first maybe that wasn't hyundai's intention, and second, maybe we need to look at the term 'sport sedan' which i think is pretty much done except for cars like m5, amg e, s6, etc.

mercedes and bmw, the leaders, have obviously gone more toward comfort in recent years, which is a giant compliment to LEXUS. lexus went the other direction, adding a more sophisticated 'sports' suspension, but offering only 1 engine (hybrid is all but unavailable) and limited options has hindered its potential.

anyway, as the video points out, the genesis was benchmarked against the 5 series and e class, the leaders by miles. i would argue neither is a 'sport sedan' any longer. they both heavy, quiet, luxurious, midsize and very comfortable. their true sport sedan offerings are in a different league, and at a very different price point.

 

Maybe it's about time they learned. What is one person's "boring" car may be the love of someone else's life. Driving is often a whole lot more than 0-60 times, skidpad figures, and panic-stopping.....and beauty is not necessarily space-ship styling or a chassis that sits an inch off the ground.

 

p.s. every chinese manufacturer that ever tried to get into Europe, got Lotus to help them with handling... it really means nothing, usually handling sucked and i see even on youtube "reviews", few called Genesis "wobbly".

And as to review, of course, published media and not youtube reviewers that get wined and dined... reviews with test data that can be backed up. These are not reviews anyway, they are from test drive event from Hyundai where they get hour or two with the car, at best, and no access to any kind of test track or any road hyundai doesnt want you to take... usually they are not called reviews but "first drives".

It is really strange for major manufacturer not to provide cars for press or possibly to set late embargo date that is after the car goes on sale and can be purchased.

 

Hey I have no issue with that. But spwolf asked where are the reviews, I said a couple and don't expect a flurry since its not exactly a car editors and reviewers lineup and are waiting to review. Obviously boring works for many cars and companies.

FYI Hyundai just revealed only 15% of Genesis buyers are actually from Mercedes, Lexus, Audi etc. The vast majority are actually Camry, Accord, etc customers and of course Hyundai previous owners. All these years we had their fans portray the car as some 5/GS/E etc killer and only 15% of sales were from those buyers

 

The 1Gen Genesis sedan was quite well done except for the stiffer-than-necessary suspension, which was tweaked a little after the first year. It taught a lot of people (including me) that Hyundai was no fluke in the entry-level luxury class. I agree with you, though, that the Genesis sedan wasn't quite in the same class with the vehicles you mention, though, for that matter, neither were some later versions of those vehicles themselves.

 

The car clearly elevated Hyundai and was well received and the new generation seems to be a nice step up. It also never met sales goals and it has one of the worst resale values around. A used 1-2 year old Genesis or a new Civic/Corolla?

 

The thing is, today's "sport sedans" don't necessarily feel sporty, but they are far more capable than sport sedans of the past. You take todays 5 series - with the twin turbo v8 its faster than a bat out of hell, and it has a sophisticated suspension that is very comfortable, yet it will take a corner with no drama at all. You can throw that car in a high speed curve, and there's absolutely no body flex. With modern tech there is no need for sport sedans to be harsh anymore.

 

Well I had the opportunity this past Saturday to test drive the 2015 Genesis 5.0 V8 with all the options.

This car was very impressive in many ways! The car virtually drove itself including coming to a complete stop at a stop light with the radar cruise and drove away when the car in front of me pulled off! This car was extremely peppy with the 420 HP V8 and 4 passengers in it.

Our sales guy was very relaxed and allowed me to bring the car up to 140mph and it was nowhere near topped out for speed with a lot more in store. I was riding in normal mode for the suspension at the time and the car was a little "floaty", but the salesman said if i was in sport then the car would a lowered slightly and been more stable. I jammed the brakes on down to 80MPH and the car squirmed a little, but then again this car had 4 people in it!

As a result of the super low drag coefficient, this car was VERY quiet and i would venture to say as quiet as my LS! This car room and comfort-wise was very good in the front but the back although decent is really in a GS350 class for size and was somewhat tight.

The trunk was surprisingly small with a small opening and not much depth.

Overall I was very impressed! I must say though that this car did lack some of the refinement still, but something I think Hyundai can nail in the very near future.

As the salesman told us, in the next year or so, and depending on how the sales go, the "Hyundai Premium" vehicles will likely become a new name/it's own manufacturer. This car didn't say Hyundai on it anywhere other than the "H" on the trunk.

 

So you were doing 140 in a tester with 4 souls on board?

 

Yes sir, it happened quickly and in a relatively short space of time.

I was surprised about the speed it picked up so quickly myself and obviously slowed down.

I don't ever like to bring a car to top speed unless i'm by myself. . .

 

"Harsh" may be an objective term subject to individual feel, but many of them still ride too firmly for my tastes. And I'm not alone....even the enthusasts at car mags are starting to complain about the ever-increasing stiffness of today's suspensions/tires. Traditionally, BMW and Mercedes (and, recently, Audi) have done the best job of designing suspensions that combine good ride-comfort with good handling...it is a fine art that takes good engineers.

Part of the reason, I think, that the guys at auto-mags are complaining about the increasing stiffness of suspensions/tires is that they have their HQ or regional branches in Michigan (usually around Ann Arbor). Michigan roads, like those of some surrounding states, take an enormous beating every year from severe winters and constant snow/salt/freezing/thawing. It makes them like the cratered surface of the moon, where stiff underpinnings can jar you to death.

 

Mmarshall, do youself a favor and drive a BMW with ///M package. Many people mistakingly think that the ///M package is performance only, but in fact it has several adjustments including comfort mode - which makes the car ride like a cloud, at least in the case of my friends 550 sedan. In comfort mode it has a much more comfortable ride than my X5 with conventional suspension, and still retains superb handling capability.

 

I'm familiar with that package, and have sampled it in the past. Like I said earlier, BMW engineers are arguably the best in the world (or at least used to be) when it comes to a ride/handling compromise. But that magic did not extend to the older M3's, which, unlike the superb 335is, would jar your teeth out on a rough road.

 

Well, M cars are very raw and purpose built. I'm talking about regular BMW's with M package.

 

GS350 F-sport is actually better with its adaptive variable suspension.