 ratio is pretty impressive on paper, but the proof is revealed on the road, or better still, on the race track.
So that's why we drove an hour from Sin City to Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch in the oddly named Pahrump, Nev. We roared about the 2.4-kilometre, 10-turn handling circuit, dipped and darted through the tight, coned-up autocross run and then went drifting on the skid pad.
Conclusion: This Hyundai handles.
With that, along with pricing and the styling, the Genesis Coupe throws down the gauntlet to other brands selling cars like the Chevrolet Camaro, Ford Mustang, Nissan Altima Coupe, Honda Accord Coupe, Mitsubishi Eclipse and even the Chevy Cobalt SS.
Those are the realistic targets, the ones playing in the Hyundai's $24,495-$34,995 price range.
But Hyundai dreams of winning over premium coupes such as the Infiniti G37 and the BMW 335i, maybe even Nissan's 370Z sports car. Perhaps that explains why Vernile let drop this tidbit: "Our car's structure is 24-per-cent stiffer than the [last-generation BMW] M3 coupe," the E46 version launched with the 2000 model year.
What he's saying is that this car is like all Hyundais across the brand's complete range - more for less, but not second-rate to even the best premium brands.
Speaking of less, the four-cylinder Genesis is a stunning 126 kilograms lighter than a BMW 335i coupe and an even more impressive 146 kg lighter than an Infiniti G37 Coupe.
All well and good, but let's get real here. The Genesis Coupe will never be a big seller and it competes in a Canadian market segment that has sales in the 20,000-a-year range. That's in a total market last year of about 1.6 million new vehicles.
Hyundai might sell 2,000 a year if all the stars align, and that would be a monstrous achievement, though not a hugely profitable one. Hyundai Canada sold 80,632 vehicles in Canada in 2008, most of them Sonata sedans, Accent runabouts and Santa Fe SUVs.
In terms of raw sales numbers, the Genesis Coupe is next to insignificant. But as an image builder, Hyundai has never had anything like it. Don't even mention the front-drive Tiburon in the same breath, by the way; it's not in this car's league.
In fact, as an additional image boost, Hyundai Canada is taking the Genesis Coupe racing in the Castrol Canadian Touring Car Championship Series starting next month.
If you're reading a bit of chutzpah into all this, it is something Vernile and his crowd are trying hard to play down.
Yet the facts make that a bit hard for Hyundai: the Genesis has now won a closet-full of awards, various reliability and quality research says the whole Hyundai lineup is pretty darn good, crash-test ratings are strong and sales in Canada were up 25.5 per cent last month - in a market down by 15 per cent over all. If only resale values were better.
The Genesis Coupe, already in dealerships, will help. As a matter of fact, once you've driven it, you most assuredly will scrap all your prejudices and preconceived notions about South Korean cars.
