It takes a very long time for a brand new automotive nameplate to penetrate public consciousness — even when everybody ought to know. So, contemplate this a public service announcement: Genesis makes some very, excellent vehicles.
“Genesis, that’s a automotive model?” Throughout my week driving the 2024 Genesis GV70, I obtained that query greater than as soon as from associates who don’t pay a lot consideration to vehicles until they’re automotive purchasing. So, I’ll take a second to elucidate.
Genesis is Hyundai Motor’s luxurious division, which will probably be 10 years previous subsequent yr. It builds a rising lineup of luxurious vehicles which are aggressive with manufacturers like Lexus and BMW. Genesis vehicles are recognized for design aptitude and unusually good costs for the luxurious class.
I don’t know if the model has a real signature product but. However, in the event that they want one, the GV70 must be it. It’s a compact luxurious SUV, and our editors fee it the most effective one in its class. Sure, given the selection, we’d skip over a Mercedes-Benz GLC, a BMW X3, and a Lexus NX in favor of a flowery Hyundai. Let me inform you why.
My tester was a top-of-the-line, all-wheel-drive 3.5T Sport AWD mannequin with the Sport Status package deal (including goodies like 21-inch sport wheels, Nappa leather-based, and a Lexicon premium audio system). In Mauna Crimson, it retails for $69,350, together with a compulsory $1,350 supply charge.
Genesis Cares About Design
Each luxurious SUV is well-designed inside. It takes so much for one to face out from its friends.
The GV70 will get there with stunning particulars. My take a look at mannequin’s cabin was upholstered in a bottomless blue Genesis calls “Ultramarine.”
Driving new vehicles can regularly make you too choosy. Our editors must work to not develop a kind of critic’s mind that makes us complain about tiny issues no automotive shopper would discover vital. However I can’t assist it on this level: Just about each automotive inside in the marketplace in the present day is dominantly black or beige. Gentle Nappa leather-based dyed deep just like the North Atlantic is a refreshing sight.
Genesis lets its designers take probabilities with shade, and the world is slightly higher for it. Its competitors might study from its bravery with shade.
Ovals and sweeping curves dominate the design theme inside, with the large 14.5-inch touchscreen practically the one floor that doesn’t look natural. Brushed steel trim lends virtually a midcentury fashionable contact. The cabin is a stunning place to spend time.
It’s even higher at evening when color-adjustable ambient lighting outlines simply the correct quantity of trim.
One minor criticism: The middle console has two rotary puck controllers of virtually the identical dimension, positioned in tandem. One is the gear shift. The opposite is an alternate management for the touchscreen. Drivers will get used to figuring out which is which, however because the display already operates from contact alone, the additional controller appears extraneous.
Good-looking Exterior, Too
The inside is outstanding, however you’ll like taking a look at your GV70 from throughout the road, too. Genesis has adopted a signature lighting type — daytime operating lights and taillights are two parallel horizontal traces — that provides its vehicles a singular bearing.
In a yr when most SUV designers are leaning exhausting right into a rugged, boxy aesthetic, the GV70 has sufficient curve to face out.
A Rumbly Twin-Turbo V6
Genesis builds the GV70 with a alternative of two engines: a turbocharged 4-cylinder making 300 horsepower or a twin-turbo V6 making 75 hp extra. I’d often inform you to only get 4 cylinders, and possibly you need to. 300 horsepower is greater than sufficient.
Nevertheless, the V6 has an understated, throaty rumble below acceleration that’s thrilling to expertise. I discover myself eager to go towards my normal, don’t-spend-more-if-you-don’t-have-to strategy to automotive recommendation only for the noise of this factor.
Excellent Seats
Most automakers save their finest seats for his or her costliest vehicles. However you don’t must step as much as a bigger GV80 to get seats that do all the pieces from Genesis.
Prime GV70 trims get heated and ventilated entrance seats with energy lumbar assist and, for the motive force, an influence knee bolster and an “ergo movement” therapeutic massage perform. Ergo movement is a programmed sequence of stretch actions designed to forestall fatigue. I discovered it invigorating on a protracted drive.
The driving force has easy accessibility to buttons that slide the entrance passenger seat ahead and again — a considerate contact.
Purchase and Maintain
The GV70’s finest function, nonetheless, could exist totally on paper. Genesis covers its vehicles with a 5-year/60,000-mile bumper-to-bumper guarantee and a 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain guarantee. It’s the longest within the enterprise. Some rivals will allow you to pay further to be lined for that lengthy, however Genesis doesn’t.
A luxurious automotive is a significant buy. Purchase this one, and also you probably gained’t must buy any components or labor for it till 2034.
A Stability of Pleasures
There are causes to contemplate the GV70’s competitors. A BMW X3 may supply barely extra on-road thrills. A Lexus NX may be an iota higher cocooned from highway noise.
However, the GV70 is 95% pretty much as good at each issues, warranted for longer, and gives sensory delights they don’t, together with inspiring inside colours.
For my cash, the GV70 is probably the most well-balanced compact luxurious SUV in the marketplace within the 2024 mannequin yr. Even when you’ve by no means heard of it.
