2022 Genesis G70 Shooting Brake 2.0T Review
I had the pleasure of spending a week with the Genesis G70 Shooting Brake, my first experience of a car from Hyundai's luxury brand...and oh what luxury this car provides!
From the gorgeous “Bond Silver” matt paint to the luxuriously appointed leather interior, this thing is a visual treat from the off. I’ve never been asked about a car I’m testing so many times in the past, I thought the Tesla got a lot of attention but this has been on a different level “is that a Bentley?”, “is that an Aston Martin?” being two of the more common questions, along with “what is that?”. On a weekend trip to Currys a man actually fell over a kerb in the car park due to his neck-wrenching stare at the car, I helped him up and he explained that he just wanted to know what it was.
Luckily the interior feels just as good as it looks with material quality fantastic throughout with the only real aside being the door pockets which really could/should be made from better quality materials. On the subject of door pockets, whatever happened to soft-touch plastics and felt lining?
Stats are as follows:-
Engine : 1998cc Petrol Inline 4-cyl
Gearbox : 8-speed Torque-Converter Automatic
0-62 mph : 6.9 secs
Top Speed : 146 mph
Torque : 353 nm
Power : 241 BHP
Combined MPG : 30.2
Boot Space : 465 Litres
Despite this car featuring a 4-cylinder 2.0 Petrol powerplant it actually has a lot of the characteristics in a 6-cylinder when driving. If I’d have been told it was a 3.0 V6 I would never have guessed otherwise. It’s very quiet whilst cruising but presents a much gruffer and more aggressive tone when the right pedal is pushed towards the carpet; it’s all delivered with a touch of refinement but it’s clear that it’s getting angry. In my opinion, the 8-speed torque-converter automatic gearbox is a joy to use, it feels nice and responsive and smooth as butter. I have read other reviews that don’t share this opinion but I have no idea why this disparity exists, it’s a very nice gearbox that offers the perfect blend of comfort and dynamism.
This is a tech-laden car that drives superbly, in my opinion, the chassis offers a great balance between performance and comfort, it never feels mushy but never feels too hard; most importantly it always feels engaging. Steering is first-rate with excellent feedback and quick response to input adjustments.
The only real downsides are, firstly, cost (purchase price and running costs) as the German rivals can certainly trump it in terms of fuel economy; secondly, the rear passenger foot toom and boot space should be slightly more generous for a car of this type in this highly competitive segment.
I hope you enjoy this very honest car review, I'm gutted to be handing the car back to Genesis.
I really cannot wait to drive some more Genesis vehicles in the future as this one kind of has me hooked.
Conclusion
This feels very special, I’ve driven most of the main rivals to this car including the Audi A4, the BMW 3 series, and the Mercedes C Class - they’re all very good cars but this one just feels a bit special. Whilst it’s fuel economy will be a challenge for some to justify, I strongly suggest you go and try one out for yourself. It’s not a perfect car but it’s an exceptionally nice one that just somehow feels slightly more special than some of it’s rivals.
Now check out the YouTube video…..