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Detroit, 1:31 AM
Mon Nov 30
13 posts in the last 24 hours
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11/21/09
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11/20/09
[jalopnik.com]
11/20/09
Hyundai should have designed the coupe's engine bay to accept the Tau V8. Had they done so from the beginning, I don't think it would have cost them too much extra money, and it would give them and aftermarket tuners a lot more flexibility with the platform.
#tips
11/20/09
The whole problem is that they failed to use the same platform for the two cars that share a name, so I wouldn't doubt that you could stuff the Tau V8 in the front of a Coupe but when your V6 already makes 300 HP then whats the point especially when the V6 weighs less.
11/20/09
The Camaro just came out, and the base model has an engine just as powerful as the high-end Genesis coupe (although the Camaro is actually a tenth of a second or two slower due to its weight, though it get better mileage), and the Camaro SS leaves the Genesis in the dust.
The 2011 Mustang will have a base engine more powerful than the Genesis coupe's premium engine, and won't have the same weight disadvantage that the Camaro has. And the 2011 Mustang GT? It, too, will leave the Genesis coupe in a cloud of dust and tire smoke.
Granted, the base price for the highest Genesis coupe trim line undercuts the base Camaro SS and Mustang GT price by a grand or two, but for that extra grand or two, you get a hell of a lot.
Where the Genesis coupe makes the least sense is stacked up against the base models of the 2010 Camaro and the 2011 Mustang, which are at the least it's peer in power, get better mileage, and are more refined than the Genesis coupe; all for a price that is in the same ballpark of a base, 4-cyl Genesis coupe.
Had Hyundai designed a little more growth potential into the Genesis coupe platform by designing it to accept the Tau V8, they could have made the platform more competitive in a broader field.
#tips
11/20/09
11/20/09
The Genesis Coupe is a bit smaller than its domestic competition. I'm thinking a V8 model would be very front-heavy.
11/20/09
11/20/09
11/20/09
@Mixtronic: So can the Camaro and the Mustang. The Challenger? Well, not quite as well, but it's far from scary.
11/21/09
#tips
11/21/09
But the truth is, the majority of people in the non-premium sporty, RWD coupe market (in which the Genesis, Mustang, Camaro, Challenger, 370Z, and RX-8 compete) aren't necessarily Mustang people. They are people out to buy a car in that class, and while they may have a short list, they are likely to consider alternatives based on the deals they can get and other similar criteria.
So yes, the Genesis does indeed compete with the Mustang.
#tips
02/12/09
02/12/09
Sir.
02/12/09
02/12/09
supercharged v8 damnelantra™ FTW
02/12/09
I'll help you out with that! The end result would be amusing as hell.
02/12/09
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02/12/09
I figured out my problem with the Genesis coupe. Its a matter of styling and history. The styling is clunky and unrefined. The Genesis has no history to support it being a well performing, inexpensive driver's car.
If they can get the styling fixed I will look again.
If they put this thing in the no-frills Genesis coupes I might look past the bizarre sheet metal.
02/12/09
02/12/09
Food for thought...
02/12/09
Didn't Hyundai say that the Tau wouldn't fit in the coupe?
02/12/09
02/12/09
I am just somewhat surprised that it doesn't fit in the first place; 4.6 liters really isn't all that big for V8, and if they can cram a 6.2 into the similarly sized Camaro, and a 5.4 into the Mustang, how did they miss the boat on not being able to stuff a 4.6 into the Genesis coupe?
02/12/09
02/12/09
02/12/09
That's very true. I have been trying to find physical dimensions on the Tau, but they just don't seem to have released that data in their spec sheets.
02/12/09
02/12/09
Making a powerful pushrod V8 is about as difficult as falling in love. I've done it quite a few times, it's really, really not hard to do. (Building the V8, I mean. Falling in love, that's a whole other matter.)
Making a powerful, fuel efficient, reliable, lightweight, environmentally-friendly and affordable pushrod V8... that's another matter altogether. Any carmaker can check all those boxes with a DOHC engine. It's not that they're cheaper, it's that they have the ability to fine tune the engine easily without a lot of engineering costs. Most of it can be done with software.
Chevy lucked out. As little as ten years ago, the technology didn't exist to refine the manufacturing process enough to really allow a pushrod engine to compete. But they kept putting a little bit of money in each year, and as the processes caught up, suddenly and unexpectedly, they had a great engine.
It would cost anyone else an absolute fortune to do that again.
02/12/09
It's true. I remember my father telling me that they used to think that the LT1 was the last of the small block pushrods, and that the Lotus-developed LT5 was the future. And then, suddenly the LS1 arrived, and all was good again.
02/12/09
02/12/09
The Camaro isn't all that much bigger:
Camaro:
[www.conceptcarz.com]
Genesis:
[www.conceptcarz.com]
02/12/09
Interesting piece, though.