At the end of the 1995 Formula 1 season, the recently crowned world champion, Michael Schumacher left the Benetton team to re-build Ferrari. The men that replaced him at Benetton spent most of their winter crashing his old car. I particularly remember a spectacular image of Jean Alesi completely airborne and sideways heading for the tyre wall.
Above it the headline, “Who can drive Michael’s Car?”
What has this got to do with a Hyundai Coupe? If you bear with me I will explain. Before writing about a car I like to think about who it is designed for. If it seems to fit the needs of the person the engineers had in mind, then what I think doesn’t matter. I agonised for sometime as to who this car was for, and whether it would work for that target audience or not.
As you walk past the Coupe, especially approaching from the front three-quarter views or the side, it looks like a sexy little GT car. If you switched the oval-shaped ‘H’ symbol on the bonnet for an oval-shaped ‘L’ I think lots of people would take it to be a Lexus. So a premium sports car. When you get into it, the interior backs this up. In the top-of-the range test car there is red leather against black trim and bodywork. All the dials and buttons look and feel good. On the dashboard, some of the cheap-looking chrome and plastics only start to raise question marks when you go looking for them. So for a moment I thought that this might be appealing to the driver that wants luxury on a budget.
Then I started the engine and this growl bellowed around the walls of the NCP. I was excited, perhaps this car was going to really blow me away. The first long-trip told me that this was not a car for long journeys. The growl that is titillating when you tootle about or thrilling when you accelerate past something becomes tiring over coupe of hours at consistent revs.
So if the trim quality isn’t quite there and it sounds like a racing car, perhaps the audience is real drivers? People not interested in peripherals and image. It was testing this theory that the Coupe gave me one of the most entertaining ‘moments’ I have had recently. I was on a stretch of dual carriageway punctuated by several roundabouts with short sprints in between. The acceleration and the power of the engine inspires confidence and progress but the handling just doesn’t seem to be there. It is really hard to carry speed safely into the apex of the roundabout and get the power down as you exit. I was swept up in a massive streak of under steer.
Now I have crashed racing cars so I know a little bit about the moment on a corner’s apex when a car ‘lets go.’ But dramatic under steer is something I last experienced in a 1980s Fiat Panda. I was about to conclude that this probably wasn’t a driver’s car either. Then I remembered Jean Alesi flying in a Benetton.
It is not a driver’s car in the normal sense of making it easy for you with lots of grip and precise steering. But it is a driver’s car in that to go round corners fairly quickly, you have really know the car. You have to drive it from knowledge rather than feel. Which is a different skill, but can also be satisfying. You have to really concentrate and be prepared to adjust your lines.
This car is ideal for someone who has a daily commute and wants to let the automatic gearbox deal with the queues in the city, but can then have a short dash with a soundtrack from the engine rather than Radio 2.
Although, if that’s you, you will want to consider the less thirsty and more common 2.0 litre engine. Not only is it cheaper to run but there are more on the used market so there will be a lot more choice.
Summary
The Hyundai Coupe looks as good, if not better than the Toyota Celica. It is better value. It has a 5-year warranty, which means that whether buying new, nearly new or even at M.O.T. age you are going to be unlucky to get any major bills.
One friend said it sounded like ‘that car from Back to the Future.’ Meant as a compliment about the great engine note, it crossed my mind that there are other comparisons to draw with a DeLorean. They are both great looking cars that create debate. If you are in the market for a good value GT car, you should test-drive one, and make your own mind up.
Test car details:
Hyundai Coupe SIII 2.7 V6 Auto.
0-62 in 8.4 seconds.
Combined MPG 27.4.
£19,597- £20,597 on the road.
Words: Matthew Tumbridge