Interview with Derek Joyce – Genesis Coupe Product Manager Hyundai Motor America. Thank you Derek for taking the time to talk with us!


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GF: So a lot of people are interested in wanting know specifics on specifications. I don’t know how detailed you
can get into that as far as like turbo sizing….

DJ- I don’t have that … The factory boost is 15 psi…

GF – It is 15?...
DJ: Well that is maxiumum boost… We’re still trying to get more details on turbo sizing I don’t have that for you
right now..

GF: So, there are some rumors it is in the TD04 family, similar to like an SRT-4 turbo sizing or is it....

DJ: You know the best thing to say is given our engine displacement, 2 liters, and output of around 220 with premium fuel, you can back that
out and kind of guide base the turbo on that. It is intercooled, It’s not a very large turbo, it’s built for that sweet spot in the middle and its gonna
be really high mileage, 30 mpg on the 4 cyl.

GF: About 30 mpg on that then…

DJ: Quite high.

GF: Very high! So rumors on Targa Top? Four door coupe?

DJ: Yeah, can’t say anything definite, we’re definitely studying those things. We want to keep our ….

GF: What would sway Hyundai to go that route..

DJ: It’s all investment. It takes time to bring that to market. It’s a large investment. So it will be a major investment for the company.

GF: Right…

DJ: We know the interest is there.

GF: With the recent release of the specifications of the coupe, the Track Edition and now a R-Spec.. What’s going to be the big difference
between an R-Spec and Track Edition of the Coupe?

DJ: R-Spec is basically a Track model dealing without some of the stuff the Track, I mean the R-spec can do without. Try to lower the price, a
little bit of weight, basically its just packaging, it will have lower weight than the Track and surprisingly it will have a lower price.

GF: Really?

DJ: Ya some of the content like sunroof, Bluetooth, IPod connectivity, you know the turn signal indicator lamps, a lot of stuff that the R-Spec guy
doesn’t really need we’ve taken that stuff off.

GF: So more for the weekend warrior, the guy who’s gonna go to the autocross

DJ: Right the young tuners who want to build up the whatever they want. We’re gonna try to minimize the car to give the grouping they want, the
brakes …We want to offer them the performance they want, to give them performance and take some of the costs out.

GF: You mentioned in the Press Conference about 3,300 lbs. Is that gonna be the Track model… will that be lower than that?

DJ: That’s our base curb weight… That will be your lower trim levels. That’s our starting point. The Track model we don’t know how much it
weighs at the moment, I don’t have specs on that but it will obviously be higher just based on the difference in equipment.

GF: The R-Spec having less options…

DJ: That will be the lowest weight.. that one probably almost certainly the R-Spec.. now there’s a chance I can get under 3,300 lbs.. I’ll have to
see what the final data is.

GF: Right… there’s few people who want to know the V6 model, LSD or not on the standard optioned or is it going to be an option you’ll have to
get with the Track or…

DJ: Currently you’ll have to get the Track..

GF: And was for cost savings or?

DJ: Yeah really it was for cost you know LSD is not super expensive its not super cheap. That’s just the way it shook out. We have to keep our
combination limited because if you get to many combinations and the dealer can’t stock the adequate cars. We have 9 colors and 11 trim…It’s
hard to give customers what they want if you get too complicated. So that’s were we basically have it.. so we compromised between offering
everything the customer might want and also having good profitability and just manufacturing .. so that is the battle we fight as a manufacture.

GF: Right. So what about direct injection?

DJ: We’re studying direct injection. It’s the wave of the future. IT’s high power, high fuel efficiency. We want to bring that to market as soon as it
works for us.

GF: So at least in the first year its not something we’ll see in the first model year…..

DJ: You will not see it in the first model, I can’t really talk more about that specifically.. But we are studying it, we’re enthusiastic about it, it really
comes down to development manufacturing costs, you know all of the same stuff.

GF: Do you know anything about the possible deal with you and Mircosoft.. Hyundai-Microsoft about doing the ..

DJ: Navigation?

GF: Navigation, the Sync …

DJ: It’s gonna be , it’s a Hyundai propreiety system, it’s gonna be built by Hyundai auto nav. I don’t know a whole lot more than that at this stage.

GF: How will these cars are gonna handle in winter driving?

DJ: You’re gonna need a different set of tires for the Track model. It’s a summer compound. It’s not gonna do well in the snow, we call it a Track
model for that purpose, its for the track and street, but its not made for snow belt driving in winter. So ya you might need to get an extra set of winter
tires.

