Hyundai's Tiburon will rock your world

No sharks stalk around Modena - it being landlocked and all - but that didn't stop Hyundai injecting a bit of Ferrari into its Tiburon coupe - both in looks and attitude - without getting outside help from Italy's finest designers.

Now in its third incarnation, Hyundai's Tiburon - or shark, in Spanish - low-slung coupe still boasts the outstanding looks that made it an instant favorite of motoring journos domestic and international, but boasts an all-round upgrade that should attract a new generation of buyers to the water, er forecourts.

Tweaks for 2007 include a reworked front end and less of the more obtuse grille and vent styling that seemed to continue past the almost laughable Mark II variant. Now, it's all seriously streamlined in a bid to land some  respect as a standalone sportscar: None of those hints that scream "wannabe"; this is now the real deal.

Which I found out driving for many, many miles up and down from LA to San Juan Capistrano in a bid to buy a mini-truck to fix up, resulting in lots of fun runs on baking asphalt and a lot of sitting for hours unmoving on said baking asphalt.

In both situations, fun driving and cabin comfort, the Tiburon performed admirably, until said performance motoring resulted in the spillage of a gasoline tank I had with me over the rear cargo area, leaving a non-too-nice smell for the sitting-still bits of the journey - Ooops (and I sincerely apologize to the superb car-fleet people that had to clean up my mess).

Handling and performance were both great courtesy of an all-round stiffening in the suspension and body from 2006, which results in a sticky road feel to give that all-important confidence when ragging safely around tight corners and also a smoothing of all those bumps and dips on the 405 Freeway. Six gears are always appreciated, as well.

Resculpted front end, grille and vents

17-inch rims; great road feel

Straight line performance is good at 7.7 seconds 0-60 mph courtesy of the SE test car's 2.7-liter V6 that pumps out 172 horsepower at 6,000 revs.  This is a good step up from performance in the basic model; then again, how unhappy can you be for a basic sportster that comes in a touch below $17,500 (a fully-loaded SE will run you closer to $24,000 and is my recommendation).

There's also a long list of safety options including front airbags, anti-lock brakes, electronic stability control (on the SE) and seat-belt pretensioners.  Cabin space was great for a six-footer like me. Gas is not too bad at 15 and 22 mpg town and highway respectively.

You'll also sit in a very nicely appointed cabin that boasted some gorgeous perforated burgundy leather bucket seats that hugged in all the places when motoring at speed. Everything on the dash worked well ergonomically and the spectral lighting provided just enough of that boy or girl-racer feel without descending - which it easily can do - into the ridiculous. It also came with an iPod hookup (hooray!!) and a banging CD-changer stereo.

Being a Hyundai it comes with one of the best warranties out there, with a 10-year, 100,000-mile powertrain guarantee across the range a good part responsible for the uptick in the South Korean carmaker's U.S. sales. Careful you don't void this by chipping the electronics to wring extra pace out of it (a common practice).

It's got a good bit of competition out there in terms of the Civic Coupes, Scion tC and Chevy Cobalts, and not least the higher end Ford Mustangs.  But why ride a pony when you can grab hold of a dorsal fin and hang on tight?

Ergonomically sound interior

A fully-fledged sports car

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