FILIPINOS are getting hooked at anything Korean—from food to “Oppa Gangnam Style” Psy to other Korean celebrities who are now living the life in the Philippines. You can include the 2013 Hyundai Genesis Coupé in the list, too.

If the latest Genesis Coupé is a woman, it would be like the lady wrestlers on TV; beauties but with enough muscle and power to leave anyone breathless. It is a real head-turner. From my garage to the streets and down highways, the top-variant 3.8L V6 I recently drove (a review unit from Philippine distributor Hyundai Asia Resources Inc.) never failed to catch attention from people.

Outside, the new Genesis Coupé features a more aggressive look, thanks to Hyundai’s signature hexagonal grille that’s bolder than that on the previous model, and which is complemented by twin hood accents, dagger-shaped HID headlamps, redesigned fog lamps, and huge 19-inch hyper-silver alloy wheels. At the rear are new LED rear combination lamps.

Driving this sports car outside the metropolis, one could go past 140kph effortlessly courtesy of the car’s new eight-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters, which gives the Genesis Coupé’s 3.8-liter V6 Lambda RS engine two additional gears. That means passing buses and trucks, whose drivers think that highways are their playground, is done with ease. Of course, the car’s up-rated 299-horsepower engine, with 49 horsepower more than that on the previous model, was also a key.

Ensuring that such power is not wasted is a torque-sensing limited-slip differential, which is positioned in the car to help achieve a 55/45 front-to-rear weight distribution. Through this technology—available in all the Genesis Coupé variants—the vehicle is able to sense wheel spin during acceleration or when driving over slippery surfaces and would accordingly distribute evenly the engine’s output between the rear wheels, resulting in maximum grip and directional stability.

Also, the car’s aerodynamics push the Genesis Coupé down to the ground, keeping it planted to the pavement—which makes it great for drift-racing (as I have seen it at a Lateral Drift Championship round held in Quirino Grandstand). Safety, even at high speeds, is remarkable as well as the car has Brembo brakes, active headrests and six airbags (driver, passenger, side and curtain). But I’m glad I did not get the chance to use these airbags.

Despite its size, done to provide passengers more room and luxury, the Genesis Coupé can be maneuvered gracefully. It can be considered as a luxury sports car because of its ample cabin space and sophisticated dashboard design. The stitched “crash pad” gives the latest car a more elegant finish. A new device automatically hands over the seatbelts to the driver and front passenger.

What I like most about the redesigned Genesis Coupé is that its steering wheel is not as busy with control buttons like those found on other cars. Thus, a driver can focus more on the task of driving more than anything else. That said, a driver will not get bored while doing so as the car has a multimedia system that has a 5.6-inch LCD display, an Infinity head unit, Bluetooth, USB, auxiliary and iPod connectivity, and CD and MP3 player—all residing at the center of the dashboard. A three-gauge cluster, located in the middle of the console, monitors acceleration, torque and oil temperature. Also, a trip computer shows distance, average fuel consumption and speed, instant fuel consumption, and the distance to the next refueling.

With all these things, it’s hard not to fall in love with this Korean.