GF: Stability control? Will that for those that do have…

DJ: Ya you will be able to maintain control with SC, obviously that gonna help. Obviously with traction control that’s gonna help a lot. With careful
driving but as a manufacture we don’t recommend that with summer compound tires. Even with ABS if you brake hard with snow or ice it takes a
long time to stop. It’ll depend on how you drive but we as a manufacture don’t recommend using the Track model in the snow.

GF: Right… Will the traction control be fully defeatable?

DJ: Ya the TC will be fully defeatable on the manual transmission.. full defeat.. On the automatic when you reach redline, it’ll go to the next gear, so
there is some protection in regards to the AT … it’s a fully defeatalbe system there are some engine protections but the MT, they’re both fully defeat.
One push of the button, instantly defeated, no ESP...

GF: Do as long as a burn out as you want your not gonna have a problem with that…

DJ: Especially on MT.

GF: Engine capabilities, Hyundai has marketed the car as a tuner car. People are obviously going to try and get more power out of it. What is
reasonable to expect this engine to handle.. Is it gonna be something where you add another 5lbs you are going to blow rods, crack pistons….

DJ: Well officially you know Hyundai really has made some headroads with quality, 10 year warranty 100k mile powertrain warranty. The full warranty
period no problem. We are standing behind it 100%. WE know that people will modify, but as a manufacture we can’t condone that but we know
people will do that and we don’t have an issue with that. But the bottom line is if you modify the engine beyond a simple thing you risk voiding the
warranty. I’m not an expert on warranties but you risk voiding it. And we’ve heard the aftermarket if that is what they bought the car to explore those limits.

GF: TO see what the car can do..

DJ: Ya the aftermarket will sort that out quickly for us…. If people want to have fun that way we’re not opposed to that.

GF: Have you guys tried seeing what the limits are? You know the car runs safe at 15lbs, but you goto X amount of boost the engine…

DJ: We are getting a lot of info from the tuner projects like HKS, Street Concepts, Rhys Millen. Honestly its not official corporate information but basically
those tuners are doing their exploration.. and I think it will sort itself out very quickly in the aftermarket. And you know we hope tuners are excited about it.

GF: Well thanks a lot Derek. We think its an exciting car, and we hopefully you guys have complete success in the car.

DJ: Thanks a lot.

Good stuff, it's interesting the R Spec model is really a trimmed down model without any frills. And I'm surprised that the boost on the 2.0t model is up to 15psi, that's beyond what I'd thought it be set at. You'll have to interview the HKS, Rhys and Street Concepts guys to find out what barriers to making more power they ran into I guess.

all of his answers seemed dodgy to me, but what do you expect from an executive. I'd definitely like to see what you could pry from Rhys, HKS, and SC.

i think he answered the questions well enough. No manufacture is going to say, "yeh tune the mess out of it and see when it blows!!"

I think the fact they said they know it will be modified and they are cool with it speaks volumes to the reason they built the car.

Im excited about the r-spec, except that its coming later I need a car as soon as its out for R&D so ill probably get a track model.

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Luis Vega Jr.
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Excellent~~~~~~~~~~conversation

Thank greatly for Sabbasaun effort

eew, the R-spec will be tirmmed down & lighter, now I'm excited, although I need ipod compatability.

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Actuallyl in person it didn't come off that way at all. Derek was eager to answer my question and after the interview was over we had a frank discussion about the car. He's just as excited as all of us about the car but obviously he has more of a vested interest in being cautious about what he says.

You and me both GT but like you I dunno if I can wait that long. Maybe I'll have to buy both! lol

No problem Power. I had help as Lord Calvert was with me taking video of the show. Even though this is a "newer" forum we felt we had to be there at SEMA to in a way show you guys we're here to stay and make this the best possible site for these cars as possible.

Tufast yes I want the R-Spec as well but I'm pretty sure I can't wait that long. Also you lose the push start functionality which is kind of neat. I dunno, hard to decide!

Just something funny when Sabbasaun was interviewing Mr. Joyce they were standing in front of one of the Sedans created for the show. Some foreign journalist interupted and asked them to move because they wanted to video the car.

Move Bit*h I wanna see the car!!

__________________
Luis Vega Jr.
~GT Solutions~

Win a Free Track Day by clicking the link below......
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How rude of us to be doing an interview! I'm guessing they didn't realize I was with a Hyundai exec when they asked us to move out of their way. lol