There is a 2011 3.8 Rspec which is essentially a 3.8 track/with camber bolts and almost every single luxury bit cleansed. It also replaces the 3.8 Base you was referring to. If you're planning on buying the V6 Mustang without the track package then I heard its not worth it. A member test drove a base V6 and said it felt underpowered compared to his base V6 gencoupe.

So I say the best advice is a test drive.

 

Simply Put...


Genesis will turn more heads, get more attention, and i think is more fun to drive around the city then the new mustang.

Mustang IS faster (comparable highway speeds tho). better fuel economy. But chances are your neighbour, his daughter and great uncle & priest have one too. Just saying!!!!

Both nice cars, depends on what you want.

 

This has been discussed so many times before.

2 days ago: http://www.gencoupe.com/off-topic/42818-2011-mustang-v6-test-drive.html

His comments summed up my thoughts from the test drive I took: "So far the car has lived up to everything i've heard about it. Right up until the moment i put my foot down. The car felt extremely underpowered. I kept saying to myself there is no way this car has 305 hp. No matter how hard i pushed the pedal, the car would not GO!!! I dont know what it was, but this car felt just as slow as the older generation."

Go drive one and experience the disappointment for yourself.

Another user points out "the V6 Mustang NEEDS the aggressive gearing of the sports package to attain the performance the magazines were getting...but at the same time, kiss those MPG ratings goodbye."

 

IMO

Put some stickier, wider tires on the GC 3.8L to match the Mustang and then do more comparisons.

 

I have always been of the mind set with mustangs that its the V8 Gt or nothing.... I see a V6 and automatically think that guy settled for the cheaper model, or no offense, its a woman. I think its great what ford has done with the new performance, however to see a v6 mustang on the road I would not give it a serious second look.... its still just the entry level model to me.

Now with the Genesis, each trim level and engine size has its own legitimate place on the road. The 2.0t is not a compromise for price sake, many would buy this engine size for the modding capability even if they could afford the V6..... track vs non track is also not necessarily a compromise as many guys would mod suspension, wheels, brakes, etc. or perhaps just prefer the more comfortable daily ride of the non track. I have the V6gt (canadian version of the US track), I bought this model because I have no intention of any mods and wanted all the possible options I could get out of the box. The power is great, pulls in all gears pretty good..... sure it could always be faster, but I have the ability to pull away from 90% of the cars on the road already if need be.
The looks and comments I get on a daily basis from strangers is unbelievable, people aren't just saying "I can't believe its a Hyundai!" they are saying "that is a hot car!".... period! I highly doubt you will get that in an entry level mustang..... ever. I am not against mustangs, I drove a 2003 centennial edition mustang GT convertible for 3 years... that car was a lot of fun and got a lot of looks (being a special edition with the roll bar helped) BUT was a top end model.
At the end of the day..... its how you feel when you look in the driveway and see your ride sitting there. As for me I get upset when I have arrived were I'm going, I don't want to stop driving! I recommend taking both cars for a good test drive.... the GC just feels like you are driving a true sports car, the mustang in my opinion..... not so much.

 

Honestly, I would test drive the mustang and see if the torque curve annoys you as that is everyone's biggest complaint. It sounds like you really need to get the short gearing on the 'stang to get the most out of it. I'm not entirely sure I understand everyone's complaint with the high RPM torque curve as when I floor my 2.0T going 65 mph in my highest gear, I'm not going anywhere either. So, I read those reviews with a bit of skepticism. Any way you cut it, the V6 'stang is going to be faster than a stock 2.0T and should be faster than the 3.8 Genesis. The biggest consideration that I would have is that it's a FORD. And this isn't me just trashing domestics, it's the fact that my friends girlfriend has a focus that has had a problem every other week, literally, and my brother just had to have the transmission on his Fusion rebuilt and it's a 2010. He hasn't done anything to the Fusion either, so it's not like that transmission was beat to death. On paper the V6 'stang looks great but I would have serious reservations about the quality.

 

re: Ford

As a Ford owner myself (my daily driver truck) who has owned their products in the past, too? I have to agree with you. Ford is really good at building vehicles that have attractive purchase prices, but which are designed to break regularly - so Ford makes money long after the sale, on parts and service.

