When given the chance to review the 2015 Hyundai Genesis, I never realized how much it has grown in terms of luxury offerings. In fact the brand Hyundai has grown significantly with the new Genesis and Centennial. This is a completely different Genesis compared to the old one and people are comparing it at least in style with premium German marques. Here is my two cents on the new Genesis:

Style

The 2015 Hyundai Genesis carries a style all of its own, when compared with the Hyundai family of cars. The immediate look of the car is so close to that of the Lexus 400 Series, quite full in figure with smooth lines, maybe even a hint of some of the larger BMW’s at the rear. It has a more up scaled appearance that certainly evokes the feel of the premium market Hyundai are so boldly stepping into with the Genesis.

The first generation of the Genesis managed to be different but kept some of the Korean marks notes in the grille and other small areas of the car but with this new release they have taken on a very mature look. Larger shapelier grille and that winged Genesis badge that could almost be at home on a luxury car. To help rise the curiosity the Genesis only has one Hyundai badge on the car and you won’t see it unless you lift the bonnet/hood. So many will be looking at this car and thinking that’s quite nice who makes it. Part of the upscale of the brand, making the Genesis mark more unique by directing its image into a more luxury market.

Interior Materials and Finishing

It's difficult to spot plastic in the new Genesis. There is Nappa leather here, similar to the E-Class and everything feels very good. Hyundai on the whole has done well to turnaround cheap into some reasonable cars in the last ten years. The Genesis has cheap plastics in a few places yes but what car doesn’t? When getting into the Genesis you start to see why the name has been used. They have re-written the book for themselves with this car. The double stitched leathers are quite soft, the switches and buttons almost feel as solid as those in higher premium cars. Nice veneers of wood decorate the dashboard and the doors and it all feels rather well put together. It does give the feeling of grandeur.

There were a couple of finish points that played on the eye a little. The dash board loses some of the usual symmetrical feel that you get with pretty much all cars on the market. The air vents were all sweeping down in their shape but for some strange reason the centre right swept up. Not only that when you are looking around the console behind the steering you notice that the vents to the right are looking higher than the vent near the mirror giving a slightly lop sided look. Ok it was not a big deal but for me it was just unintuitive on my eyes and gave the impression some forethought had been missed. The seating however was really quite comfortable and all this done with a new air pressure system to make the movements smooth and quicker to operate and the use of some premium foam under the leather. Electric memory seats with added side waste adjustment and vented.

Interior Space and Visibility

The space was very good all around, with one small thing. If sitting in the back the front seats tend to encroach on you a little. Not on the knees though. You get the feeling that the top of the front chairs are not far from resting on your lap. To help you understand what I mean, Imagine being sat on a plane and the person in front them reclines. Well it’s very close to this but I would say it’s the screens that highlight this more so, given they protrude some 3 to 5 cms from the top of the seats.

Visibility is pretty good all round. If to be sitting in the rear, you may have to lean forward a little to look to the side of the car and entry and exit may have you knocking your head on the frame. This will mostly be for those above my height of 176cm as I was close to knocking mine each time.

Interior Technology and Options

Where to start really. This car had all the modern techno that is running standard on many new cars now and some features that generally have been seen only on the premium and the prestige cars. Lane departure warning, adaptive cruise control with distance monitoring and anti-collision, drive mode selection, blind spot detection system and more.

Features found on premium and prestige marks now found on the Genesis would be electric boot open and close or with just a wave of the foot under the rear bumper. A smart key using proximity detection, a head up display, push button start, rear electric sun visor and the piece de resistance the infotainment centre. Lexicon have put their name to this, having logic 7 surround sound with 17 speakers running from a 12 channel digital 900 watt amplifier. So what does that mean I hear some of you say, well basically it has sound to spare. You can merrily sing to your favourite music and not actually hear yourself. It has the usual USB also for charging or streaming your favourite tunes. Incorporated is the navigation system. Not totally intuitive but when in action does a very good job of getting you where you need to go. The 3D view highlights the city well making recognition of buildings somewhat easier. Hotels and landmarks are highlighted also. All in all it’s very easy to follow even with the voice of the Nav system turned off.

The infotainment extends in to the passenger centre arm rest. The twist wheel operation that controls the infotainment in the front is almost mirrored in the rear. Passengers also can check out the trip, listen to their favourite tunes through earphones or simply watch a DVD.

Safety Features

Some of the safety features of the car I have already noted. Those systems are more to keep the attention of the driver active. No driving tired as it will warn you of you’re drifting into another lane and sound out some alerts to wake the senses. With the anti-collision warning, should you get a little too close to quick to the car in front. The car makes all attempts as required to stop the car if the speed is under 80. Above that and the car will only slow you down till the speed gets to 80 or below to be able to brake to a halt.

Should the unexpected happen then you have 9 airbags, advanced dual front airbags, driver’s knee airbag, front and outboard rear roof-mounted side curtain airbags for both front and rear outboard seat occupants.

ABS is another standard feature linked to a new Electronic Stability Control and Electronic Brake distribution. To add to this there is a Tyre Pressure monitoring system also.

Power and Transmission

Here’s where more surprise comes. Hyundai have never gone above the V6 until the Genesis. I had the top of the range model that came with the most powerful engine they have loaded into a car to date. The Genesis was adorned with a 5.0 litre V8 at its heart and mated to an 8 speed transmission. This engine produced a smooth 420 horses due to the 383 torque and is told to go from 0 – 100kph in 5.2 seconds, so obviously I did the test. Considering I did the test once the car pulled very well and smooth, so smooth that relative speed had not the feel of the power it was actually putting out. The run was done in 5.6 seconds. Pretty impressive I would say.

Handling and Suspension

The Genesis is a rather large car carrying a large engine and quite a lot of equipment, so the car effectively already shows it as a cruiser. When it comes to the handling I would stick to that notion. The car does well to get around the corners even in sport mode but does have a little roll in it, although Hyundai have made improvements in this area over the first generation of the car. That said the car was fitted with a new hydro-suspension system with its continuous damping control that does a rather fine job if to drive this car in the manner you would expect. It makes speed bumps feel like small ruts and allows the car to glide across uneven surfaces, without the need to shake your shades off. The ride in general feels refined and smooth, dare I say it but the ride feels like a prestige car. This was felt in our first impressions as well, in the first drive review we did earlier this year. Adding to it the car is very quiet when on the highway, no obvious engine noise and wind noise is hardly noticeable.

Braking

A little disappointed with the braking. The car stopped from 100 to 0 in 3.1 secs. I personally feel it could have done better here. I have noted in other reviews the stopping time of larger vehicles and this sits among them. It’s that little bit lighter than say an Escalade but stops in the same sort of time. Hyundai have given the car larger discs due to the engine size but I feel they could do that little something more to bring the braking time down.

Verdict

Most people get stuck into a brand, they follow it and they rarely change their perception of other marks given the history some marks may have carried. I would say that if you now wish to look at a Audi A6, BMW 5 Series or even a Mercedes E-Class, stop what you are doing and give the Genesis a once over. They endow this car with either a 311 HP V6 or this 420 HP V8 and the likes of Lotus have even tuned the suspension. So we have some muscle under the hood and a body that stands well against the competition also. Step inside and you will have pretty much all the functions, comfort, style and gadgets that the competition has, if not more and the one thing you won’t be paying is the premium. The biggest problem is the perception public has about Hyundai and economy cars. So give the little guy a chance and you might find that you are driving away with $10,000 dollars saved for something the family might like to do.