2019 Genesis G70: First Drive — Cars.com

can Hyundai’s new luxury division Genesis repeat its magic from the g80and g90 sedans in a smaller less expensive package with the all-new g70well after three days behind the wheel the answer is yesthe g70 holds up on the driving front but like with the G 80 and g90 the realmagic comes beyond that so let’s start with those driving aspects the g 7ecomes with a four cylinder or a v6 engine both turbocharged there’sautomatic transmissions across the board but with the four-cylinder you can getan optional six-speed manual the rear-wheel drive there’s all-wheel drivewe drove a whole bunch of those combinations in the hills of southernMaine as well as at Club Motorsports that’s a racetrack two and a half miles15 turns 250 feet of elevation change in central New Hampshire we also droveseveral versions of the G 70 at an autocross course next to the racetrackso lots of experience in the car and I gotta say it’s not the most fun craftcar in the class but certainly holds its own a little bit lazier steering turninga little more body roll and maybe some competitors like the Jaguar XE the AlfaRomeo Giulia but certainly still within the realm of fun to drive fairly neutralchassis dynamics to get into corner big sweeping corners a little bit ofundersteer coming in but then it kind of maneuvers you can sneak the tail arounda little bit if you want it’s fairly predictable very good brakes there’soptional Brembo brakes on the g7 T’s that we drove at the track I took themthrough ten laps still held up even on the tenth lap not too much brake fadeand the cars very very composed bonhomie on the straightaways at a hundred milesan hour doesn’t feel skittish doesn’t feel like the tail is gonna I want tomove around on you even coming and braking in a straightall very very good stuff shows a lot of care went into chassis engineering forthis vehicle now you get on public roads there’s three suspension setups there’sa two fixed suspensions fixed rate shock absorbers there’s adaptive shockabsorbers that are optional the base suspension is comfort to you sort of andthen there’s a sport-tuned version now we’ve driven two of those three kind ofthe base two versions not the adaptive setup yet and the g70 is firms certainlybut comfortably so lights again barely control doesn’t really beat you up as afeel to chopping even over broken pavement now about those drive trainsthe 2-liter turbo 4-cylinder has decent power good building kind of sensation asyou get past 3,000 rpm all the way up to redlinereally I don’t see why anyone would need the bigger engine but something you’regonna want it and it’s got just explosive power regardless of rpmGenesis says it hits 60 miles an hour in just four and a half seconds that’scompetitive with cars like the Audi s4 that the MW 340i the Mercedes seen 43the AMG version and just lots and lots of power we were going uphill with twoadults aboard and gearing back at like 17 1800 rpm now the v6 comes with an8-speed automatic standard that’s available on the forest loan and you canalso get a manual the automatic is a really really good transmission I don’tsay that about a lot of 8-speed automatic setup shifts very seamlesslysmoothly often don’t even know that it’s up shifting but then when you need morepower dig into the gas just a little bit itkicks down one two years really really quick doesn’t delay a very very nicedecisive transmission probably better of a choice than the manual now I like thefact that they’re offering a manual transmission on the G semi that’s niceto have in a sports sedan because a lot of sport sedans are just doing away withmanuals all together but the six-speed manual is just not the most wellexecuted transmission kind of loose clunky shifter here biglong gates just doesn’t feel all that engaging it is nice though that throttleresponse is very good that’s really important for a rev-matching if you wantto drive a manual properly but like I said before the g7 is real appeal comesbeyond the driving aspects they have interior quality pretty competitive forthe segment I got to say a nice detailing on things like the centerconsole where sections that face the driver have this sort of low glasswrapping on them a very good level of attention to detail a lot like you seefrom Audi along the center portion of the – there is a vinyl wrapping ofstitching that standard that’s not optional you don’t have to pay extra toget some kind of interior upgrades package to get it that’s nice to seealso standard lots and lots of practicality here there’s an 8 inchtouchscreen you know you know stuff you have to do here with a knob or atouchpad – you can just reach up and do your thing it has standard apple carplayAndroid auto HD radio there’s physical volume and tuning knobs on theshortcut-keys here big knobs here for your climate controls very very easy touse lots of storage space – there’s this generous cubby here ahead of the gearshift underneath to be the center armrest you and automatic transmissioncars there’s enough space even for a 16 ounce water bottle overhead you’ve got asunglass holder I mean any non luxury car owner is gonna think well what’s thebig deal you get into a lot of luxury cars and they just drop the ball onstuff like this in the name of luxury for some reason I really like that the G70 didn’t overthink it now in terms of backseat space a little bit on the tightside there if you’re looking for that cars like the Audi a4 have a lot more ofit than the g7 II do and I’m 6 feet tall I do wish there wasa little bit more width here to kind of split out my knees but lots and lots ofadjustment range for the driver’s seat where I stick to Drive I’m about 4inches ahead of all the way back now when the g70 goes on sale at the end ofthe current season that’s summer of 2018 it’ll start around $35,000 a prettydecent value when you consider that that big multimedia system and a full suiteof safety features are all standard it’ll top out around $50,000 we’re toldagain a decent value when you consider that many of the G seventies Germancompetitors go well north of that mark once you add the bells and whistles nowI know what a lot of you are thinking Genesis and untested luxury brand maybeyou’d rather stick with Lexus or Mercedes Benz or BMW especially since alot of these G 70s at least initially are basically going to be sold out ofthe back of unday dealerships with maybe some differentiations showroom typestuff going on but can’t hide the fact that it’s still at a big Hyundai store Igot to say though you got to get over that because the g 70 is a very wellrounded entry in a very competitive class definitely worth adding to yourlistyou

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