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MM-Review: 2022 Genesis GV70
By Request, an MM-Review of the 2022 Genesis GV70.
IN A NUTSHELL: Well-Built, and surprisingly comfortable, even with the top-Sport-Package.
CLOSEST AMERICAN-MARKET COMPETITORS: Cadillac XT4/XT5, Buick Envision Avenir, BMW X3/X5, Audi Q3/Q5, Mercedes GLC, Lexus RX350, Infiniti QX50, Acura RDX, Jaguar E-Pace, Land Rover Discovery, Lincoln Corsair/Nautilus, Volvo XC60 Plug-in Hybrid.
OVERVIEW:
South Korea’s Genesis Division, the luxury/prestige arm of Hyundai Corporation (who also owns Kia), got off to a rocky start in the U.S. several years ago selling its G80/G90 sedans. This happened not only because of absurd corporate in-fighting between lawyers for its own Genesis and Hyundai divisions as to which dealerships would (and would not) handle Genesis products, but, because, like Ford’s luxury Lincoln Division which sells mostly out of select Ford dealerships, Hyundai did not (perhaps could not afford to) invest in a separate line of stand-alone dealerships for the Genesis Division. Genesis also lacked any production SUVs at the time, in a U.S. marketplace that was rapidly demanding SUVs (particularly crossovers) and switching over to them. Despite well-publicized reports/recalls of some engine fires in a number of different Hyundai/Kia/Genesis products, the G80 and G90 were both superbly-built/superbly crafted luxury-sedans that, in my book, could stand toe-to-toe with some of the best luxury-sedans from the U.S., Europe, and Japan…..particularly in their fit/finish and solidness/quality of their bodies/sheet/metal/hardware. Perhaps best of all, they achieved this build-quality at a relatively attractive price compared to what most of their competitors were charging at the time.
But not having a crossover SUV, of course, did impact on the company’s attractiveness in the American market….and the fact that, like Lincoln at the Ford dealerships, its products shared their dealerships with more-pedestrian Hyundai products. To me, that policy is not a big deal….for example, personally, I like Buicks, an upmarket brand compared to Chevrolet, and I couldn’t care less that they are often sold out of the same dealerships as Chevys, along with GMC products. Ted Britt, a very large local Ford conglomerate, has a shop (one of the largest on the East Coast) that also sells Lincolns, and remodeled the building so that the Lincoln part and the Ford part have two separate showrooms inside under the same roof, with the General Manager’s office in the smaller Lincoln showroom. I suspect that we might see more or less the same thing from future Hyundai/Genesis shops…..or maybe even stand-alone Genesis dealerships if the corporation can afford it. Like I said, I personally don’t care about that kind of image-related stuff, but, much of the American car-buying public does, particularly for upmarket vehicles.
Genesis, not long ago, after a significant delay, finally launched its first American-market crossover SUV-the larger GV80, although the COVID pandemic and depressed new-vehicle-market clearly impacted some of what would probably have been excellent sales for it. Genesis marketers also saw fit to develop a smaller GV70 crossover…the subject of this specific review.
The basic platform for the GV70 comes from the RWD/AWD platform used for the Genesis G70 and Kia Stinger sport-sedans……although there currently are plans to discontinue the Stinger in the U.S. because of low sales.
For 2022, two basic versions of the GV70 are available in the American market….the 2.5T AWD ($41,000) and the 3.5T AWD ($52,600). All-Wheel-Drive, as the labels imply, is standard on both versions. The 2.5T and 3.5T labels, of course, refer to a turbocharged 2.5L gasoline in-line four, and a 3.5L gasoline turbocharged V6. Both versions use an 8-speed automatic transmission with manual Sport-Shift. A 2.2L Diesel version is planned to be offered in other markets, but not in the U.S. No hybrid or electric version is available yet in the U.S. The 2.5T version is available in Standard, Select, Advanced, and Sport Prestige Packages. (I’d probably select the Standard Package, because it drops the power sunroof and has the softest-riding tires). The 3.5T version comes with Sport, Sport-Advanced, and Sport-Prestige packages, which all include a Limited self-driving-assist function. The top-line packages for both versions are quite pricey, and will add around 9-11K to the sticker-price, independent of any dealer mark-ups in this tight new-vehicle market that we find ourselves in.
