2013 Hyundai Genesis Coupe Gets Facelift, New Engines

Hyundai's Genesis Coupe took everyone by surprise when it came out in 2009.  A brand previously known for building cheap, boring transportation appliances had given us a shapely rear-wheel-drive sports coupe with great weight balance, and a choice of two engines: a tuner-friendly 2.0L Turbo base model, and a 3.8L V6, both available with 6 speed manual or automatic transmissions.

In doing so, they pitched the GenCoupe directly against established musclecars like the Mustang, Camaro and Challenger - as well as against some import sports coupes like the Eclipse, Infiniti G35/G37, Nissan 350/370Z, and the BMW 1-Series.  It's a tough crowd.  And while the Genesis still shines as a driver's car, it doesn't shine as brightly in comparison any more.  Almost all it's competitors have gained extra muscle, so it's time for an update.  The Mustang's 4.6L 3v V8 used to compete against the Genesis' 3.8L V8 (315bhp), but now their 3.7L 24v V6 does that, with 305bhp.  The Camaro V6 is up to 323bhp.  Even the Challenger, which has never been a ton of fun with a V6, now has 300+bhp.

Criticisms were also leveled at the base 2.0L Turbo.  While it's a reasonable daily-driver engine, with 210bhp it was behind the bell curve for turbo technology, despite sharing a lot of DNA with the 4B11T in the Lancer Evo.  All these things have been fixed.

The 3.8L V6 gets the direct-injection setup that first showed up in the refreshed Genesis 3.8L sedan.  In that application it makes 333bhp; in the Coupe it's tuned for more power - 350bhp and 295lb-ft, up 43bhp and 29lb-ft, respectively.  The 6-speed manual remains, but the 6-speed automatic is replaced by Hyundai's new 8-speed automatic.

The 2.0L Turbo gets just the update you'd hope for - it's swapped out for the direct-injected twin-scroll turbo unit that's in the Sonata, Optima and Sportage.  This Theta II I4 gets a big jump over the old 4B11 - now up to 275bhp and 275lb-ft, an increase of 65bhp and 52lb-ft.  It too retains the 6-speed manual, and the 5-speed automatic has also been replaced by the Hyundai 8-speed unit.  With this much power, and direct injection, the new GenCoupe 2.0T could actually be a worthwhile option to the V6 - save some cash for modifications.

The Coupe also gets a mild facelift, with a front end that apes the Veloster sports car.  There's a full-length hexagonal grille, more shapely headlights, and more aggressive air ducts - which fixes the one thing I didn't like about the old Genesis, the awkward-looking front beak.  LED running lights and tail lights spruce up the exterior, and a new center console with the return of Hyundai's weird "torque gauge" round out the changes.  Hyundai released all this data on the 2013 GenCoupe at the Korea Speed Festival in Yeongam this Saturday - there will probably be more pictures and details in the near future, so stay tuned!

Edit: more picture of the new GenCoupe in the Korean brochure added to the Gallery via carscoop.blogspot.com below.