EG. My truck's A/C quit working recently.... Seemed like a freon leak. Turns out the compressor itself was leaking, so close to $875 to repair!! Lucky for me, I anticipated Ford's products would fail so I bought mine with an extended warranty. Total repair cost was a $100 deductible. Also had to spend about $500, a while ago, to fix the digital odometer - since it started blinking off more and more often, until you normally couldn't see your mileage anymore. This is a truck with less than 60,000 miles on it, mind you ... so the worst is surely yet to come.

 

One comment about modding - in order to match the V6 'stangs performance, you're going to have to have full bolt-ons at the very least and possibly an upgraded turbo. That's a lot of cash and a lot of parts and no more warranty. Just something to consider. The fastest stock turbo 1/4 time is around 13.7 seconds. The V6 'stang is something like 13.6 stock.

 

One comment about modding - in order to match the V6 'stangs performance, you're going to have to have full bolt-ons at the very least and possibly an upgraded turbo. That's a lot of cash and a lot of parts and no more warranty. Just something to consider. The fastest stock turbo 1/4 time is around 13.7 seconds. The V6 'stang is something like 13.6 stock.

I am assuming you are talking about the 2.0t... correct?

No stock genesis coupe is hitting 13.7 seconds in the 1/4th. You would need some kind of tire upgrade and other mods to do that.

 

that 2.0t you speak of had like $1,700 invested in it. also the quickest stang v6 was 13.7 in motortrend.

 

Are we splitting hairs over a tenth of a second?

 

nah man, I was just saying.

 

To the op,

1). Don't go looking for extra funds (credit cards). You will end up regretting that.
2). Test drive them and then figure out which is best for you.
3). Ignore what 99.9% of the people here say. Like you said before, this site is extremely biased, and other sites can be too. Just because one member on here says the mustang feels like the last gen v6 mustang, does not mean it feels like the last gen v6 mustang.
4). Don't take someones 'word' on a vehicle. 1 experience with a vehicle, does not make every experience someone else has had with that vehicle the same.
5). Good luck.

O, and ignore the rarity and dime a dozen comments. As much as I like the genesis coupe...it is nothing more than that, a hyundai genesis coupe...it isn't a bugatti. As for the mustang, of course more will be out...the mustang has been around longer, but that doesn't mean a thing. So please ignore those that bring that crap up. Again, GL.

 

I would probably lean more towards the V6 3.8 atm simply because it is a more even comparison, however the 2.0t isnt out (I had a heavily modded DSM at one point) but to avoid going back to the credit card to buy mods Id probably leave it stock for a while minus a few basic mods (intake tune exhaust, nothing major). This does bring up another question; how good are the internals in the 3.8/2.0t. On the dsm you could get 400 hp out of a stock block with little to worry (transmission would be the problem). Or is that still unknown at this point? Thanks for the comments, keep them coming!

 

For the 2.0T: Block sounds like it's pretty good, the rods are generally thought of as the weak point but a decent number of people are running over 350 whp without internals. The clutch is one of the first things to die when you get the power up that high though. Really aren't very many people over 400 whp and those that are, are built (Anyone besides Superdrift that still has a motor?).

 

One thing that bugs me though thusfar is the aftermarket has hit a wall with this car (don't see any forced induction for the V6 and the 2.0t seems to not have much yet either except for a possible EVO X turbo swap, which is kind of backwards to me..). Yes it is a new platform, but I was kind of hoping to have more performance available when I bought mine. I still have a semi sort of dream of winning or at least competing in the tuner class at my local track (basically anything that isn't a V8 RWD car qualifies) and those cars are usually in the low 12s/high 11's range (champ for a while was a v6 mustang that ran 12.0x's). I guess I'm still stuck in the DSM culture where you can get 11's out of a car with a few thousand invested and some good driving...

 

*grumbles*
Though there isnt MUCH on the aftermarket world for the GC yet (its not like you can pick and choose different turbos or superchargers that often) There still is some variety. I went ahead and hit the search button for you.

