Overview

Enjoyable performance, attractive pricing, and good build quality make the Hyundai Tiburon a compelling choice among sport coupes.

The Tiburon GT is a quick and agile sport coupe. It's powered by a 2.7-liter V6 with a brusque exhaust note putting out 172 horsepower and complemented with crisp handling that makes it fun to drive. The Tiburon GS comes with a low-emission four-cylinder engine with adequate power for all traffic situations, and good handling that benefits from its sporty chassis design. Compelling pricing makes the Tiburon an attractive proposition. The Tiburon costs substantially less than a comparably priced Mitsubishi Eclipse, for example.

Hyundai freshened the front-end styling for 2005. There are no significant changes for 2006, though some option packages have changed and there's a new GT Limited model.

Hyundai has emerged as a low-cost producer of attractive cars with performance and panache. The quality of its products has improved tremendously in the past few years and Hyundai offers the best warranty in the business: 5 years/50,000 miles bumper-to-bumper and 10 years/100,000 miles for the powertrain.

Model Lineup

The 2006 Hyundai Tiburon is available in four models: the four-cylinder GS, and the V6-powered GT, GT Limited, and SE.

All four models enjoy a comprehensive list of standard features. Among them: air conditioning; side-impact airbags; power windows, door locks, and heated mirrors; six-speaker AM/FM/CD audio system; keyless entry with alarm; 16-inch alloy wheels; four wheel disc brakes; body-colored rear spoiler and dual chrome-tipped exhaust outlets.

Tiburon GS ($16,095) is powered by a 2.0-liter inline-4 producing 138 horsepower with continuously variable valve timing (CVVT) for reduced emissions. This engine is offered with a standard five-speed manual or optional four-speed Shiftronic automatic transmission ($900). Just two other options are available: a power tilt-and-slide sunroof ($850); and a package combining the sunroof with cruise control and 17-inch alloy wheels with all-season tires ($1,500).

Tiburon GT ($18,495) is powered by a 2.7-liter V6 rated at 172 horsepower. Its suspension is stiffer and its wheels and tires are upgraded to 17-inch alloys shod with 215/45R17 Michelin Pilots. The interior is dressed up with leather seat trim and leather wraps for the steering wheel and shift knob, automatic temperature control, upgraded audio, map lights, cruise control, deluxe carpeting, metal/grain dash and panel trim. Fog lamps are standard. A five-speed manual transmission is standard; a four-speed automatic ($900) is optional. The option list is short: The Deluxe package ($1,450) combines a sunroof with a 360-watt Infinity audio system with subwoofer; the Premium package ($1,750) combines the sunroof with 440 watts of Infinity audio, subwoofer, and six-CD changer.

The new GT Limited is essentially a GT with the Premium Package, plus a unique beige leather interior and distinctive side repeater lights.

Tiburon SE ($20,995) mates the 2.7-liter V6 to a six-speed manual transmission. The SE is fitted with torque, voltage, and vacuum gauges, aluminum foot pedals, red aluminum brake calipers, and ABS. It comes standard with all of the premium options of the GT, plus a Kenwood AM/FM/CD/MP3 audio system.

Walkaround

Sleek and compact, the Hyundai Tiburon looks somewhat like the shark for which it is named. Hyundai's designers accented the front fenders with vertical louvers that look like shark gills. Subtle styling revisions freshened its appearance for 2005.

Tiburon is heir to classic GT coupes of the past, with a heavily raked windshield and a fastback coupe roofline that sweeps all the way to a high, abbreviated tail. Hyundai gave these traditional features a new look, however, with a distinctive sheetmetal crease that sweep upward and rearward from the front louvers. In the rear the fenders curve smoothly into the large, almost ovoid one-piece taillight clusters.

The rear styling is accented by a body-colored rear spoiler on GS and GT models that's so neatly integrated into the rear deck lines that it's almost unobtrusive. The SE has a larger rear spoiler, but it also sits low on the rear deck, supported by sleek fins sprouting from the fenders and ending just where the taillights start.

Interior Features

Tiburon's interior trim is dark colored in the current tuner style, but bright trim around the center stack and switch panels on the doors relieves what would otherwise be a somber look.

The dashboard sweeps across the width of the cabin with just a small instrument pod and two heater vents to break up its shape. The fuel and water temperature gauges separate the round tachometer and speedometer.