ARE WE 'AVIN' A LAUGH? Well, maybe a little chuckle.(Auto File)(product information of Hyundai Motor Company Ltd.)

A little more than a year ago, we wrote that the 2007 Hyundai Tiburon "offers a choice for those who can't decide between the Ford Mustang GT and the Honda Civic Si.'' Not a bad review for a car that has sometimes been referred to as a poseur or a secretary's car. But after we made that comparison, you'll note, we advised you not to laugh.

Well, the ones who are truly enjoying the laugh now are the owners who find themselves flinging around this sporty little bargain. They might have chosen the car because of its price point, but they're happy with its performance and style as well as its value.

And when we ran the Tiburon through our AutoFile test and took a good look at it, we were pleased, too.

We put the Tiburon SE, which only comes with a six-speed manual (lower trim levels have either a four-speed automatic or a five-speed manual), through the usual battery of tests. Its sporty V6 offers decent, though not breathtaking, power, with lots of low-end torque.

We got from 0 to the 60- mph mark in just more than seven and a half seconds, not quite the speed of a tested Volkswagen GTI (6.33 seconds) or a Civic Si (6.53 seconds). But there was no torque steer during our 60-mph drag-strip runs, and the torque was especially meaty in third and fourth gears at lower rpm.

The Tiburon (44.2 mph) came a little bit closer to the GTI (44.6 mph) in the slalom and offered up a good-natured performance, easily pulling itself around the course in third gear. It felt pretty good around the skidpad, too, with only slight understeer. We held the wheel steady and throttled through despite the hard tires. One thing we'd opt for if looking at the Tiburon would be sportier rubber.

Speaking of options, the Tiburon SE comes standard with plenty of upgraded features, including an MP3-ready Kenwood sound system. The only feature that added to the sticker's bottom line was a $900 power sunroof. Most Tiburon owners mentioned the car's value and economy in their AutoFile reports, citing everything from all of those standard features and the good fuel mileage to Hyundai's reasonably priced service and the Korean automaker's 10-year warranty.