Power Axels letting people know that they are testing out a supercharger kit but I barely read anything in the 3.8 section so I have no idea how far they've come:
http://www.gencoupe.com/vendor-classifieds-engine/33395-rotrex-gc-3-8-supercharger-kit-available.html

Jay@SFR talking about a 530whp 2.0t kit for the GC
http://www.gencoupe.com/media/37868-sfr-530rwhp-2-0t-genesis-coupe-vid.html

Jay@SFR talking about a 3.8 supercharger kit anywhere from stage 1 (380whp) to stage 3 (500+whp)
http://www.gencoupe.com/3-8-v6/28549-sfr-sfr-supercharger-kit-3-8-v6-coming-soon.html

BeyondRedline's project pheonix for the 2.0T - up to 307whp + 315wtq stage 3 kit on stock internals.
http://www.gencoupe.com/2-0t/30043-beyond-redline-presents-project-phoenix-build-up.html

Lovefab's 382WHP and 324WTQ kit (expensive though) on stock internals still.
LoveFab INC.| Hyundai Genesis 2.0 Turbo System

Basically: Not many people have made kits that requir internal work to be done to the car. This car seems to be very popular in korea though (where there is ALOT of aftermarket support) but unfortunetly finding said products, still having a warranty if something goes wrong, and the extra price of buying things out of country + shipping = Pain in the ass. While in korea this car might be popular - here not so much. In Canada you don't see a single advertisement for this car in any of their adds, only on the site and the occasional dealership parking lot will you see these cars, so the aftermarket popularity isnt as great here. On the other hand - mustangs are VERY popular, I see atleast 10 when I decide to take a 15 minute drive to walmart, so of course its going to be easy to find aftermarket products for it.

These systems are at/close to the limit of the internals on the GC. I'd love to see a fully built GC personally, but unfortunetly thats PRETTY tough to do with the limits of tuning for this car (CMD, PA, or SFR tunes so far, only CMD lets you adjust everything but its a piggy-back, and PA or SFR require you to go to a specific PA or SFR tuning shop if you want to do anything beyond what they sell for kits). So as you can see thats a big hurdle. That and its not like you can tell someone: I want a gtp38 turbo, or I want a td05 instead, or maybe a IHI! Unfortunetaly the manifold / aftermarket hasnt developed these parts yet, let alone the internals to withstand them, or the tune needed to run everything smoothly

 

Is a base model v6 stang without the performance package really going to hit 13.7 ?

On the 2.0t, the injectors & the tiny turbo will bottle neck you at around 240whp. There is also no "open source" tuning solution or stand alone unit that doesn't require heavy splicing.

Beyond Redline offers great staged upgrades (1 to 3) with a reflasher and Dynojet have a piggy back unit that as given us the best 1/4 mile time on the stock turbo.

 

Is a base model v6 stang without the performance package really going to hit 13.7 ?

Hell no. 215/60/17 on the rears with tires designed for super low rolling resistance isn't going to have the grip to get off the line. And then add in the longer gear ratios for better gas mileage.

 

Please just take this only as a personal opinion...I can't tolerate driving a car that almost bankrupted. Plus I hate to see my car being driven by middle aged ladies. Just pick up the one you really like and please stop making this kind of BS threads.

 

Just pick up the one you really like and please stop making this kind of BS threads.

Apologies for trying to be an informed consumer.

 

Thats what Im worried about. I don't mind importing parts, but there are always inherent problems adapting them to fit domestic market vehicles. And I've read most of the threads you've listed (I've been reading a lot on these forums for a long time, just first actual posts) and most of those threads, while promising are lacking in updates, or expired (the project phoenix one I was really following, hasn't had a real update in 2 months) or suffered some sort of setback (evo X turbo swap). Just don't want to jump onto a platform where the aftermarket is very niche or non existant. Id love to see some built cars to see what it can do just as much as anyone else.

 

One more thing if you are going to buy a Mustang....yes! Buy one but buy a 5.0 GT shelby. And if u can't afford to pay close to $60.000 for a Freaking Ford. Then just buy the v6 Genesis coupe...more bang for the Buck and less common in the streets.

 

The mustang is so ugly, I hate retro styling, who wants to live in the past, the mustang is trying to relive its glory days, but they are long gone, its a heavy boat and its not sporty at all. I think its for baby boomers who are having a mid life crisis. I cant stand the Camaro, Mustang or the Challenger, they are all boats. I like the engine from the camaro and that is all, 500 hp naturally aspirated with a few minor mods(ls3 v8) The V6 models of the american retro muscle cars are really lame though, and they look really weak.

The Genesis at least is living in the present, It looks much more graceful. I dont care so much for the engine choices in the Genesis, but the chassis is much better than the american fatso retro cars.

