CosmosMpower

Haven't driven the 370Z but in general I'm not a fan of Z cars, just preference. When I drove the Genesis I thought it did everything well but nothing exceptionally. Good torque, decent top end, decent brakes, good handling balance. I probably wouldn't buy a Genesis Coupe myself with all the other options out there but I could see why some people would want to.

JonBoy

In other words, good but not for you. That's about what I came away with.

NuncoStr8

I drove the 2.0T coupe Track model earlier tonight and I was thinking the same thing. I can tell it's got a turbo if I pay attention but it doesn't have the rush of acceleration I was expecting. It's not bad, it just wasn't something that was obvious the way it is in every other turbo car I've driven. Part of it was there is no real connection between rpms and acceleration.

It's not a bad car for the money, I'd say, but the outside does look awkward to my eyes and things like the plastic cover on top of the engine just is tacky. It was relatively tight and quiet and seemed to handle OK, but given the clunky reverse and the shifter being higher and farther to the right than I'm used to, it seemed like a decent first effort but not worth gushing about the drive.

It was dark when I drove it and the interior was black so there wasn't much to see. Pretty decent leather seats, I thought. But then again it was dark and this car was new. All leather seats start out looking nice.

I wouldn't call the suspension sloppy. It was not stiff, however. Fine for regular driving and OK for taking a parking lot entrance kind of quick. Much of road feel comes from tires, and the traction control kicked in at the merest hint of hard driving, so I can't say it was bad. It behaved better than any Hyundai I'd driven until then, that's easy to say.

Engine noise was not bad at idle, but when you get on it there's nothing there to talk about. Kind of buzzy really. You can tell it's a small four cylinder when you pull out in traffic, but it pulls nicely once it gets going, and you can tool around ~2000 rpms without having to downshift to speed up.

It was fast enough, but they set it up so the turbo peaks at a low rpm and therefore gives a broad powerband. Theoretically only, since the sensation is of decreasing acceleration as rpms climb, which is really kind of weak. If you step on it at say 3500 rpms, there's no hit at all, just smooth acceleration. Which doesn't really make for that fast a car - it's not responsive, and feels sluggish almost. It's just not capable of a violent reaction to throttle input, or much of a reaction at all.

Competent, sure. Impressive? Um, no. Maybe coming from Hyundai, but not compared to anything else. If someone really wanted a turbo four in RWD, your options have always been kind of limited, and this is a decent one, I'd say, if you could live with it. It's not what I'd call a fun car, though. Maybe with a V6 it's different.

And I will say I'm glad they made it. It's one more RWD sports coupe in the world.

shyong

^ Good write up.