Does Hyundai have the best 2.0-liter turbo on the market?

[News Man]

Hyundai’s 4-cylinder turbo seems to stack up well against the premium brands’ offerings. Here’s why.

Over the past year I have driven 2.0-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder engines from BMW, Volkswagen, Audi, Range Rover, Lexus, Ford and a handful of other car makers. This week I am testing a Hyundai Sonata Sport with the 2.0-liter turbocharged engine. What has become immediately apparent is that Hyundai may very well do this better than any other brand. Here’s why, read the entire story about the Hyundai 2.0 Liter turbo at TorqueNews, written by reporter John Goreham.

Hyundai Turbo Uses Regular Unleaded Gasoline
The whole point of moving to smaller turbocharged engines instead of continuing to refine larger normally aspirated engines with more cylinders was fuel economy. Fuel economy means the cost of fueling a vehicle. Fuel efficiency is related, but not the exact same thing. Hyundai’s 2.0-liter turbo is designed to use regular unleaded instead of the premium that almost every other manufacturer requires to get the rated output. Using regular instead of premium saves customers 10 to 15% at the pump with no downside.

 

[Ernie3647]

I agree it is a very nice car. Quite refined for a car of this class.

 

[guybo]

I can't understand why they did away with the 2.0T Genesis Coupe.

 

[enVmyIX]

I think you can argue that the 4g63 2.0 turbo motor (Lancer Evolution 1992-2006) and the 4B11T motor (Evo X) were/are better.

 

[YEH]

I can't understand why they did away with the 2.0T Genesis Coupe.

B/c Hyundai is trying to get the buying public used to a more upscale/pricier Genesis coupe in preparation for the next Genesis Coupe.

A return of a turbo engine is not out of question for the new coupe (tho if it is supposed to be more of a 6 Series sized coupe as opposed to a 4 Series, maybe not - at least not the 2.0T with the turbo being the 3.3TT V6.

 

[guybo]

I think it's because of the Veloster too. The 2.0T GC and the Turbo Veloster kind of step on each other's toes in that segment. I just hope they give the Veloster the same 2.0T that the GC has- it'll have similar output but with a lot less weight.

One thing I have noticed about my 2.0T GC and that I didn't know before I got it, is how much power Hyundai managed to squeeze out of it. I have a habit, at stop lights, of looking around and finding other 2.0T cars and doing a quick google search and comparing theirs to mine. Consistently time & again I find that my GC has higher output than the other 2.0T's at that light. Add to that how moddable the car is and how much more can be squeezed out relatively easily and you have a nice platform.

I even compare my 2.0T to V6's at lights just to see and consistently my 2.0T performs like an average V6 (better than some, worse than others) but it gets 10MPG better and it weighs less than many. Plus it costs a lot less and maintenance is less expensive. When it comes to bang-for-the-buck this car is the king.

 

[Sal Collaziano]

I'm also very impressed with the power output of Hyundai's V6. The first V6 I was really impressed by was Infiniti's - but here's Hyundai with similar power. But I know this is a 2.0T discussion so don't mind me.

 

[Koolhaas]

the reason you see so many 2.0t's is because there is a big rally race that limits displacement size to 2.0. So there has been a lot of R&D on 2.0t engines and the car markers are putting them in their productions cars. I'm not familiar enough to know if Hyundai even has a racing team that competes in that rally race.

I really liked VW's 2.0t. Years back, i went in to buy a CC 2.0t and walked out with the 3.2 VR6. The reason is because VW couldn't sell the V6 because the 2.0T felt just as fast and it got better gas mileage. Also, for some reason, on 100 degree days here in houston, that VW 2.0t engine could blow ice cold A/C right when you turn the car on.

The best 2.0T is probably in one of those AWD rally cars like the Mitsubishi or Subaru

 

[guybo]

WRC limits engines to 1.6L Turbo and they have the i20 model racing in that series. I'm not aware of which other rally series Hyundai races in.

 

[LandoAWD]

On the market? No.
Remarkable in the annals of 2.0T lore? No.

It's a good engine, but the limits of some internal components keep it from proper glory in the tuner world. Stock? Not bad, as long as it isn't paired with the god-awful 5sp AT. The 5sp was my only complaint on my old coupe. A tune woke up the engine enough to make it fun, but the torque convertor was my bane.

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[Sal Collaziano]

I really don't know why they didn't do forged rods and pistons in the R-Spec Genesis Coupe. It's not like it would have priced the car out of the market.

 

[LandoAWD]

Their whole aim at making it a tuner car, then offering a completely locked ECU to thwart open-source/DIY tuning was a failure, given their claimed market segment.
Sleeving could still be done, but simple design changes would have gone a long way.

 

[Sal Collaziano]

Their whole aim at making it a tuner car, then offering a completely locked ECU to thwart open-source/DIY tuning was a failure, given their claimed market segment.
Sleeving could still be done, but simple design changes would have gone a long way.

They aimed at making it a tuner car? I didn't even know that. These companies are afraid of making tuner cars because of warranty issues later on. But I think having a car that everyone wants could/would/should end up making more money for the company than otherwise.

 

[guybo]

The Genesis Coupe 2.0t is very tuner friendly. The BK1 models have several tuning options, the BK2 have 2 companies that tune. As for bolt-ons, so much of the car is modular and easy to work on, it's a natural tuner car. There's a lot of overhead and the brakes/tranny can handle much more power than the engine delivers from stock. So with bolt-ons and a tune you have a transformed car that wasn't too hard to mod.

You can upgrade internals too- but like with any car, that is not for feint of heart (out of my league). The #1 prob with Genesis Coupe modding is that people buy a Hyundai for the warranty and modding tends to void warranties, so a lot of people don't mod.

 

[Sal Collaziano]

The Genesis Coupe 2.0t is very tuner friendly. The BK1 models have several tuning options, the BK2 have 2 companies that tune. As for bolt-ons, so much of the car is modular and easy to work on, it's a natural tuner car. There's a lot of overhead and the brakes/tranny can handle much more power than the engine delivers from stock. So with bolt-ons and a tune you have a transformed car that wasn't too hard to mod.

You can upgrade internals too- but like with any car, that is not for feint of heart (out of my league). The #1 prob with Genesis Coupe modding is that people buy a Hyundai for the warranty and modding tends to void warranties, so a lot of people don't mod.

I think there are limitations - from what I'm reading - in the tuning of the 2.0T Genesis Coupe. Mainly everything can be "tuned" except for the engine. Yes, it can "technically" be tuned - but how much before things start breaking? I'm not sure tuning the engine is going to make much of a difference without getting risky.

 

[LandoAWD]

The Genesis Coupe 2.0t is very tuner friendly.

Not really. You named the 2 companies, both using code ripped from Korean hands (one is safe to use), that offer ECU tunes. There's no hands-on outside of an AEM. It's still a better tuner choice than the V6, though.

Add to that the miniscule aftermarket compared to competitors, and it's pretty sad. It's a niche car, and that was part of the appeal for me. You didn't see a lot of them. Now? They're pricing into the range of the tweeners, and their "mods" are hood spacers, plastidip, and home depot garage door trim lips.

It will only degrade from here.

P.S. I was on the leading end of Home Depot Racing (HDR) mods in my life as a DSMer. The same thing happened to that platform, except there was aftermarket tune support from some great guys.