Given much of the bad press lately given the auto-buying business, I had a couple of pleasant surprises today at the big Hyundai/Genesis dealership…….enormous in size, and the closest one to my house that handles both Hyundai and Genesis products. You could tell the supply-shortage of new vehicles was still in effect, but they had three new GV70s in stock…..a dark blue 2.5T with the Advanced Package that listed for $50,695, a 2.5T with the top Sport-Prestige package that listed for $54,740, and a silver 3.5T with the Sport-Prestige Package for $64,330. The dark blue 2.5T was absolutely spotless, close to what I’d look at if I were buying one, so I gave it a thorough static-review inside and out…..only to have a sales-rep tell me it had just been sold. So, there went my chance to test-drive it. The other two sitting on the lot, as I mentioned above, both had the top Sport-Prestige package, with a set of (IMO) goofy-looking 21-inch wheels and rubber-band 40-series tires. Not exactly what I would choose, but in this tight market, you take what you can find. So, I decided to do the test-drive with the silver 2.5T version, as it had plenty of power (300 HP and 311 ft. lbs. of torque) for any normal driving….…the larger turbo 3.5 would probably have been overkill for this size vehicle. I was surprised by the seating/riding-comfort level those sport-seats/wheels/tires/suspension allowed, which I’ll get into further below. Another surprise, in this era of high-demand/low-supply dealer price-gouging……I did not see any added second-stickers with additional price-markups. When I asked about it, they said that they were not asking anything over list except on the Hyundai Palisade. So, chances are you could take one home for list or maybe even a little less.
MODEL(s) STATIC-REVIEWED/TEST-DRIVEN: 2022 Genesis GV70
DRIVETRAIN: AWD, Longitudinally-mounted 2.5L turbocharged in-line four, 300 HP / 311 Ft-lbs. of Torque, 8-speed automatic transmission with Sport-Shift.
LIST-PRICES: $50,695-Static-Reviewed, $54,740 Reviewed/Test-Driven.
EPA MILEAGE RATING: 22 City, 28 Highway.
PLUSSES:
No (apparent) price mark-ups at this particular dealership.
Long Hyundai/Genesis 10/100 and 5/60 warranty…but some of the warranty may not be transferable to a new owner.
Seat/ride-comfort level with top Sport Package much better than I expected.
Quality materials inside.
Excellent fit/finish.
Adequate front/rear head room with sunroof.
Handy side-view camera for turn-signals.
Good engine-fit underhood.
Nice underhood gas struts.
Full-size temporary spare tire.
Jewel-like conventional clearcoat paint job.
Some superb traditional finish and matte body-colors.
MINUSES:
Temporary supply shortages.
Matte-paint-color options must be washed by hand…..no automatic car-wash.
Spongy brake-pedal action.
Steering response with Sport Package not as quick as expected.
Somewhat quirky (IMO) rotary-shift knob.
Rear cargo room somewhat compromised by roofline-drop.
Door closings not as solid-feeling as with last generation Hyundai/Genesis products.
EXTERIOR:
The GV70 more or less, but not exactly, looks like a downsized version of the substantially larger GV80….the area around the rear side-windows and C/D-pillars is styled somewhat differently, but one can see at a glance that both are in the Genesis family. Overall, the GV70 has a lightly more stylish/sport-oriented look to it. I was very impressed by some of the paint-colors offered, in both conventional and matte-type finishes….but why three different white shades?….that’s a little odd. Some colors, as with most manufacturers these days, cost extra. The paint itself is superbly-applied. A drawback the matte-finishes, at least the way the sales-reps described it, was that they cannot be run through automatic car-washes without risk of damage…a special vehicle-wash kit comes with them. I didn’t get to see it in person, but the Matte-Burgundy paint seems to have a really nice purplish tint to it…..one of my favorites. Compared to past Genesis products (the sedans), I was not impressed with the light and somewhat tinny feel/sound of the new doors on both the GV80 and GV70 (my Buick Encore GX actually has a more-solid sound when closing). The old Genesis doors closed with a solid secure Thunk and feel….the new ones with a muted clicking nose. I will say, though, that the new door-hinges themselves, in the frame-structure, do have a tank-like solidness to them, even if the doors themselves, either due to cost-cutting or weight-reduction, have much lighter feel.
One other thing I wasn’t very impressed with, on the exterior, was the pattern on the Sport-Prestige 21-inch wheels, which had an odd-looking scalloped design in the spokes. Overall, though, a relatively handsome vehicle….I’ve definitely seen lots worse.
