MANILA, Philippines—It’s easy to develop tunnel vision in a sports car with the speedometer promising speeds in excess of 200 kph. In the cockpit of one such as Hyundai’s attention-grabbing flagship model Genesis, the issue of spiking fuel prices is left far, far behind. Sights are set for the future, and how fast and stylish you’d want to arrive at it.
But no matter how fast any object travels, it has to come from somewhere. And for the rear-wheel drive Genesis, easily one of the sexiest sheet metals streaking along Philippine roads today, its beginnings couldn’t have been more starkly contrasting. In this case, speed and luxury was borne out of poverty.
Hyundai founder Chung Ju Yung rose from the ranks, from delivery boy to automobile mechanic. He started this rise in a tiny fishing village named Ulsan, which would eventually become the site of Hyundai Motors in 1967. Initially churning out anonymous-looking cars, Hyundai later on made gigantic strides in car design and performance, eventually catching the attention of the world market and competitors.
Now, the latest catch from Ulsan looks in a hurry to make a statement in its category. Its sedan version boasts of winning the North American Car of the Year in 2009. In the Philippines, Hyundai Asia Resources Inc., the exclusive distributor of Hyundai, has inundated the market with the many variants of the Genesis—seven to be exact, from the 3.8V6 to the 2.0 Turbo.
It has been such a hit that aside from winning the Metro’s Finest Korean Ride at the 2010 Metro Rides last June for its overall performance, durability and style via phone, online polling and car show surveys, the Genesis has spawned (in less than a year) its own car club—the Genesis Coupe Club. Started by 18-year-old Charl Henrich Angderson, its president, and vice president Antonio “Tony” Lombardo, 39, the club now has 25 full-fledged members, including two women. Waiting in the wings are another 20 owners hoping to join the club.
The club’s profile is varied, with members’ ages ranging from 18 to 46 years and status in life ranging from students to businessmen.
Tony shows what’s common in each member, when he does a “massive burnout” on his 3.8-liter 306-hp, 6-speed paddle shift automatic coupe. He explains to Inquirer Motoring that Genesis owners love one, or all, of its five “plus” points: the style; the value-for-money luxury features; the five-year warranty; the fact that it’s a 2-door coupe with 4 seats; and the performance of the two choice engines—the 4-cylinder turbo with 210 horses at its command; and the V6 with 96 more horses, both in manual all the paddle shift auto.
The plus points, it seems, are enough for the Genesis to be chosen over its closest competitors, the Chevrolet Camaro (3.6-liter V6 and 6.2-liter V8 variants), as well as the other locally available performance machines which may have lower engine displacements but with similar horsepower: Subaru STI and the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo.
They may even be enough to mitigate the effects of the Genesis’ “minuses,” such as the lack of option to turn the traction control completely off, the hard-to-go-by parts, and the diminutive rear seats.
The sports car from Ulsan has the best value car for its horsepower and warranty. The Subaru STI sedan 6M/T is P2.498M and the 5 A/T hatch is P2.548M (both have one year or 20,000-kilometer warranty). The two-liter mivec turbocharged Lancer Evo X GSR M/T is P3.250M and Lancer Evo X MR TC-SST is P3.695M (with a 3-year or 100,000-km warranty), and the Camaro 3.6 liter V6 LT RS A/T is P3,188,888 while its 6.2-liter V8 2SS A/T is P4,088,888. The Chevrolet Camaro has a three-year warranty. Check the Genesis variants’ prices toward the end of the article.
“The Genesis has similar power to all those cars, but more luxury features,” Tony observes. “The Genesis has the style and value no other competitor has.” The Genesis, being a rear-wheel drive, gives it the edge over the other all-wheel-drive cars such as the STI and the Evo, he adds.
“They’re not as much fun to drive like the Genesis. I love my burnouts,” Tony quipped.
