2020 Genesis G70 Ultimate: Private Fleet Car Review.
This Car Review Is About: A vehicle from the luxury arm of Hyundai, Genesis. Formerly a sub-brand, complete with one model and a Hyundai badge, it’s morphed into a brand in its own right and offers a two model range (G70 and G80) with three trim levels, being Sport, Ultimate, and Ultimate Sport for the G70. This has either a 2.0L turbo four or the punchy and potent 3.3L twin turbo V6 as found in the Kia Stinger.
How Much Does It Cost?: In a retail sense, before delivery and government charges, the G70 starts at $72,450. That’s for the Sport, with the Ultimate and Ultimate Sport from $79,950 each. In a drive-away pricing structure, Genesis says the G70 Sport is $80,500, or $83,125 with sunroof. The Ultimate is $88.375, a price shared with the Ultimate Sport.
Under The Bonnet Is: The firecracker 3.3L twin turbo V6 that continues to delight in its driving habits and flexibility. 272 kW and 510Nm, with the latter on tap from just 1,300rpm through to 4,500rpm on the rev counter dial, means switching between idling down a residential street to a lairy, chest beating display, is merely the flex of the right ankle away. It’s responsive to a “T”, with urgency all the way through the rev range when needed, as docile as a tired kitten when required.
The choice of transmission is simple. It’s an eight speed auto or an eight speed auto. And it’s one that works best once it’s had a coffee or two to wake up in regards to smoothness. Economy hasn’t been the strongest part of the engine/transmission combo. The official figures are 10.2L/100km for the combined cycle, and on our restricted urban drives we saw nothing below 9.0L/100km. That’s with a mix of quietly idling away from the kerb to brief extractions of the potency of the power-plant. Fuel tank capacity is a little on the small side at 60L. Dry weight is 1,725kg.
On The Outside It’s: Coated all over in a luscious, deep, red metallic, on our test car, called Havana Red. The door handles are a dark gunmetal grey door handles and dark grey painted alloys are wrapped in 225/40 and 255/35 on 19 inch grey painted alloys. It’s a stunning colour and beautifully highlights the supermodel curves of the G70. The wheels house 350mm and 340mm vented discs, clamped by Brembo.
The G70 is somewhat BMW-esque at the rear, and the snout is low, and broad, not unlike a Jaguar. The main lights are outboard, with a pair of sloping LED driving lights drawing the eye to them and the blades below. For all of the styling hints, the G70 is its own definitive look too. It’s wind-tunnel tested, with a drag co-efficient of 0.29cD. The guards, windscreen, and rear screen are tailored to provide as optimal an angle as possible for clean airflow, plus an under-body plate helps the G70 cleave its way through. The lack of wind noise is apparent as a result.
It’s a touch shorter than expected, with 4,685mm in total length. That’s down to a 1,400mm height that makes it look longer, whilst an 1,850mm width adds to the stance. It’s also nearly impossible to not notice the resemblance to its sibling, Kia’s brilliant Stinger. Although the Kia is slightly longer, even though the pair share the basic chassis design, and more a five door hatch/coupe, the lineage is visible and not a bad thing.
What isn’t a good thing is the relative small 330L of boot space. A high cargo floor that holds the space saver spare is the culprit. Width isn’t a problem, but on our weekly shop test we had to put a bag or two into the rear seat section, a very rare occurrence.
On The Inside It’s: Sumptuously appointed are the words most often used for cabins such as the ones found in the G70. Quilted leather seats, and complementary trim in the doors, set off the luxury feel. The front seats have for heating and venting, plus cushions that adjust for lateral support when Sport mode is selected, catch the eye first. There is venting for the rear seats, a nice touch. There is also a tab on the upper right shoulder of the passenger seat that allows the driver to move it fore and aft.
The driver works in a comfortable office; soft touch indicator stalk, a Start/Stop button in clear view, metallic buttons in the centre console plus a Drive selector button provide visual and tactile appeal. The Ultimate 3.3 has a HUD, it’s crystal clear in definition and shows items such as velocity, lane keeping status, cruise control status and more. The dash is a leather appointed affair with contrasting stitching. 
Information for items such as the door lock settings is found via the now standard tabs in the tiller. This includes a turbo pressure/torque/oil pressure screen, and one with G-Force and lap-timer. If there’s an area that the G70 could up, it’s having a driver’s display that isn’t, surprisingly, a full width LCD screen such as that found, say, in a Volvo S60. It’s an area that more than whispers the Hyundai/Kia origins and one that appears easily enough updated to say Genesis instead.
An eight inch touchscreen is the control centre for the car, with aircon, DAB audio via a premium Lexicon speaker system, drive information, satnav, and apps. Underneath the screen is a gentle slope towards the console and a sliding door opens to show the smartphone charge pad and USB/3.5 mm sockets. There is a sunroof for that extra sense of airiness when needed, and it does lighten the black-on-black ambience of the cabin.