UNDERHOOD:
Raise the hood, and it has a rather light aluminumized feel to it, and is held up for you by two nice gas-struts….no cheap prop-rod here. The engine compartment has enough room that the 2.5L in-line four fits in pretty well, although the longitudinal (fore-aft) mounting of the engine helps with access, as opposed to the more-common Transverse (sideways) mount on FWD-based platform-vehicles. The engine is mounted slightly towards the rear of the compartment, perhaps for more ideal weight-distribution in the vehicle. That, of course, leaves room up front (and, to some extent, along the sides) to reach engine and radiator components. As with most gas engines these days, a big plastic engine cover hampers a lot of the top-engine access. Two large solid braces in the compartment add strength to the front structure. The fluid-reservoirs, dipsticks, and filler-caps are generally easy to see and reach.
INTERIOR:
With a couple of exceptions, I generally found the GV70’s interior to be a well-designed and pleasant place, regardless of what kind of interior-package you had. Depending on trim-level, several different interior colors are available. The only things I didn’t particularly care for inside were the Hyundai/Genesis tradition of using semi-gloss aluminum finish on some surfaces instead of brighter chrome-finish, the tacky-looking video-screen mount on the upper-middle dash, and the (IMO) somewhat quirky rotary-knob for the shifter, although the shifter had only three positions (Reverse, Neutral, Drive), which made it easier…….the Park position is a push-button on top of the shifter. But everything else inside was well-done. Most of the hardware seemed of higher-quality than average, although slightly less solid-feeling than in previous Genesis products. The primary-gauges are easy to read and electronic/analog in design. The leather/leatherette seats and door-panel inserts had a nice feel to the them, and even the Sport-seats (which are often too narrow for my wide frame) were extremely comfortable, and fit like a glove. I generally don’t like most two-spoke steering wheels, but the large oval-shaped center pad had a nice shape to it. There was adequate head room, both front and rear, even for a person my size, under the sunroof housing, although I may have recently lost an inch or so in height due to my advancing age and spine/bone-structure loss. The stereo was the high grade expected in a vehicle of this class, and the controls were generally laid out and arranged in a user-friendly manner. Most of the controls had a slick, smooth, quality-feel and action to them. One feature inside I really liked (and I had not seen before) was a built-in camera-dimply in the tachometer-nacelle that activates when you use the turn-signal lever, that, in addition to the usual yellow blind-spot light in the side-mirrors, gives you a optic-view down the side of the vehicle to see somebody in your blind spot. This is an excellent feature, and, IMO, more vehicles should offer it. I won’t go into all the different functions in the Infotainment system and video-screen, as most current vehicles, particularly in this class, have all or most of the features that the typical buyer wants.
CARGO AREA/TRUNK:
As expected in this class, the cargo area is generally well-finished, with a nice grade of black carpet, anchor-on the floor mounting points, and a nice durable pull-cover to keep valuables in back from prying eyes. Under the floor is a full-size temporary spare tire….no annoying run-flats, air-compressor-bottles, or space-saver donut mini-spares. I generally prefer a true spare tire/wheel, which can be used with the regular tire-rotation to extend tire-life (some trucks and off-roaders still offer those), but, short of that, a full-size temporary spare is probably best, especially for AWD vehicles where the center-differential can be stressed from different-size tires at different points of the vehicle. The only glitch I saw in the cargo area was that the stylish rear-roofline drop, which adds to the vehicle’s slick look, takes some room out if that section, so it might compromise the ability to carry tall objects in back. The small triangular side-windows in the cargo area, though, do help visibility a little over a solid D-pillar.
