.switchModelImage('//cdcssl.ibsrv.net/autodata/images/?IMG=CAB30HYC041B0101.jpg&width=390','3/4 Front Glamour 2003 Hyundai Tiburon','3/4 Front Glamour 2003 Hyundai Tiburon'); "3/4 Front Glamour 2003 Hyundai Tiburon")
.switchModelImage('//cdcssl.ibsrv.net/autodata/images/?IMG=CAB30HYC041B0112.jpg&width=390','90 Degree Profile 2003 Hyundai Tiburon','90 Degree Profile 2003 Hyundai Tiburon'); "90 Degree Profile 2003 Hyundai Tiburon")
.switchModelImage('//cdcssl.ibsrv.net/autodata/images/?IMG=CAB30HYC041B0109.jpg&width=390','Grille 2003 Hyundai Tiburon','Grille 2003 Hyundai Tiburon'); "Grille 2003 Hyundai Tiburon")
.switchModelImage('//cdcssl.ibsrv.net/autodata/images/?IMG=CAB30HYC041B0102.jpg&width=390','3/4 Rear Glamour 2003 Hyundai Tiburon','3/4 Rear Glamour 2003 Hyundai Tiburon'); "3/4 Rear Glamour 2003 Hyundai Tiburon")
- Calculating Prices Please Wait
Vehicle Min Max 2003 Hyundai Tiburon $5,995 $10,000 2012 Mazda MAZDASPEED3 N/A N/A 2012 Mazda MX-5 Miata N/A N/A 2012 Volkswagen Beetle $20,965 $28,990 Average $13,480 $19,495 
Used Car Price Range$5,995 - $10,000
Vehicle Min Max 2003 Hyundai Tiburon $102 $170 2012 Mazda MAZDASPEED3 N/A N/A 2012 Mazda MX-5 Miata N/A N/A 2012 Volkswagen Beetle $356 $492 Average $229 $331 Based On: 10% down, 5% APR, 60 months
Estimated Monthly Payment$102 - $170 per month
MPG city hwy 2003 Hyundai Tiburon 21 29 2012 Mazda MAZDASPEED3 18 25 2012 Mazda MX-5 Miata 21 28 2012 Volkswagen Beetle 22 31 Average 21 28 MPG21 City | 29 Highway
2003 Hyundai Tiburon Review Summary
What reviewers liked most about the 2003 Hyundai Tiburon:
Hyundai's Tiburon delivers bold styling and an entertaining driving experience, while offering an exceptional value.
- New Car Test DriveDriver's seat is comfortable, feels substantial, and affords generous lateral support.
- Philly.comOutward visibility is quite good because the roof has thin pillars.
- The Kansas City StarQuite a bit of cargo room beneath the rear hatchback
- Car and Driver
What reviewers liked least about the 2003 Hyundai Tiburon:
More noise and vibration than there ought to be.
- Car and DriverThe five-speed manual gearbox, which feels less precise than some others in this class do.
- New Car Test DriveThe radio's old-style buttons are tiny and tough to use.
- The Kansas City StarRide quality, which is a bit stiffer than most of the coupes in this class.
- Auto.com
2003 Hyundai Tiburon Comparisons:
Superb shifter feel, better even than that of the class-leading Honda Civic.
- Car and DriverBetter value than a Saturn SC.
- AutomobileThe back seats are roomier than those are in the Celica or Eclipse.
- New Car Test Drive
Best one-liners about the 2003 Hyundai Tiburon:
If you're old enough to vote, you may be over the hill as a Hyundai Tiburon customer.
- Car and DriverBasically, the rear seat is there in case you're too lazy to stow luggage in the trunk.
- Edmunds.com
2003 Hyundai Tiburon Introduction
Just about everybody would agree that Ferrari makes some of the best looking cars. What if you could drive a car with Ferrari 456GT looks for under $20K? Okay, the 2003 Hyundai Tiburon is not a Ferrari clone but there's' no denying that it has Ferrari 456GT styling cues in its sleek new design. It also has some Ford Mustang, Mercury Cougar and Toyota Celica as well, which is not all bad.
A Hyundai? Yes, the company has been working hard to produce attractive cars with performance and panache, and it looks to have succeeded with the all-new Tiburon.
More important, the quality of Hyundai cars has improved tremendously in the past few years, according to the respected quality gurus at J. D. Power and Associates.
Tiburon means shark in Spanish. This Tiburon may not look like a mean machine but the GT V6 version is surely going to stir the waters as it swims among established fish such as the Mitsubishi Eclipse, Toyota Celica GTS, Ford Mustang, and Honda Civic Si.
2003 Hyundai Tiburon Walkaround
A car's looks are always important -- few people want to be seen driving an ugly car. More than anything this is true of sport coupes. This is where the Tiburon competes and it looks delightfully attractive compared to the awkward styling of the old Tiburon.
Although there is nothing exceptionally different looking about the new Tiburon, Hyundai's own in-house designers have managed to put together a derivative style that looks good from every angle. The car looks bigger in photographs than in real life. It is actually a few inches larger all round than the previous Tiburon and is comparable in size to the Eclipse and Celica.
At the front the four headlights are hidden behind plastic covers with large turn signals that lead up into the false fender line that is actually part of the hood. The front of the hood leads down into a small horizontal grill that is swamped by a large bumper. A much larger five-part radiator grill opening is nicely integrated into the lower part of the bumper and includes two small round projector spotlights.
