Learn Me Scoupe Turbo

I have a friend looking into the Hyundai Scoupe Turbo. Any knowledge about what these can handle, how they fair in the suspension department, if they spontaneously erupt into flames?

It's basically an Elantra underneath, right?

No, it's an Excel.

I worked at the dealer when these were new. Really rare car then and now. I believe they had the first all-Hyundai engine (known as the "Alpha") instead of the Mitsubishi junk they had been using up to that time. You're going to have a tough time finding any answer about what they can take as they were just cars back when they were new and nobody (at least in my area) took to modifying them. Difficult to distinguish from a regular Scoupe except for the black painted roof and leather steering wheel.

Rod Millen was hired by Hyundai to run one up Pike's Peak, and it won it's class. I think I still have a poster depicting the car. I also have a coffee mug with the car on it. He did offer parts for them back in the day. I know we also had a company that made intercoolers for them send us a brochure but they were really expensive, and Hyundai owners never had that kind of disposable cash.

I haven't seen a Scoupe in YEARS, much less a turbo.

Millen's Pike's Peak car: YouTube video of a commercial that never aired: Hyundai Pike's Peak

Everyday after work I see a guy driving a red Scoupe. I honestly thought he had the last one left

There was a turbo Scoupe on the local CL for ages. Even at $400 with a bunch of spares, it was apparently a tough sell.

I always liked the SCoupe. Wanted one in the worst way.. but like all pre-2000 hyundai's they have all returned to the earth

I have an Excel with some suspension parts, it is fun to throw around. some chassis stuff is listed as Excel, some as Scoupe, some as Pony(or Presto) it's all compatible if not exactly the same.

B+G, Vogtland, Intrax offer springs. I think there was a few other Euro & Aussie brands available too.

I have a strut brace that came from Korea, I can't remember the brand and I couldn't find any other info on it. hell at this point I don't remember how I even got my hands on it.

Koni made strut inserts and shocks but they might be discontinued

HotBits makes front coilovers

Whiteline used to list a rear swaybar. I contacted them and they said they could still make it, that was some time ago though.

SuperPro makes poly control arm bushings and for the rear suspension beam

J1 Elantra brakes are a bolt on swap and you can convert the rear drums to disc as well.

I'm gearing up to swap over GVR4 brakes all around, it's pretty straight forward.

I know nothing of the 'real' Hyundai engines, only the DSM based stuff.

I still see a few Scoupes on the road around here, occasionally one pops up on CL.

In reply to impulsive:

Freaking sweet! My dad had an '88 GLS 5 door 5 speed new when I was little, I still have fond memories of it.

In reply to ddavidv:

Heh he used the same wheels on the Millen EscortGTs.

Swank Force One wrote: In reply to ddavidv: Heh he used the same wheels on the Millen EscortGTs.

Those are Panasports. This MX6 guy has them on backwards:

ValuePack wrote: In reply to impulsive: Freaking sweet! My dad had an '88 GLS 5 door 5 speed new when I was little, I still have fond memories of it.

I had an 88 GS. It was actually a decent little car once I broke the front swaybar links and remove the bar. Then it went from an underhandling pig to just a touch tailhappy. It would definatly show it's square rump to any car with less than twice it's HP once the road got twisty

ddavidv wrote: No, it's an Excel. I worked at the dealer when these were new. Really rare car then and now. I believe they had the first all-Hyundai engine (known as the "Alpha") instead of the Mitsubishi junk they had been using up to that time.

Those Mitsu engines in the early Hyundai's were VERY good.

Ive seen one scoupe. And it had a junk mitsu engine. I swear the dug through the trash bin at mitsu to get engines for those cars. Instead of buying parts. Just make what you need!

Zomby Woof wrote:

ddavidv wrote: No, it's an Excel. I worked at the dealer when these were new. Really rare car then and now. I believe they had the first all-Hyundai engine (known as the "Alpha") instead of the Mitsubishi junk they had been using up to that time.

Those Mitsu engines in the early Hyundai's were VERY good.

This.

they were a decent engine, but did not hold up. My 88 Excel was smoking by 120,000 miles on normal maintance. How I got it past inspection for another 40,000 miles I will never know.

The carbed 1.5 also had issues with the carbs. If it was taken in for the recall (which most weren't) they would run forever. If it wasn't, they died at 80,000 needing a new carb as they become all but unstartable

4G63 Hyundais are the only ones I'll ever touch.

I'll take a 4g61.

Zomby Woof wrote:

ddavidv wrote: No, it's an Excel. I worked at the dealer when these were new. Really rare car then and now. I believe they had the first all-Hyundai engine (known as the "Alpha") instead of the Mitsubishi junk they had been using up to that time.

Those Mitsu engines in the early Hyundai's were VERY good.

In a Mitsu, yes. In the Hyundai's, no. These were early Korean assembled Mitsu designs. They were absolute, 100% junk. The VIN engine code for those was "J", the newer Hyundai Alpha's were "N". Junk and New were the common names.

I remember an old Sport Compact Car article where a guy in LA had an old Excel or Sonata or something and had an AWD turbo 4G63 in it. Pretty sweet, kind of like a baby Evo.

JamesMcD wrote:

^Freaking sweet!

Funny...every part we usually replaced on early Excels had a Diamond Star cast or stamped in it.

Engines that burned oil through the warranty period. Transmissions (manual and automatic) that would simply come apart. Carbs that had valves that failed (can't remember what they were...something to do with the choke system). Catalytic converters that would clog, which in turn cracked the exhaust manifold (they were mated together).

Not just Excels. Early Elantras (Mitsu DOHC engine, like in the Eclipse...not a alphanumeric guy) had lots of engine problems. Sonata automatics were junk. The arrival of fuel injection on Excels made them fairly decent. Again, once Hyundai started making their own stuff the problems went away.

I still see Galants and Diamantes spewing blue smoke, not to mention all those 2.6 Chrysler products that once roamed the earth. The number of Eclipses I see on jack stands in some poor kid's driveway far outnumber the ones on the road. Nope, you'll never convince me Mitsubishi makes good product. I steer people away from them all the time and have no qualms about it.

sethmeister4 wrote: I remember an old Sport Compact Car article where a guy in LA had an old Excel or Sonata or something and had an AWD turbo 4G63 in it. Pretty sweet, kind of like a baby Evo.

I have that article somewhere. I think it was the first time i'd ever read about a real franken-swap. The rest, is history.

Bobzilla wrote:

Zomby Woof wrote: Those Mitsu engines in the early Hyundai's were VERY good.

In a Mitsu, yes. In the Hyundai's, no. These were early Korean assembled Mitsu designs. They were absolute, 100% junk. The VIN engine code for those was "J", the newer Hyundai Alpha's were "N". Junk and New were the common names.

The whole time I was sponsored by Hyundai, they kept trying to give me skids of motors, and I kept turning them down. I only blew up two, and both were our fault. One was an experiment, to see how long we could race it with ZERO maintenance on our backup car. We got 3/4 of a season, about 14 or 15 events, and the second was a 14-1 compression 8500 RPM screamer that we (my dad, actually) never quite got the tune right on. It blowed up real good.

Don't recall ever seeing a single street driver with problems that weren't maintenance related, and even those were rare.

I never knew the millens and hyundai went back that far in "history" together... neat! You learn something new everyday! And from the looks of it its around the same era as his black/yellow FC.

ddavidv wrote: . Sonata automatics were junk.

My father got so fed up with the dying automatics on his 1st gen sonata.. he parked it where it died (on it's 4th transmission) and let the bank repossess it.

He was a salesmen for a radio station, so often did 50,000 miles a year. The car was great except for that transmission