ON THE ROAD:
There were some surprises on the road, which I had not really expected. I already mentioned, above, that I couldn’t take the version out on the road with the 18” higher-profile/soft-riding tires/wheels I wanted to (it had been sold), so I had to settle for what (I thought) were going to be much stiffer-riding 21-inchers with low-profile tires. Even that Sport-package version, with the Drive-mode-setting in Sport or Sport-Plus, was comfortable on the road…this was also the case, I remember a number of years ago, on the Hyundai Genesis sedan (before it became the Genesis G80). Hyundai/Genesis, like BMW and Mercedes, seems to have knack for getting a smooth ride out of sport-underpinnings and low-profile tires, although it might (?) have been done it by compromising the suspension some. Steering-response, even in the Sport-Drive Mode, was not as quick or sharp as I expected, although it has to be remembered that this is a crossover/SUV and not a sport-sedan per se. The brake pedal, though effective, also had some annoying free-play and some sponginess to it…..this is something that the brake engineers might have to work on, and I suspect that we will see a firmer pedal for the 2023 version. While the tires were cold, I did notice some very slight vibration from what appeared to be flat-spots…tat more or less disappeared when they warmed up after a few miles. Some tires, depending on the brand and make-up/composition, will flat-spot if not driven for a few days, which is sometimes the case with vehicles on dealer-lots.
As for the drivetrain, my choice of the 2.5 turbo four for the test-drive was, IMO, justified. Particularly in Sport-mode, but also in ECO or Normal modes, it has as much or more power and response than will be needed for most normal driving functions, although, if you regularly drive with heavy loads and/or on steep hills, you might consider the 3.5L turbo V6. The 3.5L, though, will add a steep sum to an already not inexpensive vehicle. The 8-speed automatic shifted smoothly most of the time, although sometimes, in Sport Mode, there was a slight bump on the shifts to firm them up. I myself like a butter-smooth transmission, and would probably leave it in Eco or Normal-mode most of the time. But, again, I could do without that rotary shifter.
THE VERDICT:
This vehicle did not earn Motor Trend’s 2022 SUV of the year for nothing….my review, inspection, and test-drive convinces me that the magazine was correct. It is an excellent competitor to well-established compact crossovers from other premium/luxury automakers, and, even though prices have crept up on Korean-badged vehicles, is still attractively-priced compared to many of them. Personally, I wish that Genesis would go back to the Thunk-solid door closings and heavier feel to the sheet metal, firm up the brake-pedal action, and integrate the video-screen into the instrument panel like GM does, but, in truth, none of those are deal-breakers in my book. This is an excellent vehicle, at a price that, while more than I typically pay for my own vehicles, is still quite attractive compared to some competition, carries a warranty that is superior to any of them, and, at least at the dealership I was at, does not command a mark-up over list.
And, as Always, Happy Vehicle-Shopping.
MM
By Request, an MM-Review of the 2022 Genesis GV70.
IN A NUTSHELL: Well-Built, and surprisingly comfortable, even with the top-Sport-Package.
CLOSEST AMERICAN-MARKET COMPETITORS: Cadillac XT4/XT5, Buick Envision Avenir, BMW X3/X5, Audi Q3/Q5, Mercedes GLC, Lexus RX350, Infiniti QX50, Acura RDX, Jaguar E-Pace, Land Rover Discovery, Lincoln Corsair/Nautilus, Volvo XC60 Plug-in Hybrid.
OVERVIEW:
South Korea’s Genesis Division, the luxury/prestige arm of Hyundai Corporation (who also owns Kia), got off to a rocky start in the U.S. several years ago selling its G80/G90 sedans. This happened not only because of absurd corporate in-fighting between lawyers for its own Genesis and Hyundai divisions as to which dealerships would (and would not) handle Genesis products, but, because, like Ford’s luxury Lincoln Division which sells mostly out of select Ford dealerships, Hyundai did not (perhaps could not afford to) invest in a separate line of stand-alone dealerships for the Genesis Division. Genesis also lacked any production SUVs at the time, in a U.S. marketplace that was rapidly demanding SUVs (particularly crossovers) and switching over to them. Despite well-publicized reports/recalls of some engine fires in a number of different Hyundai/Kia/Genesis products, the G80 and G90 were both superbly-built/superbly crafted luxury-sedans that, in my book, could stand toe-to-toe with some of the best luxury-sedans from the U.S., Europe, and Japan…..particularly in their fit/finish and solidness/quality of their bodies/sheet/metal/hardware. Perhaps best of all, they achieved this build-quality at a relatively attractive price compared to what most of their competitors were charging at the time.
