Hyundai Tiburon

An exciting new coupe from Hyundai threatens to put a stranglehold around the necks and wallets of youthful performance enthusiasts this fall when the sleek Tiburon goes on sale. At a time when automotive styling has shifted toward rolling jelly beans, Hyundai has boldly penned a flared-fender coupe with an aggressive appearance befitting the name Tiburon, which means shark in Spanish. Derived from the HCD-II concept car first shown three years ago, the muscular production Tiburon also seems to draw visual inspiration from the Toyota Celica and to adopt interior cues from the Mitsubishi Eclipse and Ford Probe, effectively extracting the strengths of its competitors and distilling them into a unique car.

Ovoid head- and foglamps, along with delicately sculpted body lines, bear a family resemblance to the Elantra, which in some ways served as the basis for the Tiburon. It was implied at the Geneva Auto Show, when the Tiburon was unveiled, that a pair of DOHC engines would be offered, leaving us to conclude that a variation of the Elantra's 1.8-liter/130-horsepower DOHC inline-four Beta engine will serve as the base powerplant, with a derivative 2.0-liter/138-horsepower engine available to increase the fun factor of this affordable sportster. Like the 1.8-liter, the 2.0 has a cast iron block paired with an aluminum head. It inhales fresh air through a forward-facing intake that efficiently feeds through the narrow space beneath the hood. At the back end, exhaust exits through a chromed twin-tip pipe.

The smooth power delivery of our preproduction car was devoid of the raucous top end found in some of its competitors. Shipped to the front wheels through a four-speed automatic on our test car, the 138 horses felt quite tame, yet the Tiburon was responsive to a throttle jockey's input. Although the horsepower peaks at a heady 6000 rpm, the 4.35:1 final drive puts those ponies to the pavement without delay. And as with the 1.8-liter found in the Elantra, the majority of the torque is available from 2000 rpm up to the estimated 4800-rpm peak. The standard five-speed manual may be better-suited to high-strung enthusiastic driving, but the auto shifter's smooth gear changes, within both Power and Normal modes, contribute to the car's overall refined feel. Factory estimates peg 0-60-mph sprints with the five-speed at about 8.5 seconds, though the automatic we drove felt about a second slower.

The front fully independent MacPherson strut and rear multilink suspension was tuned by the engineering wizards at Porsche. For a sport-oriented coupe, the handling is thoroughly competent, with a favorable balance between compliance and road-holding that most drivers would appreciate. Our Tiburon FX was fitted with disc brakes at each corner and the optional four-channel anti-lock system.

Like other recently designed Hyundais, the Tiburon's interior is richly textured and tightly constructed. The upscale-looking wraparound dash envelops the driver in a modern cockpit, distinguished by elliptical gauges and canted central ventilation outlets. Adjustable-height seatbelts and well-contoured two-tone cloth bucket seats provide front seat comfort. Back seat occupants will have decent legroom, but will suffer from the nonexistent headroom typical of 2+2 coupes.

While intelligently positioned interior switches and gauges reflect Hyundai's ergonomic-design efforts, the standout feature is the optional stereo; the six-speaker AM/FM/cassette system produces crisp reproduction even at parent-deafening volumes.

Beyond aesthetic design, the Tiburon features a handful of well-placed convenience items such as storage nooks, a change holder, and in the FX, a pop-open eyeglass holder in the headliner and a center armrest console with additional storage. Beneath the rear hatch lies ample cargo space, which can be increased by utilizing the split-folding rear seat.