 

If youre going to get a mustang, it has to be a v8. Noone takes a v6 seriously.

while interior quality is improved in the mustang (and fords in general) I can stand the design. i hate the modern/retro styling the domestic companies are doing with their pony cars. Give me something modern.

 

Disappointment across the board

Well I went to the local dealerships today with the intention of getting some test drives under my belt and was disappointed pretty much across the board. The Ford and Hyundai dealerships are part of the same network and are about 2 miles apart.



First I went to Hyundai. The only 2 Genesis coupes they had were a 2.0t automatic base (yuck) and a used 3.8 GT automatic with Nav (not optimal but I can live with it, as motor/trans is the main thing i need to test). Took it on a test drive because a 3.8 auto was still a consideration (along with a 2.0t R spec/track manual and a 3.8 manual base). Salesperson was pretty on top of things, knew his product, and even stranger, used to bracket race built Fox body mustangs :fleshbox: . The real downer here, is that the test drive was WAAAAAAAAY too short. (like all of 5 minutes). The automatic setup was nice, the paddle shift was responsive, the motor had good pickup and I was generally pleased with that aspect. But I didn't get to do ANYTHING that worked the suspension/handling, which was a major downer and didn't do much in the way off messing with the options available. It was normal street driving, nothing that let me flex her legs. Asked the salesman if/when they'd get their 2011s and a bigger inventory and he took my email down and then I proceeded to Ford.



More disappointment. They had a good selection of V6 and V8 Mustangs, however no V6s with gears/performance package. Whats ever stranger is that when I asked the salesperson about the gears/performance package it was a deer in the headlights moment. Now don't get me wrong, she was as nice as they come for salespeople (seriously), but she looked lost. She went inside to ask someone else about it and grab the Mustang brochure. After she came back out she proceeded to regurgitate everything she had been told verbatim (which was what the gears and performance package actually did). Now if I was a salesperson and had a customer ask me about a specific option, I would generally assume the person was asking for a reason. Sigh. So I sort of sat there thinking "are you really telling me what gearing does to acceleration and what the suspension upgrades do to drivablility?". Again, nice lady, but didn't know her product very in depth (she might have been more of a truck salesman because of some of the customer compliments I saw in her office walls refered to trucks). Unforunately they didn't have any on the lot, and didn't seem to want to open one up/volunteer one of the regular V6 manuals for a test drive. She did give me printouts from 2 other dealerships in the area that did have what I was looking for. So I left.



Overall disappointed. Hoped to get a lot more done, but had to settle for 1 test drive. Good thing I live in St. Louis metro and dealerships are all over the place.



TL;DR Went to Hyundai and Ford trying to get testdrives on a few different configurations. Limited inventory saw me with 1 acceptable vehicle, and a rediculous short test drive. Ford salesperson needs to do more research on Mustangs.

 

First, Hello all and thank you to all of you who contribute to this forum. I've been lurking here for awhile, and the info here has been a great resource!

csbassplayer, we have a lot in common... looking at buying a new car within the next few months. The GC has been at the top of my list for awhile, but the 2011 Mustang V6 has piqued my interest as well (albeit slightly and fleetingly). I've even owned a few modified DSM's in the past.

Considering your goal of competing in a series at your local drag strip, I'd recommend going with a 2.0T R-spec. If for nothing else, do it for the gear ratios. The 2.0T has a 3.9 final drive, vs the 3.5 FD in the 3.8 6m, 3.7 FD in the 3.8 6a, and 3.3 FD in the Mustang V6 performance pkg. (Base FD in the Mustang is 2.7... eww).

 

Somehow this year I've seen more GCs than Mustangs...

 

In Puerto Rico? I would like to go to a place where i can actually see that because Ford sells 125,000 copies per year vs Hyundai at 20,000 copies.

 

Update

Figured I'd post an update for those of you who are trying to answer the same tough question I am.

Did some google research on local Ford dealers (in my quest to determine the Genesis vs Mustang winner), and after some searching, I found one with a V6 manual and the 3.31 gears. Off we go to the dealership!



Spent a few minutes browsing (they had probably 20 used mustangs of various vintage/configurations) and then I got approached by a salesman who steered me towards the 2011 V6 I had been looking for. It was a red brick color (the darker red) and it was about as base as base gets, with only the spoiler and gears being the added equipment. The salesman was an older gentleman (early/mid 60s), but he knew his product fairly well. After some basic chit chat we got to the drive. We had to get gas first (he though this was the one they had been test driving, but it was a different car). This one was as new as they came, with a whole 29 miles on the OD. While he was filling it up (I sat in passenger seat while he did the driving to the gas station, and I examined the interior.)