My real-world test
That was Tony the speed freak speaking for the Genesis. But how would a regular lady motorist take to the Genesis? A 500-km trip from Manila to Baguio, and back, should answer that. Thus, on a yellow Genesis 3.8 V6 GLS AT, this driver’s experience proved bittersweet. A few minutes after pulling out from the Hari parking lot in Makati, a tricycle driver, obviously distracted by the Genesis, hit the sidewalk and tipped over sideways. Obviously shaken and stirred from the experience, the driver won’t be looking at another Genesis the same way again.
On the North Luzon Expressway, other motorists gave way to this gleaming yellow dream looming larger in their rear and side view mirrors—like the Red Sea parting, intending to get a glimpse of the Genesis as it passed them by. Every now and then a camera would flash from one of the cars.
The wonderment would not abate in Baguio. Pedestrians walking along the summer capital’s streets pointed to the car as if they saw a celebrity. Of course, the many Koreans residing in Baguio couldn’t help but take a second look.
I could understand the Genesis Coupe Club’s admiration of the vehicle. The control panel is truly an example of style harmonizing with function. The styling wasn’t sacrificed to achieve the simple, easy-to-understand control panels. There were no distracting, irritatingly complicated controls that needed studying. The trip and reset meter buttons could easily be spotted at the left of the dash, and the window-door controls are angled for the driver to see more readily.
The fuel tank and trunk buttons are on the driver’s door, while the cruise control and the controls for the audio entertainment system are easily distinguished from each other on the steering wheel.
The paddle shifters are accessible for smaller hands, and the seat height, elbow and knee room can be adjusted enough to make this 5’1.5” driver snug in her seat.
The sunroof is operated with a power touch 6-way button. Headlights are High Intensity Discharge with auto leveling device, and they come with fog lamps. This powerful vehicle comes with a host of safety features: limited slip differential, electronic stability program, integrated with anti-lock braking system with electronic brake force distribution, cornering brake control, brake assist system and traction control system, front airbags with seatbelt pretensioner.
The steering, though a bit heavy, is responsive. The Genesis loves the straightaways, but is understandably out of its element in the stop-and-go congested drive that Baguio City is notorious for.
Driving the Genesis also means feeling every imperfection of a poorly constructed road (especially on the rough in the La Union, Pangasinan and Tarlac stretches). But once it entered NLEX and SCTEX, however, the Genesis felt like it was gliding, and I had to rein in my own impulse to break speed limits.
The suspension up front and down the rear is MacPherson with coil spring and strut tower bar/multilink sporty. During the entire trip, the fuel consumption, according to the digital readout, ranged from 4 km per liter to 15 km per liter.
‘Hot’ leather seats
At the odometer reading of 16,000 km, and many drivers later, the sides of the front leather seats of this Genesis looks more worn out than expected. Leather is also not the ideal material to leave out in the tropical sun. Its heat-trapping characteristic was torture on my butt when I sat on it after a short period of time in high noon.
Curious about the initial cash outlay for the seven Genesis variants? Here are their retail prices: The top-of-the-line 3.8 V6 GLS AT fetches P3.038 million; the Coupe 3.8 V6 GLS AT with Brembo brakes is P1.990 million; the Coupe 3.8 V6 6AT is P1.858 million; the Coupe 3.8 V6 GLS 6MT is P1.735 million; the Coupe 2.0 Turbo GL 5AT costs P1.758 million; the Coupe 2.0 GL 6MT is P1.654 million; and the entry-level 2.0 Turbo 6MT is P1.398 million.
It goes without saying, though, that maintaining a sports car like the Genesis entails special attention. It is best, therefore, for new owners to hook up with the Genesis Coupe Club (www.genesiscoupeclub.ph) to be “at pace” with what their vehicles need to operate at the optimum. The Club is actually recruiting more members.
“We’re more like a family than anything else. We do everything together: We go for drives to Batangas, Clark or Tagaytay,” says Tony. The club charges an annual membership fee of P2,000, which already includes T-shirts, caps, club stickers and a discount card from sponsors. The club has also started a charity foundation. And it also brings in performance and after-market parts from the United States and Korea. So before you develop that tunnel vision in a Genesis, let Tony and friends watch your back and sides.
The Genesis will be on display at the Manila International Auto Show from Thursday to Sunday.