But not having a crossover SUV, of course, did impact on the company’s attractiveness in the American market….and the fact that, like Lincoln at the Ford dealerships, its products shared their dealerships with more-pedestrian Hyundai products. To me, that policy is not a big deal….for example, personally, I like Buicks, an upmarket brand compared to Chevrolet, and I couldn’t care less that they are often sold out of the same dealerships as Chevys, along with GMC products. Ted Britt, a very large local Ford conglomerate, has a shop (one of the largest on the East Coast) that also sells Lincolns, and remodeled the building so that the Lincoln part and the Ford part have two separate showrooms inside under the same roof, with the General Manager’s office in the smaller Lincoln showroom. I suspect that we might see more or less the same thing from future Hyundai/Genesis shops…..or maybe even stand-alone Genesis dealerships if the corporation can afford it. Like I said, I personally don’t care about that kind of image-related stuff, but, much of the American car-buying public does, particularly for upmarket vehicles.
Genesis, not long ago, after a significant delay, finally launched its first American-market crossover SUV-the larger GV80, although the COVID pandemic and depressed new-vehicle-market clearly impacted some of what would probably have been excellent sales for it. Genesis marketers also saw fit to develop a smaller GV70 crossover…the subject of this specific review.
The basic platform for the GV70 comes from the RWD/AWD platform used for the Genesis G70 and Kia Stinger sport-sedans……although there currently are plans to discontinue the Stinger in the U.S. because of low sales.
For 2022, two basic versions of the GV70 are available in the American market….the 2.5T AWD ($41,000) and the 3.5T AWD ($52,600). All-Wheel-Drive, as the labels imply, is standard on both versions. The 2.5T and 3.5T labels, of course, refer to a turbocharged 2.5L gasoline in-line four, and a 3.5L gasoline turbocharged V6. Both versions use an 8-speed automatic transmission with manual Sport-Shift. A 2.2L Diesel version is planned to be offered in other markets, but not in the U.S. No hybrid or electric version is available yet in the U.S. The 2.5T version is available in Standard, Select, Advanced, and Sport Prestige Packages. (I’d probably select the Standard Package, because it drops the power sunroof and has the softest-riding tires). The 3.5T version comes with Sport, Sport-Advanced, and Sport-Prestige packages, which all include a Limited self-driving-assist function. The top-line packages for both versions are quite pricey, and will add around 9-11K to the sticker-price, independent of any dealer mark-ups in this tight new-vehicle market that we find ourselves in.
Given much of the bad press lately given the auto-buying business, I had a couple of pleasant surprises today at the big Hyundai/Genesis dealership…….enormous in size, and the closest one to my house that handles both Hyundai and Genesis products. You could tell the supply-shortage of new vehicles was still in effect, but they had three new GV70s in stock…..a dark blue 2.5T with the Advanced Package that listed for $50,695, a 2.5T with the top Sport-Prestige package that listed for $54,740, and a silver 3.5T with the Sport-Prestige Package for $64,330. The dark blue 2.5T was absolutely spotless, close to what I’d look at if I were buying one, so I gave it a thorough static-review inside and out…..only to have a sales-rep tell me it had just been sold. So, there went my chance to test-drive it. The other two sitting on the lot, as I mentioned above, both had the top Sport-Prestige package, with a set of (IMO) goofy-looking 21-inch wheels and rubber-band 40-series tires. Not exactly what I would choose, but in this tight market, you take what you can find. So, I decided to do the test-drive with the silver 2.5T version, as it had plenty of power (300 HP and 311 ft. lbs. of torque) for any normal driving….…the larger turbo 3.5 would probably have been overkill for this size vehicle. I was surprised by the seating/riding-comfort level those sport-seats/wheels/tires/suspension allowed, which I’ll get into further below. Another surprise, in this era of high-demand/low-supply dealer price-gouging……I did not see any added second-stickers with additional price-markups. When I asked about it, they said that they were not asking anything over list except on the Hyundai Palisade. So, chances are you could take one home for list or maybe even a little less.
MODEL(s) STATIC-REVIEWED/TEST-DRIVEN: 2022 Genesis GV70
DRIVETRAIN: AWD, Longitudinally-mounted 2.5L turbocharged in-line four, 300 HP / 311 Ft-lbs. of Torque, 8-speed automatic transmission with Sport-Shift.
LIST-PRICES: $50,695-Static-Reviewed, $54,740 Reviewed/Test-Driven.
EPA MILEAGE RATING: 22 City, 28 Highway.
PLUSSES:
No (apparent) price mark-ups at this particular dealership.
Long Hyundai/Genesis 10/100 and 5/60 warranty…but some of the warranty may not be transferable to a new owner.
Seat/ride-comfort level with top Sport Package much better than I expected.
