Long-Term Test Update 3: 2013 Hyundai Genesis Coupe 2.0T

2013 Hyundai Genesis Coupe 2.0T. Click image to enlarge

Long-Term Test Update 2: 2013 Hyundai Genesis Coupe Manufacturer’s web site Hyundai Canada

Review and photos by Chris Chase

Photo Gallery:
2013 Hyundai Genesis Coupe

As you read this, I’ll be preparing for what will be my toughest test of the Genesis Coupe’s day-to-day practicality. In a couple of days, I’ll hit the road to southern Ontario for the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada’s annual Testfest event. It’s a drive I do every year, so the journey itself isn’t the test: what I’m going to try to fit into the car is.

Part of this year’s Testfest is an evening of live music played by a number of melodically-inclined AJAC members, of which I’m one (as is Autos.ca contributor Peter Bleakney). To play music, you need gear, and for me, that consists of four guitars, an amp, and way too much other stuff. All of it needs to fit, along with the usual week’s worth of clean clothing (a few of us auto writers do know a thing or two about personal hygiene). It doesn’t help that I’ll be coming home with more stuff, and one more person, than I left with. I’ve promised a friend I’d try to pick him up some Niagara wine, and my wife is travelling down by train for the weekend after Testfest wraps up, so she’ll be driving home with me.

A sports coupe isn’t the ideal vehicle for this trip, but it’s what’s in the driveway, so it’ll have to do. Needless to say, the 332-litre trunk won’t be enough on its own; the rear seat folds, but the opening isn’t large. I toyed with the idea of removing the bottom seat cushion to create a bit more space, but doing so would necessarily involve my getting too intimate with the construction of a car that doesn’t belong to me.

2013 Hyundai Genesis Coupe 2.0T. Click image to enlarge

Every time I’ve gotten into the car for the past week, I’ve cast a look behind the front seats: is there going to be enough room? Looking at this car in profile, I daydreamed about how much easier all of this would be if the Genesis Coupe were a hatchback instead. The Scion tC (a totally different kind of car, I know) has 416 L of space under its tailgate, and an even larger back seat in which cargo can be stashed. If you’re into high performance as well as generous trunk space, something like a Subaru WRX STi might be a better choice, with 538 L behind the rear seats, and 1,257 with the seats folded. The forthcoming Ford Focus ST promises a similar combination of speed and spaciousness, and both it and the STi are four-doors – a plus in my books, but perhaps not in yours.

I’ve noticed that the Genesis coupe seems to attract the most attention from other guys about my age driving family sedans. Either that means they’re thinking about the more interesting car parked at home, or the one they wish they could afford to add to their family fleet. Another observation: these cars are, relatively speaking, everywhere. It’s apparently a popular choice in Ottawa, as I see at least one, and usually more than that, every day.

I’ll be looking out for a couple of other things during my roughly 1,500 km adventure. One will be fuel economy, and whether I can better the 7.7 L/100 km average I managed on my last road trip in this car. The other is to determine if this car’s noisy exhaust will drive me crazy.

One thing I know will drive me crazy is that there’s no way to connect my Android smart phone so that I can control its MP3 player with the car’s stereo multimedia interface. Hyundai uses a proprietary USB/3.5mm auxiliary combo connector that requires the use of a cable to match, but this $40 piece only works with Apple iPods and iPhones (not including the iPhone 5, which has a different docking connector altogether). For whatever reason, the USB input doesn’t work on its own (not with any iPod or iPhone I’ve tried, nor with my new Android). Therefore, I’ll be travelling with my trusty, old-fashioned auxiliary cable and will have to wait to recharge my phone until I arrive at my destination in Niagara.

2013 Hyundai Genesis Coupe 2.0T. Click image to enlarge

Coming back from the future to the present time, the Genesis Coupe’s fuel consumption is averaging in the low- to mid-12 L/100 km range in city driving, in cool October days that have been starting out with temperatures barely above zero and reaching highs around 10 degrees Celsius. The car is taking longer to warm up, which explains the drop in economy, compared to the 11.3-ish L/100 averages I was seeing prior to my last update, in mid-September.

In a few weeks, I’ll be back to answer all the questions I’ve posed here, and wrap up our long-term test of this Hyundai Genesis Coupe.