Hyundai will make next-gen Tiburon RWD.

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Epinionator89

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I found this off the News and Rumors section of CarSpyShots.net:

"FUTURE Driven" Hyundai will abandoning front-wheel drive for its next Tiburon.
Due to be unveiled towards the end of 2007 before a local debut the following year, the rear-wheel drive coupe will be a "serious sports car", according to a senior Hyundai Motor Company executive.

Although details are scant, it is believed the Tiburon replacement will be a three-door coupe featuring many of the styling cues as well as the general proportions displayed on the HCD-8 Concept Car, which made its global debut at the 2004 Detroit motor show and has since appeared in Melbourne.

The HCD-8, as it stands, is powered by a supercharged version of a current 2.7-litre DOHC V6 with a six-speed manual gearbox.

However, variations of Hyundai's new-generation 3.3 and 3.8-litre V6 engines are expected to debut in the 2+2 seater sports car, with the latter one likely to be the range-topper.

"Yes, we are developing rear-wheel drive for the next sports car," was the surprising response from Hyun Soon Lee, Executive Senior Vice President for Hyundai Motor Corporation.

This remark came after a suggestion from the gathered press at the opening of the 2005 Seoul motor show in South Korea that the company seek the passionate sports car route to increase its global youth appeal, rather than simply focus on quality.

Mr Lee's remark even caught out other Hyundai executives.

It is a surprising development for a model that started out as the very unsporty two-door derivation of the front-wheel drive Hyundai X2 Excel of 1990 called the S-Coupe.

That car's predecessor jumped up to the 1995 J2 Lantra platform to become the SX, FX and SFX Coupe until the current, sharper - but still front-wheel drive - Tiburon came into the fray in 2002.

A rear-wheel drive sports car is in line with Hyundai's desire to push its vehicles further upmarket.

Such a model willl probably share many components with a rear-wheel drive sedan in much the same way that Nissan's 350Z has spawned a range of mostly-US market Infinity products such as the G35.

There has been speculation for some time that Hyundai was considering releasing a luxury line of vehicles above the current, Sonata-derived Grandeur - which has just had a complete makeover and is the star of Hyundai's stand at Seoul.

Adding further credence to Hyundai's sports image push is its re-entry into the World Rally Championship from 2008.

The company says it will field an all-wheel drive "sports car" very loosely derived from the yet-to-be released Accent replacement, the front-wheel drive MC4 small car.

What do you think? :D:tup:
 
"serious sports car" and hyundai...can you put those 2 together? :confused:

detroit2004pic43.jpg


HCD-8 Concept Car by the way

"Adding further credence to Hyundai's sports image push is its re-entry into the World Rally Championship from 2008."

now THAT will be interesting to see...
 
I might have to stop hating hyundia now....... ughhhhh.

Doesn't sound all that bad and I'm sure it will be cheap as hell.
 
Oddly enough, "drift" was the first word I was thinking about when I read the article. Hmm cheap little rwd drive car, sounds like the old rwd corollas back in the day.
 
Hyundai's getting serious - they have been since 1995.

For the first time in my life, I hope they rename the car. I hate it when, with every redesign, GM or Ford renames a vehicle, but this time it's a completely new car, and it's not as if anyone has any strong attachments to the name "Tiburon" anyway. I don't care what they call it, but it's all-new and should reflect that.

By the way, the first Hyundai coupe was not the S-Coupe, but the Scoupe, sort of a crappy play on words. It was also an awful car, but a turbo was available (though crappy).
 
it's nice to see cheap rwd cars back on the market. though, i'm still kind of skeptical or neutral about it, it will definitely be interesting to see. i do think, however, that they should rename it.

what will the american muscle-heads have to call this one? a kimchi burner?
 
Cheap rwd? Someone in Korea's been listening; it's about time someone made a serious, affordable rwd coupe instead of all these cheesy fwd coupes that are flodding the market (Celica, Tiburon, Eclipse, etc). I really hope it looks nothing like the HCD-8 concept though. It looks like the deranged love child of a Maserati Quattroporte (Headlights and grille) and a G35 coupe (side profile, at least from the pic), but only after it got whacked a few too many times by the ugly stick.

Even if it is that ugly though, I'd still consider buying one, simply for RWD. It's going to have to be priced well under a Mustang GT if they want to have any remote chance of success though.
 
Ev0
Cheap rwd? Someone in Korea's been listening; it's about time someone made a serious, affordable rwd coupe instead of all these cheesy fwd coupes that are flodding the market (Celica, Tiburon, Eclipse, etc).
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Well said... I miss cars like the 1991 MR-2 and the 86.(Only rwd cars I can think off off the top of my head)

Ev0
I really hope it looks nothing like the HCD-8 concept though. It looks like the deranged love child of a Maserati Quattroporte (Headlights and grille) and a G35 coupe (side profile, at least from the pic), but only after it got whacked a few too many times by the ugly stick.
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:lol: Yeah it's got some "rough" edges but it's a start
 
M5Power
Hyundai's getting serious - they have been since 1995.

For the first time in my life, I hope they rename the car. I hate it when, with every redesign, GM or Ford renames a vehicle, but this time it's a completely new car, and it's not as if anyone has any strong attachments to the name "Tiburon" anyway. I don't care what they call it, but it's all-new and should reflect that.

By the way, the first Hyundai coupe was not the S-Coupe, but the Scoupe, sort of a crappy play on words. It was also an awful car, but a turbo was available (though crappy).
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Come on Tiburon means what shark? How is that not a cool name :lol:?
 
well...to keep with the shark attitude, they could always call it the Hyundai Nurse.



...lol.
 
BlazinXtreme
Come on Tiburon means what shark? How is that not a cool name :lol:?
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It means "shark", but I think it was named after the city in California. Hyundai and its brand Kia tend to name cars after western U.S. cities:

- Hyundai Santa Fe (Santa Fe, New Mexico)
- Hyundai Tiburon (Tiburon, California)
- Hyundai Tucson (Tucson, Arizona)
- Kia Sedona (Sedona, Arizona)
 
Brilliant move, if this is true. Price it a grand or so below a base V6 Mustang and they're sure to have something on their hands. They have to be careful with packaging, lest they produce an overweight "big on the outside, small on the inside" underperformer. But given their recent track record I think we'll be pleasently surprised.


M
 
I'll have to look for it, but one of the mags test drove a Z06, Tiburon, and a race Tiburon. The race car was obviously the fastest, but the real surprise was that the stock car was not that much slower than the vette. In fact, I found it. Stock Tiburon was 1.5 sec behind a Boxster, and the race car was 1.7 seconds faster than a Z06. Here's the article.

http://motortrend.com/roadtests/coupe/112_0207_shark/index1.html

I gained A LOT of respect for it that day. I don't think I'd buy one IRL, but I've been hoping it would be in GT4 to show up some of the more mature ricers. If they do half as well with the RWD version, it will smash a mustang up at the track. And I think you'll notice that the derisive term "ricer" is usually applied to cars that were NEVER designed to even think about racing, like civics and stuff. Then someone gets the bright idea to lower it and add some mods to make it a race car. I wouldn't consider the Tiburon a ricer even as it stands, just like I'd leave a celica or a prelude out of it. Much less a 240 sx, supra, or other RWD vehicle made in Asia. No derision is needed for a RWD car--its serious enough about driving that IT IS RWD! Being Asian isn't what makes it a ricer--it's being what most skaters would call a poser that makes a car a ricer.
 
Well I live in Arizona and let me tell you, neither Tucson or Sedona are towns/villiages worthy of a car name. Not only are their names unappealing. The towns are filled with 1 of 2 things.
Alot of old people.
Or alot of annoying 20 year old white kids who drive around blasting 50-cent...

quite possibly the 2 things satan sent to earth in the 21st century.
 
Driftster
Well I live in Arizona and let me tell you, neither Tucson or Sedona are towns/villiages worthy of a car name. Not only are their names unappealing. The towns are filled with 1 of 2 things.
Alot of old people.
Or alot of annoying 20 year old white kids who drive around blasting 50-cent...

quite possibly the 2 things satan sent to earth in the 21st century.
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i'm sure the old people didn't CHOOSE to be old.
 
M5Power
You had a love for Hyundai?
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I almost love my mom's Santa Fe. It's a helluva lot better than it seems. Hyundai has been doing some very good things lately. Their cars have almost completely stopped sucking. The new Sonata for instance looks to be very promising (despite the fact they completely ripped off the Honda Accord for styling).
 
M5Power
You had a love for Hyundai?
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:lol: It is kind of disturbing........
Ev0
The new Sonata for instance looks to be very promising (despite the fact they completely ripped off the Honda Accord for styling).
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I can't blame them. I hated the new Accord at first, which is why I opted for Altima. :banghead: The Accord design really grew on me. I love the look now. 👍

Everyone seems to think this "sports" car is going to be affordable, but I'm not so sure. The article says Hyundai is trying to move upmarket. I don't know how much Tiburon sold for, but I'm guessing this new car will be around $20,000 or more. For that much money, I wouldn't think twice about buying an Mustang(V6 or V8) instead. Even the GT Mustangs starts around $25,000. They are one of the best looking cars on the market(IMO ;)), and performs very well(I'd lower them 1 1/2" though).
 
I actually love Hyundai. I predicted the rise of Hyundai in 1995.

I also predicted the demise of Kia by 1995.

That second one's not true, but it may as well be.
 
M5Power
I actually love Hyundai. I predicted the rise of Hyundai in 1995.
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I'm not a big fan of Hyundais, but I do respect them. They started out as Asian Yugos(ok, it wasn't that bad), but they keep on learning and improving. 👍
M5Power
That second one's not true, but it may as well be.
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They did go bankrupt in late 90's or early 00's though, right? :lol: I think, now, they are Hyundai?
 
M5Power
I actually love Hyundai. I predicted the rise of Hyundai in 1995.
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I love Hyundai too. In fact, I'm quite obsessed with them. If you notice a user named "Hyundai_Fan" on www.Epinions.com, then you'll know who it is... ;)

M5Power
I also predicted the demise of Kia by 1995.
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I still don't care for Kia... due to their image in the US and their supposedly bad dealership service, I'm sketchy on Kias. By the way, didn't they start making their own cars for the U.S. in '95?

And not to be further off topic, but has anyone seen the new commercial Hyundai's been playing on TV here in the U.S.? It shows the Alabama plant and the 06' Sonata.
 
Epinionator89
And not to be further off topic, but has anyone seen the new commercial Hyundai's been playing on TV here in the U.S.? It shows the Alabama plant and the 06' Sonata.
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Yeah, it's a pretty funny thought that there will probably come a time not so long from now when Hyundai will make more cars in the US than any of the big three....:rolleyes:
 
I see someone noticed the comerical. it looks like Hundai's dead serious allright. this commercial said they were [b[building a plant in the us[/b]??! cars being made in the USA again!


[h1]WOOHOO!![/h1]

if Hun actually goes for it and makes their sport coupe RWD...i think somebody better look out...
 

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