For fun on the run, Genesis delivers

— -- Hyundai's Genesis coupe is a party animal.

From the moment you plop into the bucket seats and hit the start button, the coupe lets you know it's ready, willing and able.

The seats cosset but don't cramp. The engine — V-6 or turbocharged four-cylinder — yelps to life. Either one seems happy charging hard, yet both are steady performers at lower speeds, too. The turbo-four makes all its torque at a mere 2,000 rpm, good for slog-along traffic — and unusual among turbocharged engines, which usually require some horsewhipping to build steam. Still, the V-6 is an easier partner in sluggish going.

The V-6 is good for an eager 306 horsepower. The turbocharged four-cylinder has 210 hp that can be made to feel like more if you work the gears to best advantage.

Hyundai says it's a low-pressure turbo. That means it sacrifices ultimate horsepower for smoothness. In the test car, in fact, there was none of the slam-bang personality of some turbos. Instead, the engine delivered sufficient, solid power at low speed as well as high. Worthwhile tradeoff.

The handling, ah. Spend a moment giving thanks that there still are rear-wheel-drive cars in this front-drive world. Turn the wheel and the rear-drive coupe turns. Just that much. Eagerly, precisely. Corners that you've found a bit intimidating become simply corners.

Perhaps you've seen those ads showing a Genesis coupe power-sliding, some guy driving it like he stole it. Well, it really is that kind of car. Happily for your driver's license, you don't need to boot the coupe like that to know and appreciate its underlying personality. The right-now way the car does about anything you ask is plenty convincing.

The main pieces of the optional Track package — stiffer suspension and tires — made the Track-equipped test car's ride just short of harsh. Be sure you can live with it day-in, day-out before you choose it. The suspension on the Grand Touring test car was a better blend of crisp handling and agreeable ride.