Hyundai definitely did its homework on the Tiburon's chassis. It's a highly rigid structure, which may be one of the reasons the Tiburon weighs a bit more than its competitors. Chassis stiffness is where agile handling starts and we were favorably impressed with the Tiburon's athletic responses in quick maneuvers. MacPherson struts are used for the front suspension, while the rear is a dual link design. The shock absorbers are gas-charged units mounted inside the coil springs, which resist heat buildup and deliver a controlled ride over rough surfaces. Antiroll bars fore and aft reduce body lean in corners. All the components are aimed at delivering the agile handling qualities we expect from a sport coupe.
Even in extreme lane-change and slalom exercises, the Tiburon feels balanced and stable, and the power-assisted rack-and-pinion steering is quick and accurate. The Tiburon is one of those cars that made us go out of our way to give it some exercise on favored stretches of winding back roads, something that can't be said for all compact cars.
If there's any downside to the Tiburon's dynamic traits, it lies in the action of the five-speed manual gearbox, which feels less precise than some others in this class do. In particular, low-speed downshifts into first gear can be a challenge. Making a proper upshift in hard low-speed cornering also requires a little extra care, a trait that's not at all uncommon in small front-drive hot rods such as this. However, at higher speeds the gearbox works fine and the gearing is well suited to the engine's power characteristics.
The optional four-speed automatic takes much of the sport out of this--or any--sport coupe, but the 140-horsepower engine offers sufficient torque to work well with the automatic. Next Page