A shark by any other name....

Shopping for a 2 door hatchback is not that difficult. In the under $20,000 price range you really only have 3 and soon to be 2 vehicles to choose from. Toyota Celica, Mercury Cougar (discontinued for 2003) and Hyundai Tiburon.

When my mother was looking for a replacement for her 1993 Ford Probe, we naturally looked at the Toyota Celica and the Mercury Cougar. For her needs we leaned towards the Cougar, but that car really didn't evince much excitement from her. She liked it, but to get the color she wanted (non metallic red) she had to get a six cylinder AND the XR Package, which brought the list price to just under $21,000.

Another vehicle we considered was the Hyundai Elantra GT. While it doesn't have the sporty looks of a 2 door hatchback, it offers the utility of the hatchback. It was only by chance that she spied a 2003 Tiburon sitting outside the showroom that had just arrived that day. "Oooh! I like that car! What is it?" were the first words out of her mouth.

I had previously excluded Tiburon from the list of vehicle choices because it didn't offer enough cargo room. However, the 2003 model is all new and it's larger too boot.

Tiburon is a pretty car, perhaps the prettiest 2 door coupe or hatchback in it's price range. From the shark-like side air vents (purely cosmetic), to the overall sleek, low to the ground appearance, it does indeed have a shark-like appearance. Score 1 for the Tiburon.

On the inside the car she chose has a power moonroof and a 6 speaker AM/FM stereo with CD AND cassette player. JUST what she wanted. On the downside, the air controls and stereo controls are housed in a squarish looking center console that does not convey the same shark-like appearance the exterior does. However, it's still sporty enough looking and the quality of the materials seems quite high.

She chose a 4 cylinder car. This gave her the same sporty look yet not the unnecessary power. With the 5 speed manual transmission it still offers more than adequate get up and go.

Ride and handling seemed perfectly fine for a 4 cylinder sporty hatchback. The car seemed to beg to be driven around corners. The Michelin tires gripped the road with composure and braking was well controlled.

Road noise is a tad higher than my Elantra, but no higher, it seems, than either the Celica, or the Cougar. Quieter than the Celica in my experience, in fact.

Rear seat headroom is, as expected, minimal. A child of 12 or 14 is really the limit of the rear seat. Cargo space, while not quite as good as the Cougar is on par with the Celica. It's a far cry from the Probe, but enough for her needs.

All in all this is one hot little car. Even in 4 cylinder form!