DRIVEN:

2015 Hyundai Genesis RWD 3.8, msrp around 38k.  No options, i believe

 

HIGHS:

Looks good on its own, but especially for a Hyundai

Big car chassis and RWD, a rarity these days, and in that regard, at a decent price

Wide and long, low center of gravity, we need more cars to come back to this

Feeling of heft and being anchored to the road

Engine has some guts to it......steps down alright when you gas it.  Nice muted snarl

Simple interior layout and hints at luxury that exists in other marques

Nice interior convenience features

Lots of features and tech, including 4g

Leather is nice and has nice stitching

Seats were firm and supportive

Decent view out to the road

Very quiet on the road, does an ok job of absorbing the bumps

Spacious trunk

luxurious quiet 'thunk' when shutting the doors

CHEAP lease deals right now SERIOUSLY if want a lot of MSRP for your lease payment

 

LOWS:

No part of the drive sets itself apart in a dynamic way.  No compelling vehicle dynamics.

Dead steering + thin steering wheel = this doesn't feel like a lux car

Large RWD cars are supposed to glide.  This car doesn't do that either.

Feels confused as to whether it should be a soft cruiser or a faux sport sedan wannabe.

Didn't feel like a barge but did feel heavy, not athletic (and this was not the AWD)

I would think the plastics and parts of the dash would be nicer in quality if this car aspires to compete in the luxury arena

Firm and supportive seats are hard and could have more cush really

Rear seat doesn't have as much leg room as you would think for the physical size of car

Powertrain was not liquid smooth either

No sense that any exceptional engineering went into this car.

Extra features rack up the price very quickly

I didn't exit the drive of this car with any OHMYGOD feelings or any desire to really want to drive it every day

I was impressed driving a 2.5L ATS and would enjoy and look forward to driving that, why am i not impressed by this?

At the end of the day, it is still a Hyundai.  No compelling reason to want this car.

 

SUMMARY:

I might fill in more on this later, but really the above sums it up pretty well.  For the right person, this car would be a good value and enjoyable.  But it is not fun, not cushy, and not anything aspirational.  I think if Hyundai would pick a direction (cruiser or sport sedan) they could refine the heck out of this thing.  Right now its neither.  To me, it is still classic Hyundai.  You buy it because it is supposedly more stuff for the money, even if its second tier.  I give it a "C", ok, a "C+" due to a bit extra props for nicer than expected styling. 

Edited June 14, 201510 yr by regfootball

I think this line sums up Hyundai/Kia luxury perfectly.

 

"No sense that any exceptional engineering went into this car."

Yeah, never in any Hyundai have i gotten the sense that they have crossed that line and joined the big boys.

I think this line sums up Hyundai/Kia luxury perfectly.

 

"No sense that any exceptional engineering went into this car."

 

 

Yep, perfect summary.

apparently Hyundai is schlepping Sonatas for zero down and 200 a month now, that explains why i see so many of them now, despite their nothingness.

Perhaps they are trying to push too much up market.  I drove the first Genesis and not this one, and wasn't a sport sedan in  any way, but it had that big car comfy feel, and the V8 was powerful.  I wonder if the Azera is really needed.  If the Genesis was $34k base they could compete more with the Avalons, Buicks, MKZ, Acuras of the world and probably do better.  Put their RWD car against the boring front drivers, it works for Chrysler.  Hyundai seems to want the Genesis to target the E-class and GS350 but do it at a discount, and it isn't in that league.

apparently Hyundai is schlepping Sonatas for zero down and 200 a month now, that explains why i see so many of them now, despite their nothingness.

I'm actually impressed they managed to keep a relatively usable trunk on the 2016 Sonata Hybrid, first sedan to do so as far as I know.

Well that about sums it up, doesn't it? Not terrible but underwhelming all the same. Always nice to imagine they'll step up their game, I guess.

I'll give them props for having the concept down cold. But you need to sweat the details as well. Sounds like they haven't done it here.

Nice car, but I agree with the dead steering....

It's still a solid deal if you're going for the luxury car features and luxury car driving experience.  It should make Acura and Lincoln sweat; really. It's like a bargain LS, because it offers 90% of what the LS is at a good 60% of the price. 

 

The 10% of the details make Lexus closer to the European brands, but even the stodgy LS is falling wayyy behind.

 

The thing is though; that people going to a Hyundai dealer still do not associate their brand an uplevel brand. Even Volkswagen; with its supposed European pedigree had a fantastic failure with the Phaeton and trouble moving the CC. 

 

But still, Hyundai makes a compelling car for the right reasons; and it punches above its weight. though with the amount it really weighs... it damn well better be a solid luxo brick moving down the road.

You're missing the key point, there is no luxury driving experience here. It's trying but nails no part of it in any way that you could hold a candle to a real luxury car. To be honest, the styling might actually be the characteristic about the car that is closest to the luxury realm right now. The ride and drive is not on par with Buick even. The interior quality and luxury is not on par with an Acura. There's a reason the grille lacks a bombastic logo. They want it to be faceless so you imagine whatever logo it is you want on there.

I want to be clear here, it's a good car but doesn't cross into the bottom end of luxury even. But as a step up option to the Sonata in a cheap lease I say go for it. If I lived in CA and just wanted something unique with RWD I would consider it.

Absolutely though a Regal GS ATS I would get before this

Edited July 20, 201510 yr by regfootball

How about compared to a closer sized RWD/AWD "value" car like the 300C?  Apparently here in Canada AWD is standard.

Edited July 20, 201510 yr by frogger