Hyundai Genesis — Luxury and value combine

By David Finkelstein

Competing with the likes of Cadillac, Lexus, Infiniti, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi is the 2016 Hyundai Genesis sedan. Quite honestly and worth noting, there is a value story here as well! The base model has a starting price of $38,750. When we look at the bigger picture including creature comforts, performance, interior space and the level of luxury, Genesis is a “must consider” on you new car shopping list.


This very attractive automobile possesses an expressive and truly modern design. The distinctive premium exterior body stampings will captivate your thoughts. You'll be drawn in the direction of the cars sleek and upscale presence beginning with it's hexagonal front grille. The car itself is quite striking dominating with a exceptional and modern footprint.

The design cues showcase Hyundai's styling theme from just about every viewing angle. Since back in 2009, Hyundai elected to move forward with its Fluidic Sculpture design philosophy, first adopted with the popular Sonata. Since then, Hyundai has continuously enhanced and refined this design, influencing every model in the Hyundai line-up.




The cabin layout  was designed and engineered to benefit the driver as well as the occupants. This was achieved by creating a spacious yet comfortable environment. The simplification of the instrument panel helps to ensure an intuitive layout and a welcomed user-centric design. It comfortably gets all pulled together with the car's various and effective interior hardware.

The ergonomics solidify for easy to reach controls. The interior also displays a high level of premium materials coupled with exacting fit and finish panels and related components. Real aluminum and wood finishes are also on the option list. Even the cup holders were designed with flexibility due to the large array of beverage containers we often see.

Genesis has the best-in-class front headroom and rear shoulder room. Advanced seat support technologies are also incorporated. For example, there are adjustable driver’s seat power bolsters, seat cushion extensions, 12-way power operated front seats with heaters and an optional ventilation system — and heated rear seats. This makes the car's seating surfaces one of the most comfortable in this segment.

Seat materials plus double stitching quality and optional individual air-cells located in the seats themselves translates to a greater range of adjustment than that of many competitive rivals.

The Genesis platform was developed with advanced high-strength steel, used in about 50% of the body design. The countless benefits of high-strength steel are quickly evident with even a brief road test. Genesis is stiffer with both torsional and bending rigidity than what's seen on a BMW 5-series. The reinforced body also helps with the overall ride dynamics raising the bar when it comes to overall vehicle occupant safety.

Two powertrains are offered. The base model uses a 3.8-liter advanced designed V6 engine. It utilizes direct-injection and produces 311 horsepower. The optional 5.0-liter V-8 produces 420 ”head snapping” horsepower. The award-winning V8 offers dual continuously variable valve timing for increased passing power when needed, and a tuned variable induction system with low-friction coatings on its piston skirts. Both engines run just fine on regular grade fuel.

Acceleration is channeled to an eight-speed automatic transmission, developed with enhanced shift logic for shifting smoothness and transmission efficiency. All eight-speed transmissions include ergonomically placed paddle shifters if you wish to shift manually.

Hyundai offers Genesis in either rear-wheel-drive or all-wheel-drive. And it gets an abundance of standard safety features. The short list includes electronic stability control and a suite of other safety enhancements including nine airbags positioned to govern all seating positions. Its also offered with a Blind-Spot Detection system. It helps monitor traffic around the car and supplements the driver checking surroundings. The system uses radar sensors to help warn the driver of an approaching vehicle in “his” or “her” blind spots.

In addition, when equipped with the head’s-up display, it's the most advanced and informative HUD system I've ever experienced in an automobile.

As expected, Genesis was engineered to meet the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Top Safety Pick “+” standards. A countless list of driver convenience technologies are also included such as the second-generation Blue Link safety and infotainment system.

For audiophiles, Genesis offers an ultra-premium, Lexicon Discrete Logic 7 Surround audio system with 17 speakers, Logic 7 Surround Sound processing and 12-channel digital amplifier with 900-watts of equivalent output.

Warranties include 5-year/60,000-mile fully-transferable new vehicle limited coverage and 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty.