Faults:

New clutch and gearbox replaced under warranty at no charge to me within the first 18 months of purchase.

Clutch slave cylinder failed at 45,000 miles.

General Comments:

This was my first Hyundai I have had, and owned it from new. The car has been very reliable, only costs being tyres, a new battery, replacement of a couple of coil springs on the front, and the clutch slave cylinder failed. Not bad in 13 years!!!

The car went very well for a 1.5 engine, but the gearing made it noisy; at least it qualified for cheaper road tax due to the small engine size.

The turbo pulled strongly, and never gave any trouble to me over its ownership. The ECU was remapped and made a big difference to mid-range performance, along with a K&N induction air filter.

Interior space was okay, but the dashboard and seats could have used better quality finish, that the newer Gen 1 coupe had, and was overall a much better car, but cost over £7000 more than this model.

Suspension was lowered as standard on this SE model, and generally was too hard and uncomfortable for poor UK roads. The car always sailed through it's M.O.T. (UK road test) without any advisories.

Overall a reliable and cheaply priced fun car, but do check on the bodywork on these, as most had rust problems around the rear roof and wheel arches. Now also becoming rare, as were never that popular a model, as superseded by the more expensive coupe SE Gen 1.

Before you think about buying the Scoupe, check out the Gen 1 coupe F2 Evo or the 2.0SE, on the second hand market; it's a better equipped and safer car, and worth saving up the difference for!

Faults:

Ignition lead went on cylinder No.4

Thermostat housing was cracked.

Passenger window needs looking at.

General Comments:

Great fun to drive.

A lot of power for about £1000.

Lotus suspension as standard.

Handles well.

T15 Turbo is fully upgradable with a Super-Chip.

Faults:

Electric windows stick a lot, probably need to re-grease the regulator & motor.

Theres also some slight wind noise/water leakage from the door rubbers, I think these will need replaced for Winter 2005.

Some slight rusting on the rear arches (bubble rust), however, the rest of the car is fine!

General Comments:

The only other Hyundai I have ever had a shot of was a 1998 R reg Accent, and my god what a disappointing drive that was.

Having said the above, the S-Coupe I believe is one of the better Hyundai models, nice interior, gear box is not too clunky (manual) plenty of low down torque, but would benefit from being a double cam, as opposed to Single.

For being a 1.5 its nippy... although to anyone looking at buying one of these, I would suggest trying to get your hands on the 1.5 Turbo model... which will leave many a modern hot-hatch in its wake!

All in all the car is actually very nice to drive, handles like a dream if you know when to put the foot down, and have the correct rev range.

As an extra note, the SE model comes with a full body kit - it looks TERRIBLE without!

Faults:

Starting problems (unresolved) after driving left for 20 minutes or so won't start again.

Handbrake stuck on for a few miles.

Boot lid won't stay up.

General Comments:

Fairly quick car pulls well.

Good looks.