Interior thoughts: I liked this interior more than the 2005-2009 models, but it was very.....meh. A lot of hard plastics, not too lively to be quite honest. Now I realize this is the BASE model, but I was hoping for more (the interior on all of the Genesis models blew this one away). We switched spots to start the test drive, and I knew the guy was a little bit nervous (he reminded me of my drivers ed instructor from high school, not condescending, but more afraid for his life ). I had been driving an auto for a while (both previous cars I owned were manuals, so I knew how to drive it) and managed to kill it at the first stop light . After that it was smooth sailing. The interior sitting in the driver seat didn't seem as bad (the chrome accents and light blue guage color helped), but again, not on par with the Genesis. Then we got to some driving.



Motor and transmission: Now THIS is what I'm talking about! I was impressed, a lot. I honestly thought this was going to be Civic esque power delivery (peaky horsepower numbers and non existant torque), but she moved quite nicely. Did some city driving (it was rush hour) and got on the highway as well (much longer test drive than the one at Hyundai). Ford did good. REAL good. I realize that this might be ONLY the V6 model, but 300 horses is still 300 horses. This thing felt waaaay faster than any V8 GT I've driven up to that point (haven't driven the new 5.0). Didn't do much in the way of handling with this car or the Genesis, but needless to say, it felt relatively responsive (for what thats worth). When we got on the highway, the salesman encouraged me to punch it a bit, so I gladly obliged him :woah: . Yes please more of that! When we got back he took me to a cleared out part of the lot, and showed me the turning radius and how tightly it turned (he said that the Ford engineers trained them to show this to customers), and I must say, again I was impressed. Did a lookover of the car, including the engine bay. Again, he knew more than most people did about the things they sell, he talked about direct injection and pointed out most of the items in the engine bay and so on. Got his card, chatted some more and went my way.



This is deffinately NOT the Mustangs of years past. It feel much more.....lively. Now the Genesis I drove was an automatic 3.8, not the manual, so take that as you will, but this thing felt MUCH faster. It honestly reminded me (power wise) of my DSM before it finally died. Had it not been for the so-so interior trim, it might have won outright right there. It honestly brought back my love-hate relationship with the Cobalt SS. I thought it was a fun to drive, but I couldnt get past the interior. Again, I realize this isn't the mighty 5.0 V8, but this thing is still a lot of fun on the dollar to drive, and still has the same transmission (if I do upgrades in the future). I still have to drive a 3.8 Genesis manual and a 2.0t manual, but something tells me the 2.0t (with its 215 hp) is going to be a bit of a disappointment compared to the 300 horses in the V6 models, so I might skip it. For now I will avoid test driving the 5.0 GT just because I know if I drive it I will spend too much on a car to get one.... Horsepower is addictive!



TL;DR: Test drove a 2011 V6 manual with 3.31 gears. Didn't think the interior was that good, but it was VERY fun to drive. Pleasantly surprised. Still no clearcut winner yet.

 

To the pro-V8, anti-V6 people...

I know there's more to a car than raw numbers, but the previous V8s put out around 300hp and 320lb-ft. The current V6 puts out comparable hp and 280lb-ft. I feel like people who say the V8 is the only way to go are living in the past. Then again, I'm a gadget guy so I come from "the world" of short product-cycles and fast development-cycles. I remember when you had to buy a desktop to get a speedy computer. Nowadays, laptops can be pretty beastly.

My point is that technology is constantly progressing, and the image/perception of various cars should evolve as well.

 

I agree. Huge torque is nice but I have found that 260-280 tq is great in a -3500 lb vehicle. I test drove a G35 Sport one day and I was in love with its torque delivery and it only had 270 lb ft and weighed 3500 lbs with a automatic tranny. I also drove a 350Z with the same engine and it felt like it was more powerful and very quick. V6 all the way for me and D/I is just icing on the cake.

 

I've always loved mustangs, especially late 80's but what I find it lacks a little bit in handling, which I love (don't have independent suspension in the back).
For that reason, I would go for the GC 3.8 (base) unless you are willing to modify the car, then I would go with the 2.0T (rspec). If it was up to me, I would go 2.0T (rspec)