Review: Hyundai Genesis Coupe

There is the thrill of speed, control, grip, the racer's edge at the soul of this new sports coupe.

Royal FordJuly 7, 2009 14:39Updated May 30, 2010 12:00

A model takes photos of Hyundai's Genesis Coupe concept vehicle during its unveiling at the Los Angeles Auto Show in Los Angeles, Nov. 14, 2007. (Danny Moloshok/Reuters)

NURBURGRING, Germany - "Mrs. Speed, can Johnny come out and play?"

"Why sure kids, what sort of toys does he need?"

No denying it, I play with toys for a living.

Toys for big boys and girls.

On this day, my toy is an Audi that quickly gets into high triple digits on the seemingly indecipherable 140-plus turns, straights, drops and rises of this 14-plus-mile race track.

Lots of people have died here, many of them professional racers, lost in what can be a misty memoried attempt to parse The Carousel, every corner, apex, exit, rise and dip in the track. So many were killed, crippled or, in the case of the great Niki Lauder, badly burned, that they stopped racing Formula One here.

The Teutonic tactic after this: open this baby to the public.

Let them show up in whatever they drive — the family wagon, a race-ready Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Volkswagen, charge them a fee, and let them have at it — and each other.

If Volkswagen was the "Peoples' Car," then this is the "Peoples' Diabolique."

Glass-topped tour buses cruise this track, spectators craning necks for the inevitable crash.

But what's young Johnny or Jane Speed to do in the United States or other countries where litigation threats alone would bar such fun?

Join a private and often elegant private race club, with track, private garages, locker room, pool, tennis courts and even day-care. And have your fun in a far more safe and sane manner — if you have the swag to pay for the speed.

Which is why we are now at the Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch in Parump, Nev., to test the remarkable Hyundai Genesis Coupe.

Hyundai? Race track? Memberships that at global retreats such as this can cost tens of thousands to join and tens of thousands in annual dues, and we bring a Hyundai?

You betcha, Bub, as they might say at lesser tracks where the hoi polloi mingle and inhale fumes.

For this Hyundai, offspring of the Hyundai Genesis sedan that was named North American Car of the Year for 2009, is a screaming little hot rod, with four cylinders cranking out 210 horsepower in a base model, and six pistons pounding out 306 horsepower for those who come to places like this.

The private race resorts are modeled after exclusive golf country clubs. And while the speed of a golf ball off the tee is about 160 miles per hour for the average PGA pro — and approaching 200 in some cases — some of the cars at these clubs can keep up with a golf ball struck even by someone like Tiger Woods (180 mph, plus).

And make no mistake, it is places like this that, globally, answer the question: "So you bought a car that can do 150, 175, even 200 miles per hour. Where you gonna drive it?"