Genesis G70 Review (2021-present)

Or should that be, what is Genesis? Well, in this case, it isn’t the first bit of the Bible, or a prog-rock band fronted by Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins. Genesis is a premium offshoot brand created by Korean company Hyundai, sitting above both itself and Kia in the firm’s hierarchy. Think of it, therefore, as what Lexus is to Toyota, or Infiniti to Nissan (although Genesis would probably rather you didn’t in the case of the latter, what with its abandoning Europe following catastrophically poor sales).

Launching a new luxury brand into the ultra-competitive premium market was never going to be easy; after all, the big three German luxury car makers (Audi, BMW and Mercedes) have this sector pretty well sewn up. But Genesis is hoping that sharp styling, good value and a remarkably generous after-sales package will win it buyers.

The G70 is the firm's compact executive contender, pitting it against rivals such as the Audi A4, BMW 3 Series and Mercedes C-Class. But although the G70 is a new car in the UK, beyond that shiny grille it’s actually a warmed-over version of a sports sedan that’s been available around the world since 2017. And we’ve seen elements of it here already, as it shares much of its technology with the Kia Stinger. That said, the recently introduced Shooting Brake version has been designed and developed exclusively for Europe.

Inside, the G70 feels solidly screwed together, though the design of the dashboard is a little bland, and some of the switchgear and plastics are lifted from Kia, so they feel a little less upmarket than you might expect. But the huge buttons make everything a doddle to use, and the slick, crisp touchscreen infotainment system is easy to navigate.

While the front seats don’t feel cramped, neither are they quite as roomy as those you’d find in an Audi A4. The back seats are tight, however, especially in terms of headroom, and the boot is on the small side of compact at 330 litres (for reference, a BMW 3 Series will swallow 480-litres).

If you need more space and like the G70’s style, then the more versatile Shooting Brake is worth a look. Designed exclusively for Europe, it’s more of a lifestyle estate than a true load-lugging van substitute, but there’s a handy 465 litres to play with, while folding the 40/20/40 split-fold rear seat liberates a generous 1,535 litres. A neat touch is the fact the tailgate is hinged further back in the roof, helping create a larger opening for bulkier items.

There are some clever bits of tech, too; for example, the reversing lights project guidelines onto the road behind you, to help you visualise where the car will go when you back up, and a blind spot warning will sound if you try to open a door into the road when there’s a car coming while parallel parked. You can also get a 360-degree camera with a bird's-eye view that you can swivel manually on the screen, so that you can see all around the car.

You get a choice of two engines, both of which are shared with the Kia Stinger. You can't have that car's 3.3-litre twin-turbo V6, mind you, but you can choose between a pair of 2.0-litre petrol turbo engines and a 2.2-litre diesel, all four-cylinders, and all with an automatic transmission as standard. No manual transmission here...

So far, we've only had the chance to drive a Sport Line car with the more powerful of the two petrol engines, which delivers 241bhp (the other petrol gives 194bhp, and is available only in entry-level Premium Line trim, while the diesel gives 197 horsepower). But despite its healthy output, the engine never feels as potent as the figures suggest, even when you work it hard, and it feels especially breathless and sluggish at low revs. The eight-speed automatic gearbox sometimes slurs its changes, too. Occasionally, it even refuses to allow you to change up or down if you’re using the paddles behind the steering wheel, which can be frustrating, and further hampers the G70’s dynamic credentials.

The car we drove also had adaptive dampers that allow you firm up or soften off the suspension according to your mood (these come fitted as standard to Sport Line and Luxury Line cars, while Premium Line cars get a regular passive suspension). You can just about tell the difference between the modes if you really concentrate, but in reality, they make very little difference to the level of excitement of comfort you experience. That's largely because whichever mode you pick, the ride feels overly firm. It picks up particularly on smaller, sharper imperfections in the road surface, particularly with the optional 21-inch wheels fitted to our test car, so we reckon you should probably stick with the standard 19-inch items if you value comfort.

The firmness sets you up to expect a sporty drive, and on this the G70 delivers – in part. The rear-wheel drive chassis (you can't specify all-wheel drive on the G70, where many rivals allow you to option an AWD system) is neutral and nicely balanced, so it’s endlessly predictable, and the G70 feels agile when you chuck it around a bit.

The trouble is, you don’t often feel the urge to, because the steering doesn’t deliver much in the way of feedback and that firm suspension causes sharp mid-corner bumps to knock the G70 off its line too easily. Both the Jaguar XE and Alfa Romeo Giulia are much more involving to drive.

Three trim levels are available. Premium Line is the most basic, but it still comes with very generous standard equipment including all-round LED lighting, alloy wheels, leather-effect upholstery, electrically adjusting front seats, automatic lights and wipers, front- and rear parking sensors, reversing camera, dual-zone climate control and adaptive cruise control with stop and go traffic function. You also get a 10.5-inch touchscreen infotainment system with DAB, Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Luxury Line cars add proper leather upholstery, heating for the front seats and steering wheel, a powered tailgate and the adaptive dampers for the suspension. Sport Line cars get pretty much the same, but with an exterior styling pack thrown in.

You’ll not be left wanting when it comes to safety kit, either, with a host of advanced driver aids featuring as standard or available as an option. The standard roster includes forward collision warning with automatic emergency braking, blind spot monitoring, lane keep assist and a shedload of airbags, including a novel centre airbag that helps reduce the likelihood of the driver and front seat passenger hitting each other during a side impact. There’s also a function called Highway Driver Assist, which combines with the adaptive cruise control to offer semi-autonomous driving on the motorway.

The best G70 in terms of fuel economy is the diesel model. Mind you, it isn’t quite as efficient as you might hope. You should see 35-40 mpg in real-world driving, which is considerably less than you’d expect from one of its more established rivals.

It’ll come as no surprise to hear that the petrol version is even more expensive to run. You should average somewhere around 30 mpg in day-to-day driving, though again, this is somewhat below par.

Part of the problem is that the G70’s engines are traditional internal combustion engines, with no electrification. Most rivals, however, feature mild hybrid powertrains, up against which the Genesis’s power units look a little old-fashioned.

Those less-than-impressive fuel consumption figures, however, are mitigated at least in part - if not wholly - by the fact that the G70 won’t cost you anything to service for the first five years. By contrast, a premium rival would cost you somewhere in the region of £1,500 to keep maintained over the same period, so this represents a huge saving.

What’s more, both G70 engines are equipped with metal timing chains that should last the life of the car, rather than rubber belts that need replacing every few years at significant expense, as with some rivals.

The G70 is simply too new for us to be able to comment on its reliability with any certainty. However, we can look at the track record of its parent and sister companies, Hyundai and Kia, given it uses much of the same technology. And there, the news is good, because both have an excellent reliability record. While that’s no guarantee the G70 will also be dependable, it does at least bode well.

Even if something does go wrong in the first five years, of course, you’re covered by that five-year warranty, and because this isn’t limited by mileage, even high-mileage drivers should benefit from the full five years’ cover.