2011 Hyundai Genesis Coupe 3.8 Track

The thing about the 2011 Hyundai Genesis Coupe 3.8 Track: “Hell, meet Bat. Oops—gone already.”

To make a variation on a line: Cars don’t get speeding tickets, people do.

Which is, epistemologically, true. There must be a person behind the wheel of the car who exceeds the speed limit. The car doesn’t do it in and of itself. And if it does, then someone had better call Stephen King, because there is a Serious Problem here.

While the vehicle may not get the speeding ticket, the car is not wholly blameless. Because if the car is the 2011 Genesis Coupe 3.8 Track, then it is an enabler to traffic court. Of that have no doubt.

Consider simply this: The rear-drive car is equipped with Hyundai’s 3.8-liter Lambda DOHC V6 engine that delivers 306-horsepower and 266 lb.-ft. of torque on regular unleaded. After all, the person who is likely to buy this car—which has a base MSRP of $30,750, so it isn’t exactly a boy racer, but adolescents will undoubtedly apply—doesn’t want to have to pony up for premium. The engine features dual continuous variable valve timing (i.e., on both the intake and exhaust valves) and a Variable Intake System, the consequences of which are combustion efficiency at both low and high RPM. The car is equipped with a close-coupled six-speed manual transmission and a clutch that means business (and builds leg muscles). And in keeping with the Hyundai approach of “less mass means you go fast” (OK, it also means, in addition to a good power-to-weight ratio, better fuel efficiency, and while the Genesis Coupe 3.8 Track is rated at 17/26 mpg, this is not a metric that should play a whole lot in making a decision about the car), the car has a curb weight that is downright the sort of thing that ought to drive other vehicle manufacturers to the automotive equivalent of Jenny Craig: at 3,389 lb., it is more svelte than a BMW 335i or an Infiniti G37. You can go from 0 to 60 mph in 5.5 seconds. Which is faster than you can come up with an excuse to follow the phrase, “Sorry, officer, I was just. . . .”

The top speed is 149 mph. That’s because at that point, the fuel cuts off.

If you go to the Wayback Machine, all the way back to 2008, the model year 2009 Genesis Sedan was the “flagship” model. Meaning: “This is a car that we’ll put up against the likes of Mercedes and BMW in terms of appointment and performance, and tell the world that we’re not just about thrifty models, but it will be a hell of a deal.”

Then the following year the Coupe came out. And here was a car that was meant to be driven fast. And with this variant, it is even faster.

But you get all that performance, and leather, too.

To say nothing of Brembo brakes, tracked-tuned suspension, 19-in alloys, a Torsen limited-slip diff, and a much more sinister look.

Maybe Stephen King ought to be invoked here.

Selected Specs

Engine: 3.8-liter, DOHC V6

Material: All aluminum

Transmission: Six-speed manual

Horsepower: 306 @ 6,300 rpm

Torque: 266 lb-ft @ 4,700 rpm

Length: 182.3 in.

Wheelbase: 110 in.

Width: 73.4 in.

Height: 54.5 in.

Coefficient of drag: 0.32

Fuel economy: 17 mpg city/26 mpg highway