Your perception of Hyundai as an automobile manufacturer may be a bit biased. Over the years, you've become accustomed to them merely as entry-level cars for teenage girls. When they've been modified to any extent, the results are less than satisfactory to that of more popular makes and models. The majority of enthusiasts wouldn't even want to touch them because they will either be ridiculed for attempting it, or (gasp) deemed "ricers".
Times have certainly changed though. Hyundai in recent years has become very competitive and a more popular brand, largely because of the introduction of the Genesis model. Unlike the Tiburon of years past, which Hyundai marketed as their hip sports coupe, the Genesis is actually attractive. What's even more enticing to the young tuner market is that the car comes with a boosted 4-banger straight from the factory. You put together a streamlined beauty that's affordable, rear-wheel drive and turbocharged and you quickly throw yourself into the competitive mix with the Honda/Nissan/Toyota crowd.
The Genesis tuning-community is still in its premature stages, but things certainly look promising. Last year's SEMA convention in Las Vegas proved exactly that. Genesis coupes and sedans were seen throughout the show from the outside of the building to the main halls. Companies had taken notice of the growing popularity of the Hyundai Genesis and did everything they could to showcase their latest and greatest parts on them.
GReddy Performance Parts is the latest company to take a dip into the Genesis pool. They are a tuning powerhouse and have years of experience under their belt in producing some of the best performance products in the industry. The masterminds at GReddy were making parts back in the early days of the scene when Hondas weren't even popular yet. If anybody can help propel the Genesis up the tuning ranks in the US market, GReddy will be the one to do it.
The "GReddy X-Gen Street Genesis Coupe" is a collaborative effort between Hyundai and GReddy to maximize the potential of their new flagship vehicle. Everything GReddy has prototyped for the Genesis 2.0T is found on this coupe. It follows their "Total Tune-Up" theme which is a production kit that not only covers engine performance, but also suspension tuning and braking.
What immediately captures your attention about the X-Gen Street Genesis Coupe has to be the wild graphics. GReddy hasn't been known in the past to do anything crazy with vinyl graphics before but this is their first introduction to the Hyundai tuning market and they knew they had to make a splash. It also helps to capture the attention of other enthusiasts and screams "look at me". With the overabundance of Genesis coupes in attendance at the 2009 SEMA show, the GReddy car definitely stood above the rest. Hyundai actually sent out artists from their North American Design Center in Irvine, CA. to complete the graphic livery. Lurking underneath the "Sticky Fingers" graphics is a complete prototype JP Vizage aero kit.
Under the vinyl-wrapped hood is a full GReddy catalog of parts to come. Hyundai's Turbo Theta inline 4-cylinder is an open book as far as tuning capability goes and GReddy has high horsepower aspirations. They started out by modifying one of their SR20DET intake manifolds and fabricated an Airinx AY-MB intake. The OEM turbo was quickly removed, exchanged for a TD05-18G turbine and mounted to a pre-production model GReddy SUS exhaust manifold. Exhaust gases find their way through the prototype downpipe and exit to the atmosphere via their Spectrum Elite exhaust system.
By Joey Lee
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