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Well, Toyota, Honda . . . the footsteps just got a bit louder.

After making some serious moves in its more mainstream cars, Hyundai has applied its considerable design talent to its looker, the Tiburon subcompact sport coupe. So avant is the effort, the Korean automaker dubbed it a 2003 model, quickly dismissing the 2002 edition.

With a lineup extending from the penny-pinching little Accent to the elegant Sonata sedan to the eye-catching Santa Fe SUV, Hyundai has become a force to be reckoned with. And with their low prices, as well as styling flair, they’re likely to hit that much-sought-after youth market right in the 10 ring.

You’d have to see the 2001 edition and the 2003 side-by-side to discern the stylistic differences, but the 2003 is indeed totally new. As its Japanese competitors have, Hyundai has turned on to the fact that Americans are on the whole a bit larger than Asians. Hence, the new Tiburon (Spanish for shark, by the way) is more than 2 inches longer, has more than 2 inches additional space between the axles and is a tad taller and wider, too. Both windshield and rear window are steeply raked, enhancing the sporty appearance, and a rather high beltline gives it mass. It’s obvious the designers had seen a Ferrari 456, not a bad starting place. Still, they fell into the trap of adding non-functional “gills” behind the front wheels – on a Ferrari, such apertures serve the real purpose of helping flow air around the brakes.

When my sample arrived, my first thought was (moi being a few decades into the drinking age class) it was going to be one of THOSE weeks, with annoying entries and exits memorialized in a persistent lumbar reminder. Happily, such was not the case.

Though the new Tib is only 51.7 inches, ground to roof, it’s fairly easy to get into, thanks to the relatively rearward placement of both the driver’s seat and the B pillar. (This latter circumstance, however, since the seatbelt finds its anchor points in that appurtenance, makes the seatbelt about as hard to grab as on a typical GM product. Oh, well, here it’s a reasonable tradeoff.)

Another initial impression was telegraphed by the tires. “My,” I sez to me, “those are big shoes for a little fella.” Indeed, the GT series machine sent my way sits on hefty 215/45s wrapped around 17-inch alloy wheels. Impressive enough, but there’s more – the rubber consists of asymmetrical Michelin Pilots, a very sporty configuration. (Asymmetrical means they can only turn in one direction, i.e., will be rotated front-rear only. This is usually done on only ultra-high-performance machinery. Here it would seem to be a bit of overkill – more on that later.)

There are two series of Tiburon, base and GT. The base models have a serviceable 2-liter, 4-banger powerplant worth 140 hp and 133 foot-pounds of torque. That wouldn’t be so bad if the Tiburon weren’t a rather hefty shark, weighing in two quarts of gas shy of 3,000 pounds with four-cylinder engine and automatic transmission. The base model with manual trans starts at $14,996, which sure makes it potential kid bait. To make the car’s performance correspond more truthfully to its looks, you’ll want to move to the GT, which comes with essentially the same 2.7-liter V-6 used elsewhere in the Hyundai family, viz., Sonata and Santa Fe. With that engine and a 5-speed manual transmission, a Tiburon GT starts at $17,999, sans freight. In my flaming youth you could get a pretty decent car for that $3K differential, but in this era of whining entitlement, perhaps the hot job is attainable, too.

The interior of the sample was done up in a variety of textures of flat black plastics. The color scheme was rather monotonous, but the texturing did help. The shift lever had some interesting knurling on top, which was appreciated when the quick stirring exercises began.

As Korean cars sometimes do, this one had a peculiar odor, which seemed to be competing with the more pleasant essence emanating from the leather seats. I think it’s some adhesive they use. One can only hope it will dissipate in time.

At 6-1, I moved the driver’s seat full back on its track, and was reasonably accommodated. The seat was unexpectedly hard and supportive, arguing for both long and interesting trips. I immediately ruled out doing any whoop-de-dos, however, when I discovered my coif getting familiar with the roof. The moonroof is of the type that slides over the roof, but it still steals headroom. The rear seats serve one purpose: they keep insurers from viewing this as a reckless two-seater.

The V-6 engine in the Tiburon GT is a nasty piece, but does provide some oomph, and distinguishes the car from competitive offerings like the Acura RSX, Toyota Celica and Mitsubishi Eclipse, which can only be had with fours, although Mitsu has more horses.

By nasty I mean that it sounds rough and raspy, and has a rather narrow power band. Maximum power (181 hp) comes way up at 6,000 rpm, while torque (177 foot-pounds) peaks at 4,000.

The V-6 can be paired with a 5-speed manual transmission, a four-speed automatic, or, as in my sample, a six-speed manual. Overkill? Perhaps, in the context of a front-end-heavy car that doesn’t handle all that well at the limit. Still, the transmission shifted with precision and clutch actuation was smooth, As you might discern from the specs, the Tiburon was most fun when cooking at 5,000 rpm. Fifth and sixth are both overdrive ratios, though the final drive cog is a hefty 4.43 ratio. I checked revs at 45 mph. In 4th, it was turning 2,900; in fifth, 2,300, and in sixth, 2,000. This translates to a sense of eagerness and bit too much noise at cruising speeds. At 70 and above – well above – a lot of engine, tire and air noise was present.

The EPA rates the V-6/6-speed at 18 mpg city, 26 highway. I got 21.4, despite following my own advice about lurking in the 5K neighborhood. And that on 87-octane gas.

There’s enough power to smoke the tires on blastoffs – no traction control here – but once you learn how much the Michelins will accept, it’s fairly easy to sneak in under 8 seconds in the 0-60 dash. There’s some torque steer evident on heavy throttle, but it’s within the reasonable range.

The steering was light and fast, but had good on-center feel, and the car kept its line at freeway speeds without nervous correcting.

The window sill was uncomfortably high and the driver’s armrest placed back a bit far for relaxed touring, but, despite the Grand Touring name, this is a car more for the thrust-and-parry of exurban motoring.

The four instruments are well-placed and legible.

The brakes are good-sized discs, ventilated at front, solid in the rear. They afforded a crisp, easily-modulated pedal feel and dram atically short stops. Antilock, unfortunately, is available only as part of the $1,998 “UltraSports package #3,” which included aluminum pedals, the 6-speed trans, high rear spoiler and power moonroof. Hiss – I’d rather not have the spoiler, however much it might contribute at the car’s rated 132-mph top speed, or the metallic pedals – try them when your shoes are wet.

Those impressive-looking Michelins are great on perfect roads. I suspect you’d want to get a set of winter tires if you live in a four-season climate like this one. They’re really not as good a fitment as all-seasons would be.

Ride quality is good, though a bit harsh over some surfaces.

Neither feds nor the insurance folks have crash-tested a Tiburon, so you’re on your own. It does have side air bags in addition to the required frontal pair. Consumer Reports says it lacks data to rate the reliability, but the shark, like all Hyundais, has a comforting 5-year/60,000 mile comprehensive warranty, as well as 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain coverage and a 5-year roadside assistance plan. In GT form, the Tiburon is loaded with power and convenience niceties, making it an extraordinary value even with the addition of that package. It’s no Ferrari, but it doesn’t run a quarter-mill, either.

The tester, with freight, came in at $20,492, and Edmunds.com researchers aver that in most places, you could probably dicker down below 20. Payments at the nominal price would be $415, assuming 20 percent down, 10 percent interest and 48 payments.

“The Gannett News Service”