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The Genesis G70: It's a new car, from an emerging brand that you buy in a different way.
No dealerships. Want one? They'll bring one to your door for a test drive. Visit a shopping mall and soon you might see a pop up Genesis boutique. Need maintenance? It's complimentary for five years or 100,000 kilometers. That's 60,000 miles. Plus, they'll come to your door, and pick up your G70 leaving you a loaner while yours in in for service.
This is a car that targets the BMW 3 series, the Audi A4, the Mercedes C Class. It's a serious piece of machinery from the Hyundai family, but this is a car and a brand unto itself. This is the G70. Choose the 2.0 litre turbo get 265 horsepower, or step up to this. The ultimate G70, with the 3.3 litre V6...twin turbo and get an impressive 365 horsepower. It's full of torque and accelerate from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 4.5 seconds.
The chassis...It's stiff. Very stiff and that's a really good thing. The fit and finish is top notch. Check out those pleaded leather seats: super nice. With the turbo four, you can get an optional stick shift. With the 3.3 litre turbo 6, you get an automatic but it has paddle shifters. The eight speed transmission is responsive, and smooth, and you can choose different driving modes.
Our car was equipped with sticky Michelin performance tires.The speedometer goes up to 300...yeah 300 kilometers per hour, although the car is rated with a top speed of 270 kilometers an hour. That's like 167 miles per hour. No you should not drive it that fast. You will lose your license. If you do crank it up, the big beefy Brembo disc brakes will bring to a stop smoothly, and quickly. They're awesome.
This is a car that offers neck snapping acceleration. Handling: Excellent. The steering is positive and those Michelin tires really grip on those sharp turns, but I wouldn't want to drive in snow with those performance tires, so if you're going to use it in the winter you're gonna need snow tires. It's pretty quiet inside. There are zero rattles, and zero squeaks. It's tight.
Go for the 2.0 litre turbo sport and you get rear wheel drive, but this twin turbo V6 test car came with all wheel drive. The styling mixes European and Japanese influences, and the result is something distinct. It stands out, especially when you look at straight on. The face of the car is flat and fierce. Yup, that's a Genesis...That's a G70.
The Kia Stinger has the same drive train options, but the Genesis G70 is lighter. This is a Korean car, but it came from the mind of German designer Peter Schreyer, who helped develop the Audi TT, VW's new Beetle and a bunch of other VW Audi products. Yup he jumped ship and he's in the Genesis, slash Kia, slash Hyundai camp now.
The infotainment system is the same one you'll find in Hyundai products, but that's ok, because it works and it's user friendly. You get dual climate control, steering wheel audio controls, power seats, traction control, lane keep assist, back and proximity cameras, collision avoidance systems, and more. Nice big sunroof on our test car too. Super nice, and when it's closed it does't look like a sunroof, it just looks like it's part of the roof. Clean.
Drive it easy and you'll get decent fuel economy. Choose Eco mode to save fuel. Stomp on the accelerator and get out your wallet. When those turbos kick in it does suck gas. It's reassuring to have that power available though, especially when passing or getting out of a dangerous spot in traffic. We got about 22 miles per gallon in the city, and about 30 miles per gallon on the highway.
The Genesis starts with a base price of $42,000 Canadian, that's about $32,400 U.S. But look at what you get...A car on par with the world's best compact touring sedans. Yup, it's a luxury sport sedan, at a bargain price. The G70 is a game changer.
Rick Walker SST Car Show News.
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