25th Nov 2004, 01:40

I am assuming the first comment is from an American (forgive me if I'm wrong). Just wanted to clear a couple of things up. For starters, most cars over here, even sports cars have engines of 2.0 litre and under. Blame fuel prices which are, at present exchange rates, pushing $8 a gallon thanks to criminal rates of taxation. Anything that does much less than 30 mpg is becoming prohibitively expensive for the average guy on the street, or those without a company fuel card or fully expensed ministerial limousine, to run.

One advantage we do have however is that our "standard" fuel is 95 octane and our premium is 97 or 98, meaning more power and torque from these "small" engines than you would get over there. We also have a wealth of 4 cylinder tuning knowledge, with dozens of chip manufacturers and tuning houses who could release more bhp and torque reliably from the Hyundai engine (or almost any other) for a reasonable cost.

The other important difference over here is our roads. British roads are tight, twisty and many now get no routine maintenance. If we're lucky, roads get crudely patched up as cheaply as possible, but only after motorcyclists have crashed as a result of the poor surface, or if the ongoing cost of compensation claims for damaged wheel rims and suspension exceeds the cost of repair. Over here, a quick car is one that copes with these twisting, disintegrating roads, gives balanced handling, shrugs off bumps and potholes, and gives a good account of itself on the straights. For the price, the Hyundai does this about as well as anything.

For what it's worth, a stretch of road I use for fun is four miles long and brutally twisty, with several crests capable of getting the car airborne, and lots of tight hairpin bends. The fastest thing I've driven along there was tiny, French, and had just 130 bhp from a 1.9 litre engine.

20th Dec 2004, 10:22

OK I live in Morocco, but my homeland is Wales, UK.

I have purchased the latest Hyundai Coupe FX 2.0 litre in a perfect couler blue.

My first problem was after 3 months. For some strange reason I burnt out the clutch (not my fault as I have driven for about 25 years and never burnt out a clutch before)

My dealer tried to charge me for a new clutch, but I managed to convince them that I was not at fault.

To be honest it is a lovely car to look at and also drives very well, unless you try to open her up on the country roads.

At high speed on these roads it's very important not to touch your brakes on corners as you are very likely to lose the back end.

My last gripe is the lack of spare parts stocked in this part of the world.

I need a special part to do with the front-end and just been told that it is a two week time span before they can get it so I guess I will lose my car for two weeks off the road.

Finaly I must say how rare this model is over in this part of the world, but I really do take great pride in driving it and it is quick.

20th Jul 2010, 14:12

Having had a variety of cars over the years I fancied a little 2 door coupe. Lo and behold some 2 months ago I purchased a late 2003 2.0 Coupe.

What an absolute gem of a car, the engine is a perfect mix of sporty on the twisty English roads, yet very well behaved in town and it does draw looks wherever it goes. It has lots of toys to make the drive a pleasure and is possibly the most fun I've had in a car for a very long time.

The only down side is the drivers door, when you shut it more often than not the window doesn't seal itself under the rubber and I have to push it in by hand, but believe me I can live with that for the moment.