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The new 2003 Hyundai Tiburon (1 Viewer)

Philip_G

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Nov 13, 2000
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LOL from hyundai's site.

they now report the tubby as being 170hp with the V6, BTW.

I have a hard time spending 17k on a new hyundai, I think I'd shop on the used market. For an extra 5 grand (give or take) I could have an S4 ~drool~

Q: I heard the news that something may be wrong with my Hyundai. What is the problem and is my vehicle affected?

A: First, you should know there is nothing wrong with your car. We recently discovered that the horsepower information on some of our vehicles had been inaccurately reported in Hyundai's marketing materials.

Q: What is Hyundai going to give me as a result of this error?

A: As a gesture of apology and an attempt to demonstrate how important Hyundai customers are to us, we are offering those individuals whose model's horsepower ratings were misprinted by more than four percent their choice of three warranty-enhancement options, or, for the 1999 model year and earlier, five-year roadside assistance coverage. The warranty-enhancement options include: Extension of Roadside Assistance Benefit from five years/unlimited miles to 10 years unlimited miles, or Extension of New Vehicle Limited Warranty from five years/60,000 miles to 6 years/72,000 miles, or Extension of Powertrain Limited Warranty from 10 years/100,000 miles to 12 years/120,000 miles for original owner only.

 

Scooter

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For myself..I will ONLY buy Hyundias...every one I have ever owned has been outstanding. I got the una-ex (unabomber+ ex-from-hell = una-ex..she made stuff in my life explode) a 1994 Elantra that she NEVER took care of at all..and last I knew it still hummed along.

I want the XB-350..or whatever it's called. DAMN fine car!
 

David Lawson

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I'll stay with Hyundai as well. My '98 Tiburon just passed 105K miles, and I've done nothing but the scheduled maintenance so far. My only complaint is that cruise control didn't come standard until the '99 model. ;)
I personally think that the 2000-01 models were a step backwards aesthetically, but the '03 has me considering car payments for another four years.
 

Scott L

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From what I've heard, the Tiburon GT can blow the RSX out of the water in terms of performance...
And the pricetag on a GT (or even the high-end GSR) is far more affordable than an RSX...
From what I've heard...
Moe I hate to say it but you heard wrong on the performance side. If you wanna go buy numbers a 170hp Korean V6 simply isn't on the same level as a 200hp VTEC V6. Link Removed shows that the RSX gets 14's in the quarter mile and the Tiburon gets 15's.
Now go slap whoever told you the Tiburon can blow an RSX out of the water. :)
 

Scott L

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Well you're also talkin Acura vs. Hyundai. You should know that better performance isn't the only reason the Acura costs $5k more than the Hyundai.
 

Moe Maishlish

Supporting Actor
Joined
Mar 30, 1999
Messages
992
A half-second (15.3 vs. 14.8) for $5000 sounds like a pretty fair trade to me...
Sorry Scott, but I gotta go with Joel on this one...
:) ...
It seems to me that, with 30 more horses (and $5000+ more dollars), the RSX should outpace the Tiburon by more than .5 seconds.
Plus, I'm not that crazy about the RSX's looks. While the '03 Tiburon looks fast, sleek, and beautiful, the RSX appears half-finished, as if Acura brought it to market before the engineers finished deciding what it was supposed to look like. ;)
Moe.
 

AjayM

Screenwriter
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Aug 22, 2000
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It's not only 30hp more, but the car is a good 200-300lbs lighter as well. That doesn't add up to .5 difference in 1/4 mile times. The bigger question of power though is the mph at the end of the 1/4 mile, I think that is where you will see a bigger difference between them. Kind of like how the Supra turbo guys brag about 140mph trap speeds...but will never tell you the time (which is usually around 11-12 seconds), it's even a big joke to the muscle car guys "What is the same about a 1000hp Supra and a 400hp Mustang....the 12second timeslip".

Also keep in mind looking at numbers is all well and good, but there's more to it with how the car performs. Where you shift gears can be a huge time loss when it comes to running against the clock. For instance in the Tiburon, when doing a 0-60mph run, you have to shift from 2-3 at about 55mph, so you lose a bit of time right there. I imagine the RSX is probably right around there as well.

Past that, the Tibby has a bit friendlier torque curve;

142 @ 6000 rpm for the RSX-S

181 @ 4000 rpm for the Tiburon GT

So while the RSX-S may be faster overall, the Tibby is a bit easier to drive around in without having to wind it out to redline in order to get the car moving decently. That was the one thing I hated about my Civic, even after I did lots of modifications to it and it was making decent power (about 195hp to the wheels), it had no power low in the rpm range. Off the line you either had to rev it up to about 6500rpm, or you would get beat off the line by a 3cyl Geo....but after 6500rpm...it was decently quick.

Andrew
 

Philip_G

Senior HTF Member
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finally someone pointed out the torque difference. It's also worth noting that the honda pulls peak HP at 7400 RPM and the tiburon at 6k.

Horsepower is an Illusory Equation. TORQUE is real and is the source of all things good
 

Mike St.Louis

Supporting Actor
Joined
Sep 22, 1999
Messages
518
Plus, I'm not that crazy about the RSX's looks. While the '03 Tiburon looks fast, sleek, and beautiful, the RSX appears half-finished, as if Acura brought it to market before the engineers finished deciding what it was supposed to look like.
I'll second that. I can't believe Acura got rid of the Integra and replaced it with ... that.

The RSX is totally undistinctive.
 

Mark Hamilton

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Mar 16, 1999
Messages
122
The Tiburon's biggest flaw is that it weighs 3000lbs. Hyundai engineers should have spent the extra time trying to shave 100lb. off that obese curb weight.
Otherwise the 2K3 Tiburon is a splendid effort. It has a shorter braking distance than both the RSX and the Celica (and keep in mind the Celica weighs 500lb. less), and responds disgustingly well to even the most mild of aftermarket bolt-ons. One of the moderators on my site ran a 14.7s 1/4 with just an intake, 17" Rota rims (stock tires), and with a removed spare tire. The typical Tibby driver with an Injen intake and Veilside or Greddy exhaust are making close to 200hp at the flywheel. That's in addition to 190+lb. ft. of torque. Suddenly the factory 170hp, and 181lb. ft. of torque doesn't seem to matter so much. Throw in a more agressive set of cams, a less restrictive header, and the rest of the usual complement of bolt-ons and this car has no problem matching even the much-vaunted DC5 Type-R's numbers.
Of course, Acura owners can respond by saying that I'm comparing modified Tiburon numbers with stock RSX numbers. But try getting the same results by modifying the Honda KA20x series engines. They are astonishingly efficient motors that are a blast to drive, but they leave little for the average tuner to extract unless he/she adopts some form of forced induction... which, as we know, isn't a cheap source of power...
Alpine is also now selling a Supercharger for the V6 2k3 Tiburons that actually preserves the factory warranty as well.... ;)
I still prefer the Celica of the 3 cars... but I'm happy with my GK Tiburon. I love the RSX as well, but without a bodykit and a decent drop it's hard to swallow as a serious sport compact based on appearance alone... The RSX-S wheels, especially in Canadian gunmetal grey, are very cool tho, albiet with terrible stock tires.
 

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