Hyundai Coupe 1.6 DOHC

We bought our Hyundai Coupe S in 2004 on an '04' plate, the S is a very well equipped car for a base model as it comes with CD player, Alloy Wheels, Air Con and electric Electric Mirrors all as standard. We were a bit worried that it had no traction control when we bought it but we soon found that it wasn't needed anyway as this car handled better then most other cars out there and gripped the road better then most other cars that i have driven (and i have driven a lot of cars as i spent 4 years as a car sales executive). The car was good on fuel consumption considering that you have to keep the revs up as it is a bit under powered, the insurance was cheap and it is a great looking car. The worst thing about this car was the servicing cost's, it was cheaper to service my Merc that cost £36K when you consider that the Hyundai cost just £16k and we had it in the dealership a few times for various electrical faults and a starter motor packing in. Another bad thing about this car was the headroom in the back, I'm 5'11" and found it very uncomfortable on my neck. The boot on these is huge for a coupe and the car itself is a very easy drive. The car handled great and had plenty of grip. We changed this car for a Nissan Qashqai as we have a baby on the way but we enjoyed this car as it looked and drove great. If you want a cheap car that looks great, is well equipped and handles well then this is the car to have, i would recommend servicing it at your local garage rather then the main dealers as we found the dealership service cost's very expensive for this kind of car.

The Hyundai Coupe 1.6 DOHC is a solid car, which is very well made I have to say. But there's is no air con, no electric mirrors, no cruise control, no alloy wheels and to top it all off it is 'sluggish' until you climb past 5500rpm. After that it goes well to the rev limiter at about 6500-6700rpm then you change gear and then you drop below the variable valve and have to wait for the power delivery again. 115bhp from the 1.6 and you really do have to give it some beans to get it going.

Fuel economy is poor considering the poor performance, 26-28mpg, 2.0SE version will get about 33-35mpg!

This is the bottom model so don't expect much in the way of gadgets.

With good tyres it handles really well, although the best results come from a Cobra coil-over suspension kit.

My advice: go get the 2.0SE version as that boasts the same car with all the trimmings and an extra 30-35bhp.

I would quite happily drive across Europe in it, fantastic for the long drives. Fuel economy is actually pretty good when out for a run, but for short journeys it ain't the best tool for the job.