Quality materials inside.
Excellent fit/finish.
Adequate front/rear head room with sunroof.
Handy side-view camera for turn-signals.
Good engine-fit underhood.
Nice underhood gas struts.
Full-size temporary spare tire.
Jewel-like conventional clearcoat paint job.
Some superb traditional finish and matte body-colors.
MINUSES:
Temporary supply shortages.
Matte-paint-color options must be washed by hand…..no automatic car-wash.
Spongy brake-pedal action.
Steering response with Sport Package not as quick as expected.
Somewhat quirky (IMO) rotary-shift knob.
Rear cargo room somewhat compromised by roofline-drop.
Door closings not as solid-feeling as with last generation Hyundai/Genesis products.
EXTERIOR:
The GV70 more or less, but not exactly, looks like a downsized version of the substantially larger GV80….the area around the rear side-windows and C/D-pillars is styled somewhat differently, but one can see at a glance that both are in the Genesis family. Overall, the GV70 has a lightly more stylish/sport-oriented look to it. I was very impressed by some of the paint-colors offered, in both conventional and matte-type finishes….but why three different white shades?….that’s a little odd. Some colors, as with most manufacturers these days, cost extra. The paint itself is superbly-applied. A drawback the matte-finishes, at least the way the sales-reps described it, was that they cannot be run through automatic car-washes without risk of damage…a special vehicle-wash kit comes with them. I didn’t get to see it in person, but the Matte-Burgundy paint seems to have a really nice purplish tint to it…..one of my favorites. Compared to past Genesis products (the sedans), I was not impressed with the light and somewhat tinny feel/sound of the new doors on both the GV80 and GV70 (my Buick Encore GX actually has a more-solid sound when closing). The old Genesis doors closed with a solid secure Thunk and feel….the new ones with a muted clicking nose. I will say, though, that the new door-hinges themselves, in the frame-structure, do have a tank-like solidness to them, even if the doors themselves, either due to cost-cutting or weight-reduction, have much lighter feel.
One other thing I wasn’t very impressed with, on the exterior, was the pattern on the Sport-Prestige 21-inch wheels, which had an odd-looking scalloped design in the spokes. Overall, though, a relatively handsome vehicle….I’ve definitely seen lots worse.
UNDERHOOD:
Raise the hood, and it has a rather light aluminumized feel to it, and is held up for you by two nice gas-struts….no cheap prop-rod here. The engine compartment has enough room that the 2.5L in-line four fits in pretty well, although the longitudinal (fore-aft) mounting of the engine helps with access, as opposed to the more-common Transverse (sideways) mount on FWD-based platform-vehicles. The engine is mounted slightly towards the rear of the compartment, perhaps for more ideal weight-distribution in the vehicle. That, of course, leaves room up front (and, to some extent, along the sides) to reach engine and radiator components. As with most gas engines these days, a big plastic engine cover hampers a lot of the top-engine access. Two large solid braces in the compartment add strength to the front structure. The fluid-reservoirs, dipsticks, and filler-caps are generally easy to see and reach.
INTERIOR:
With a couple of exceptions, I generally found the GV70’s interior to be a well-designed and pleasant place, regardless of what kind of interior-package you had. Depending on trim-level, several different interior colors are available. The only things I didn’t particularly care for inside were the Hyundai/Genesis tradition of using semi-gloss aluminum finish on some surfaces instead of brighter chrome-finish, the tacky-looking video-screen mount on the upper-middle dash, and the (IMO) somewhat quirky rotary-knob for the shifter, although the shifter had only three positions (Reverse, Neutral, Drive), which made it easier…….the Park position is a push-button on top of the shifter. But everything else inside was well-done. Most of the hardware seemed of higher-quality than average, although slightly less solid-feeling than in previous Genesis products. The primary-gauges are easy to read and electronic/analog in design. The leather/leatherette seats and door-panel inserts had a nice feel to the them, and even the Sport-seats (which are often too narrow for my wide frame) were extremely comfortable, and fit like a glove. I generally don’t like most two-spoke steering wheels, but the large oval-shaped center pad had a nice shape to it. There was adequate head room, both front and rear, even for a person my size, under the sunroof housing, although I may have recently lost an inch or so in height due to my advancing age and spine/bone-structure loss. The stereo was the high grade expected in a vehicle of this class, and the controls were generally laid out and arranged in a user-friendly manner. Most of the controls had a slick, smooth, quality-feel and action to them. One feature inside I really liked (and I had not seen before) was a built-in camera-dimply in the tachometer-nacelle that activates when you use the turn-signal lever, that, in addition to the usual yellow blind-spot light in the side-mirrors, gives you a optic-view down the side of the vehicle to see somebody in your blind spot. This is an excellent feature, and, IMO, more vehicles should offer it. I won’t go into all the different functions in the Infotainment system and video-screen, as most current vehicles, particularly in this class, have all or most of the features that the typical buyer wants.
