After owning a Fiat Uno Diesel (1.7L, 57hp), a Fiat Siena Turbo-Diesel (1.7L, 64hp), a Tata Indica (1.4L, 53hp), Toyota Corolla (1.6L 102hp), a Chevy Optra (1.6L, 104hp) and a Toyota Camry Solara Coupe (3.0 V6, 200hp) I often wonder how it is that I came to own a used 1998 Hyundai Tiburon here in the United States?
Let’s talk history first. The Tiburon, Spanish for ’Shark’, came into existence as the sporty, two door cousin of the previous generation Elantra. While anyone can see similarities to the 4 dr. Elantra, the Tiburon makes it look like the ugly sibling who didn’t get any of the family’s good looks. More on the looks later. Named the Tiburon in it’s home country of Korea and in the US, Hyundai simply named this car ’Coupe’ in the UK and Europe. What’s even more interesting is that the Tiburon is also the platform for the world famous Hyundai F2 Evolution WRC RALLY CAR, which won tremendous appreciation for it’s performance in global rally circuits. While deceivingly similar on the surface, the car had radically advanced componentry. More on that later as well.
The car was first sold in 1997 with 1.8 and 2.0 liter options. While sharing almost identical blocks, the 1.8L produced 130 Horsepower and the 2.0L produced 140 HP. At that time, this positioned the Tiburon as direct competition to the established pocket rockets such as the infamous Mitsubishi Eclipse, Toyota Celica, Acura Integra and the Nissan SE-R, but at a distinct cost advantage (Hyundai’s philosophy of undercutting the competition’s costprice after copying their ideas was just beginning). It paid off. The Coupe was voted the 6th best looking car in the world, the year it was launched. Not bad for a Hyundai eh??
The engine, codenamed ‘BETA’, has proven to be a hard working, flawless workhorse. If you are familiar with tuning engines, you will instantly appreciate the Beta’s well balanced, rugged block. Several tuners in Korea and the US have bolted on turbochargers that bring output to around 220-300 horsepower, and the engine takes it well. The WRC Rally car uses no forced induction. Instead, if has multiple high performance parts such as quad throttle bodies, high compression pistons, aggressive camshafts and A LOT of dynograph tuning to yield around 250 hp without the use of any turbo/ supercharging. Amazing for a 2000cc engine.
But we all know that there is a lot more to a car than it’s engine. Let’s start with suspension. The Coupe with the, now standard, strut/spring/sway bar componentry. Doesn’t hurt that the setup was designed and tuned by Porsche. Yep, you read correctly. Porsche. Very crisp and very tight handling. Almost in Sports Car territory. If you’re interested, German suspension manufacturer Eibach makes a nice performance kit which lowers ride height by 1.5 inches and makes the car feel like it’s a train on rail tracks.
Interior design is in line with the theme of the late nineties i.e. curvy flowing lines. Quality is good for a Hyundai, average when compared to the rest of the pack. One thing that does stand out is the amount of things you can fit in the car, people included. We put 5 luggage items and 3 people in which is great for a car as small as this one.
My main quirk with this car is the electrical problems that earlier Hyundai’s were plagued with. Blown stereo fuse, turn lights malfunctioning, interior lights dead etc. Add ALOT of squeaks and rattles and that makes for a not so fun ride. But the WORST problem is with the seats. Simply put, I cannot sit in the car for more than an hour. It literally hurts my back. Fortunately, all these problems can be fixed and I plan to replace my seats with racing seats.
Fuel mileage isn’t bad for my car with 109, 000 miles on it. That’s 170, 000 kms to you folks in India. HUGE by Indian standards but not so unheard off here in America. I get around 11-12 kms/liter in mixed driving without AC. 9-10 kmpl with AC. Performance is good with a 0-60 mph time of around 8 seconds. With my current modifications, I will be improving that to around 6.5 seconds which is good for a 4 cylinder. This is only possible because the car weighs in at around 1200 kgs which is VERY lightweight by American standards. The car has 4 wheel disc brakes although ABS is missed.
My list of modifications are:-
-> AEM Cold Air Intake – (Increases 15 horsepower by providing cold air and better airflow - Verified)
-> AIRRAM Ported Polished Intake Manifold – (Increases 10 Horsepower by increasing air velocity just before injection - Verified)
-> Apexi Catback Exhaust - (Increases 10 Horsepower by reducing exhaust gas backpressure - Verified)
-> Hotshot Headers /Extractors – (Increases 10 Horsepower by reducing exhaust stress from the engine allowing free flow of exhaust - Verified)
-> 17 inch RO_JA Ultra Lightweight Rims – Weigh 14lbs, 4 lbs less than smaller factory wheels
-> AutoRX engine treatment done to the car. Cleans the full engine 100 times better than any other product on the market. GREAT PRODUCT - contact me for details
Many more mods on the way, but so far I’ve gained a total of around 15-20 engine horsepower (Don’t add the above numbers up – these modifications yield those gains individually, but not when combined with other mods). Read my other reviews for information on mods to perform on Indian cars. Good Luck, drive safe and remember - stay out of the water - there’s a Korean shark around!