Following on from its debut at the Paris Motor Show this year, Hyundai is about to release a facelifted version of its cult Coupé in the UK. Orders will be taken from January 1st, but cars are already on display in showrooms across the country for customers to take a sneaky peak at the Korean's new curves.

The series-3 (SIII in Hyundai-speak) Coupé features a fully redesigned exterior that appears to be aimed at European buyers. The idiosyncrasies of previous versions are gone and the front-end could now be described as 'Ford Cougar meets Toyota Celica', which is much better than it sounds. Dare I say it, there's even a bit of Jaguar XK in the side profile and that's high praise indeed. The rear aspect is similar to the outgoing model with the odd nip and tuck to bring it nicely up to date.

The new Coupé will be launched in a fresh new range of colours and with leather trim as standard; either red or black depending upon the paint colour chosen. A redesigned centre console brings a cleaner look to the interior and a welcome improvement in build quality.

It's an interesting fact that Hyundai has, in fact, sold more Coupés than BMW has sold 3 Series Coupés, or Mercedes-Benz has sold CLKs. Obviously the attractive pricing has gone a long way to generating such popularity; the SIII starts at just £15,745 for the 1.6-litre and rises to £20,495 for the 2.7-litre V6 with an automatic gearbox. That's about the same as a new Golf GTI, so it's clear to see why the Coupé's been such a success story.

Performance across the range isn't breathtaking, but will be more than adequate for most buyers. Expect a 0-60mph time of around eight seconds from the 165bhp V6. Top speed should be around 140mph.

If you're still not sold, add Hyundai's standard five-year unlimited mileage warranty, six-year anti-perforation warranty and three years of RAC Assistance and the new Coupé SIII makes a very attractive case for itself.

Watch out for our road test on the Hyundai Reviews Page.

Will Nightingale - 15 Dec 2006