CARGO AREA/TRUNK:
As expected in this class, the cargo area is generally well-finished, with a nice grade of black carpet, anchor-on the floor mounting points, and a nice durable pull-cover to keep valuables in back from prying eyes. Under the floor is a full-size temporary spare tire….no annoying run-flats, air-compressor-bottles, or space-saver donut mini-spares. I generally prefer a true spare tire/wheel, which can be used with the regular tire-rotation to extend tire-life (some trucks and off-roaders still offer those), but, short of that, a full-size temporary spare is probably best, especially for AWD vehicles where the center-differential can be stressed from different-size tires at different points of the vehicle. The only glitch I saw in the cargo area was that the stylish rear-roofline drop, which adds to the vehicle’s slick look, takes some room out if that section, so it might compromise the ability to carry tall objects in back. The small triangular side-windows in the cargo area, though, do help visibility a little over a solid D-pillar.
ON THE ROAD:
There were some surprises on the road, which I had not really expected. I already mentioned, above, that I couldn’t take the version out on the road with the 18” higher-profile/soft-riding tires/wheels I wanted to (it had been sold), so I had to settle for what (I thought) were going to be much stiffer-riding 21-inchers with low-profile tires. Even that Sport-package version, with the Drive-mode-setting in Sport or Sport-Plus, was comfortable on the road…this was also the case, I remember a number of years ago, on the Hyundai Genesis sedan (before it became the Genesis G80). Hyundai/Genesis, like BMW and Mercedes, seems to have knack for getting a smooth ride out of sport-underpinnings and low-profile tires, although it might (?) have been done it by compromising the suspension some. Steering-response, even in the Sport-Drive Mode, was not as quick or sharp as I expected, although it has to be remembered that this is a crossover/SUV and not a sport-sedan per se. The brake pedal, though effective, also had some annoying free-play and some sponginess to it…..this is something that the brake engineers might have to work on, and I suspect that we will see a firmer pedal for the 2023 version. While the tires were cold, I did notice some very slight vibration from what appeared to be flat-spots…tat more or less disappeared when they warmed up after a few miles. Some tires, depending on the brand and make-up/composition, will flat-spot if not driven for a few days, which is sometimes the case with vehicles on dealer-lots.
As for the drivetrain, my choice of the 2.5 turbo four for the test-drive was, IMO, justified. Particularly in Sport-mode, but also in ECO or Normal modes, it has as much or more power and response than will be needed for most normal driving functions, although, if you regularly drive with heavy loads and/or on steep hills, you might consider the 3.5L turbo V6. The 3.5L, though, will add a steep sum to an already not inexpensive vehicle. The 8-speed automatic shifted smoothly most of the time, although sometimes, in Sport Mode, there was a slight bump on the shifts to firm them up. I myself like a butter-smooth transmission, and would probably leave it in Eco or Normal-mode most of the time. But, again, I could do without that rotary shifter.
THE VERDICT:
This vehicle did not earn Motor Trend’s 2022 SUV of the year for nothing….my review, inspection, and test-drive convinces me that the magazine was correct. It is an excellent competitor to well-established compact crossovers from other premium/luxury automakers, and, even though prices have crept up on Korean-badged vehicles, is still attractively-priced compared to many of them. Personally, I wish that Genesis would go back to the Thunk-solid door closings and heavier feel to the sheet metal, firm up the brake-pedal action, and integrate the video-screen into the instrument panel like GM does, but, in truth, none of those are deal-breakers in my book. This is an excellent vehicle, at a price that, while more than I typically pay for my own vehicles, is still quite attractive compared to some competition, carries a warranty that is superior to any of them, and, at least at the dealership I was at, does not command a mark-up over list.
And, as Always, Happy Vehicle-Shopping.
MM