Jaynesis

Hi all I had a chance to test drive a GC 2.0T Premium with the manual today! Now I currently own a 2001 Tib among other cars that I have turboed with an Alpine Developments kit and was comparing the new car to my car. First off I must say that I was impressed! Overall I really like the car and I can see myself buying one in the next few years. I will watch and wait to see what the potential of the 2.0T is. Also wait to see what bugs may arise being that this is a brand new car, and may have some minor things that Hyundai will update along the way as with any new car.

John the general manager at Integrity Hyundai in Lethbridge, actually let me go on the test drive BY MYSELF. I have had a good relationship with him ever since I purchased my Tiburon over 8 years ago, damn time flies. I came in for regular visits to show him what I had done with the car and he is always great to talk to.

Being the car only had like 100kms on it and out of respect for John I didn't drive the car real aggresive like. Mostly what I was focused on with my test drive was the handling and power delivery of the turbo.

DRIVING:
Turbo lag is pretty much nothing and there is basically no turbo noises what so ever. I was expecting meh acceleration for a car that is like 500+lbs heavier than my Tib but it was quite good, and no torque steer LOL! I really think the average person would be satisfied with the 2.0Ls power being that it has good grunt in the lower revs and has good around town driveability. I was also surprised that with ESC off that it was pretty easy to spin the tires. Much of that probably is due it being -10C outside today, I am sure the GT model would hook up much better with the LSD. The engine does get quite boomy at higher revs. One thing I do like is that the 2.0T actually get better gas mileage than my Tib did stock 43mpg compared to the Tibs 40mpg. (Imperial gallons, not US).

TRANSMISSION:
I found the clutch easy to get used to, the engage point is fairly low but grabs nicely when getting on the gas and shifting quick. The transmission felt excellent, very short throws and thenstick doesn't have alot of play in it. Love the height of the shifter, reminds me of my GFs dads Audi S4. I found the shift position good for my arm length, with my elbow resting on armrest. Overall felt very solid.

STEREO:
I brought along my USB drive to try out the USB interface. At first I thought that lid would hit the drive when closed but it fit fine, the lid is nicely recessed underneath. I just realized I forgot to try the steering wheel controls LOL!! I was busy playing with the buttons on the deck, found it pretty easy to use. One feature that I like is that if you want you can turn the upper dash display off which is nice at night sometimes. My GF especially finds night time lighting in cars too bright. The Infinity sound system actually sounded really good, would be quite satisfied with it, just maybe upgrade the sub for a bit more bump.

INTERIOR:
First of all damn love the seats probably the best I have ever sat in, cradles you just right. I found a comfortable driving position quickly, but it would still be nice to have a telescopic steering column. Overall I like the design of the interior and most areas that you touch frequently are softer plastics. Other areas there are large expanses of hard plastic which cheapens things a bit but fit and finish is excellent. Black black black everywhere, need a bit more color accenting to spice things up, I really like the 2 tone interiors that I have seen in some pics. Oh well a neutral palette to start with and personalize as you like I guess.

EXTERIOR:
Exterior has been covered alot here on the forums so won't post much on that. The droopy rear window has been on alot of peoples dislikes, but I don't mind it. I find that it does give more rearward visibility and for the occasional passenger in the back a less cave-esqe view lol. One thing that my step dad pointed out when he looked at it was the rear window sort of made the rear fender bulge almost look bigger being that the rear window is closer to the rear fender crease than door glass. Sort of an optical illusion of sorts. Never thought about that one before.

UNDER THE HOOD:
This area I am really interested in like many of you because of TURBO, but also because I like to tinker under the hood myself. Being that a V6 can fit under the hood there is a good amount of room to get at most things for repairs/mods. There is lots of room on the passenger side where the turbo resides. I think there will be many configurations of manifolds and good sized snails that can inhabit this area. The air intake setup for the engine reminds me of my GFs dads old BMW 3 series with the air scoop above the radiator. A CAI to replace this would be quite short as the turbo inlet is not far away. I also noticed that the oil filter sits straight up under the block on the front passenger side, looks like oil changes will be easy. The fuel rail looks like it would come out easily, sits right on top with little in the way. It sounds like the fuel rail will be something alot of people will be removing to upgrade injectors. The ECU is right in the engine bay which is nice instead of being buried under the dash somewhere, it is located at the base of the windshield on the drivers side.

PICS!!!!:
There is actually more room beside the turbo than it looks like in the pics


Siemens ECU location base of windsheild on drivers side



I will most likely drive the v6 soon and the 2.0T more when the weather is a bit better. Hope you guys find some of this information useful! I would like to go back with a video camera to get a better view for everyone that hasn't seen the 2.0T engine bay in person yet. Enjoy!

 

hkerekes

The downpipe looks really small. It might be the pics tho.

SUB-GEN

nice review.

DragNRacing

nice writeup! thank you

Jaynesis

The pipe you are seeing in the pics is the actual exhaust pipe and flex pipe lower down, that is why it looks small.

Moosh

Thanks for the test drive write-up! I have this scheduled to be posted on GenesisDrive at 8AM tomorrow!