The car's side profile is the best. It follows the classic lines of a sports car with a heavily raked windshield and a roofline that sweeps all the way to the back of the car. We used to call them fastback coupes! Hyundai's designers have added pizzazz to the profile by adding two false vent grilles and sculptured creases that flare back from behind the front fender along the doorsill and across the upper part of the door. The creases lead into the rear fender, which is flared and has a top edge higher than that of the front. In the rear the fenders curve into the large almost ovoid shaped one-piece taillight clusters.
The tailgate (yes, it really is a hatchback) has no spoiler on the base model but comes with a small lip-type spoiler on the GT V6 with a five-speed manual or automatic. The six-speed gets a bigger spoiler that helps differentiate it.
2003 Hyundai Tiburon Interior Features
Compared to the old Tiburon the interior is slightly less sporty in appearance. The biggest drawback is that everything is finished in black making it a bit somber. The dashboard sweeps across the width of the cabin with just a smallish instrument pod and two heater vents to break up the shape. The fuel and water temperature gauges separate the round tachometer and speedometer.
The stereo system is located in a flat center console panel with large knobs for heating and ventilation located beneath. The manual transmission shifter has a short throw and is well situated for smooth shifting. A proper parking brake is located on the left side of the center console leaving room for a cupholder and a small storage tray.
The bucket seats are okay but not as sporty as one might hope for as they could do with some more side support for spirited driving. We liked the cloth seats much better than leather as they grip better and are less sweaty in summer and warmer in winter. Headroom and legroom in front are fine, on par with other cars in the sporty coupe class.
Like most sport coupes, this is really a 2+2-seater not a full four-seater car. In reality, the rear seats are better for storage than for carrying passenger unless they are shorter than five feet tall.
In keeping with the expectations of most buyers for this car the stereo system on the GT V6 is right on target. There are six speakers strategically located inside and a large subwoofer in the trunk. Crank up the volume and one is enveloped in good sound. Okay, it may not be up to standards found in $50K luxury cars but it's surely far better than anything one would expect in a sub $20K car from Korea.
Apart from the space taken by the subwoofer, storage space is quite decent especially thanks to the wide opening tailgate and the rear seat backs that fold down. A cargo net would be a valuable addition to help keep stuff in place when throwing the car around corners.
2003 Hyundai Tiburon Driving Impressions
Great looks are important but a great driving experience is really more significant. Fortunately the Tiburon GT V6 does really well. Hyundai is convinced that most Tiburon buyers will opt for the GT V6 evasion and most of them will opt for the six-speed manual version. We couldn't agree more. That's why we tested this version with the Sprint package.
The first thing you'll find out about the GT V6 is that it's got a great engine that revs freely to 6000 rpm. Put the (aluminum) gas pedal to the metal and the front wheels scrabble for grip. Not for long though as the 215/45R17 Michelin tires get to work and the car sprints forward. The engine has a pleasant husky sound thanks to the dual exhaust. Shift into second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth and the car's cruising. If you get lazy and forget to downshift as you putter around town, it's no problem as the engine has plenty of torque at low rpm. We found it'll pull reasonably well in sixth gear from 35 mph. It's a very different driving experience from cars like the Celica GTS and Civic Si that thrive on revving over 6000 rpm.
The power rack-and-pinion steering feels fine, it's precise with just enough feedback for fast driving. Inevitably there's torque steer but it's controllable and actually kind of fun when you're driving round town. On the highway it's barely noticeable. Not unexpectedly the car tends to understeer, what with the weight of the aluminum V6 engine mounted transversely between the front wheels.
During a brief test drive among pylons laid out in the infield of Las Vegas Speedway we found the Tiburon easy to throw around. Like all front-drive cars, it tended to understeer, but it was easy to compensate by using the throttle, brakes, and steering wheel.
The four-wheel disc brakes worked well and stopped the car quickly.
Out on the highway the ride is good on smooth roads but the sports suspension and low-profile tires tend to transmit excessive harshness into the cockpit on rough road surfaces. The handling is fine with little body roll. It's nothing exceptional but more than adequate to hold its own against other like cars. It would be pretty easy to tune the suspension still further to get a really good handling car. Tuners are undoubtedly working on it as you read this.
They've got a good basis to work from: MacPherson struts up front on a subframe and a strut-type multi-link suspension in the rear. All models get anti-roll bars and gas-filled shock absorbers all round. The sport tuned suspension on the GT V6 has 10-percent stiffer spring rates, stiffer compression in the gas-charged shocks and thicker anti roll bars front (23mm vs. 20mm) and rear (19mm vs. 18mm).
If you prefer an automatic transmission, go for the GT V6 and you'll not give up much in performance, especially as the automatic includes Shiftronic manual control.
2003 Hyundai Tiburon Final Word
Hyundai has been on a roll for the past couple of years in the US. Its cars are remarkably better than they were a few years ago, both in quality as well as in style. Nobody needs to be embarrassed driving around in a Hyundai anymore.
Indeed, driving a 2003 Tiburon GT V6 will elicit smiles all round. For under 20 grand it is a great car. Spend the cash saved on accessories and one could have a super cool car for less money than a stock version of one of its competitors. Perhaps the Tiburon is a shark after all -- it may well eat some of the other cars it's swimming with.
Find used inventory of the 2003 Hyundai Tiburon in your area. We have thousands of used vehicle listings around the country.
Find more information on Hyundai vehicles
- Affiliate Program
- |Advertising Opportunities
- |Buy Auto Leads
- |About Us
- |More Info
- |Need Help?
- |Mobile
- |Terms of Use
- |Privacy
- |Jobs
CARSDIRECT IS AN INTERNET BRANDS COMPANY. COPYRIGHT 1999-2012 CARSDIRECT.COM, INC.