The DAB tuner is one of the best going. In areas where many other brands, including its own sibling, Stinger, drop out, the sensitivity of the Genesis DAB tuner is always pulling signal. Should there be an area where DAB isn’t available, Android, Apple, and Bluetooth stand ready to connect.
Drive-wise there’s a rocker gear selector and the electronic park is a button just ahead of the rocker mechanism. The material in the centre console is a cool and classy looking alloy style. The drive selector dial is located just south and is ergonomically placed.
Rear leg room though isn’t fantastic. There is 884mm versus 1,083mm up front. Head room isn’t an issue, even with the sunroof fitted. 978mm and 938mm are the front and rear measurements. Shoulder room is 1,430mm and 1,387mm, plenty here. There are a pair of ISOFIX anchorage points also to provide ample access for the little ‘uns.
What About Safety?: Genesis achieved a five star ANCAP rating in 2018. ANCAP says: “All three grades of autonomous emergency braking (City, Interurban and Vulnerable Road User) and a lane support system with Lane Keep Assist (LKA), Lane Departure Warning (LDW) and Emergency Lane Keeping (ELK) are standard on all variants.” Seven airbags including driver’s knee are standard.
There is also a 360 degree camera system in high definition clarity. The camera allows for selection of differing points of view, including a fold down left hand side when reversing to pinpoint where the wheels are in relation to a kerb.
On The Road It’s: A ball-tearer of a car to drive. Having over 500 torques on taps at the press of a pedal is an absolutely intoxicating experience. When the car is warmed up, it’s a potent package. A zero to one hundred kph time of 4.7 seconds from a car weighing close to two tonnes is mightily impressive. There is a setting in the touchscreen that allows for what mode of sound the cabin hears too, and on full song it’s a real snarl as the G70 hauls arse.
The transmission benefits from a warm-up period. We’ve found that the engine is ready to stretch and bellow almost from the get go, but the eight speed auto was indecisive, unsure, and stumbled between gears up and down. These hiccups slowly disappeared one by one as the fluids warmed, and it was just a few minutes before everything was smooth, slick, sharp.
The suspension varies depending on drive mode and on its most relaxed setting, Eco, the G70 still has limpet grip. Long sweepers don’t trouble the machine, the nose is still quick in response to the gentle tug of the tiller, and it all seems effortless. Sport feels as if the steering gets some weight and tightens up the front end; the steering wheel is at just the right diameter to hold and this allows the arms to move as they should to feel connected to the nose. In normal driving it’s neutral, there’s no wavering as the chassis track straight and true, and only minimal input is required.
The Michelin rubber is the type found on cars costing over one million, so there’s already an expectation that they’ll hang on tenaciously. In Sport mode with a tighter suspension setting, there’s some rear end skipping on the road joins in corners, however the response time from the suspension is such that rebound is nullified instantly, allowing the rubber to do what Michelin intended. Ride quality across the board is nothing short of brilliant. There’s almost nothing in our drive loops that put the Genesis G70 to the sword.
Genesis have allowed the whole drivetrain some leniency; there is an option to use launch control, which involves the stability control being switched off, raising the revs, and hitting the go pedal hard. Without that process and simply sinking the slipper, the rear will squirrel momentarily before the system intervenes just enough to have the G70 regain its sense of sensibility. Brake feedback is sublime, with the pedal telling the braking foot just where it is in travel and the force needed or not.
In essence, the handling apckage of the G70 can boil down to this: it feels natural. It feels like the 2,000 kilos isn’t, the car shrinkwraps around the driver and it’s like picking up what looks like an iron glove only to find out it’s pure leather.
Warranty And Service Are: Five years with unlimited kilometres. complimentary servicing for five years or fifty thousand kilometres. There is also a pick-up service for addresses within 70 kilometres of the service centre. Genesis also offer a Connected Care package, which involves areas such as Automatic Collision Notification and Assistance, SOS Emergency Assistance, and On-Demand Diagnostics.
At The End Of the Drive. Dynamically the G70 shines. It’s an incredibly easy car to become one with, and the engineering and R&D work that the Hyundai team have expended is clearly obvious. It simply wraps around the driver like a custom made shoe, and does the job it should. The trim level is luxurious and ergonomics spot on. Audio is excellent and the usage of the controls is fingertip intuitive.
However the cramped rear sear seat and smaller than it should be boot aim the G70 more towards a DINK (Double Income No Kids) or for a young family. That does add a narrowing of appeal in one area, but makes its appeal perfectly clear in another.
Either way, it’s capable of delivering stonking performance and the grip ability to cope. Organise your own test drive via the Genesis website.
Level 2, 9 Help Street