2009 Hyundai Genesis 3.8

That’s right, we got to play with the Hyundai Genesis sedan for a full week! Ok, so it was the V6 and not the V8, but it was still pretty cool. And it was also our first official CarDomain test car, so the Genesis will always be special to us. Thanks Hyundai!

Our car came in Sterling Blue Metallic and had around 700 miles on the clock—though those had been 700 hard miles, since it had been flogged at Buttonwillow the week prior. It was equipped with the "Premium Package Plus," which meant it had the 18 inch wheels with P235/50R18 Dunlops, a 14-speaker surround sound audio system w/in-dash 6-disc CD changer, a power tilt-and-slide sunroof, rain-sensing wipers and a funky power rear sunshade. This one didn’t have the DIS system, which apparently is a simpler version of BMW’s IDRIVE. And that’s fine with me, ’cause the car had plenty of gadgetry as it was. Continue reading…

The exterior is nicely done, without a whole lot of badging. If fact, it’s hard to tell what it is from the front. Most people we talked to didn’t seem to know what the hell it was. A Lexus? A Mercedes? It definitely has a bit of a Bangle thing going on in the rear, though of course the Hyundai emblem on the trunk lid gives it away.

The interior is super nice. Even without the fancy DIS system, this thing has a lot of gizmos (John will have a full review of all the whizbang features next week). I’m not really fond of having the steering wheel move around every time you start and stop the car. Also the whole start button still seems kind of gimmicky to me. The rear view mirrors like to swivel around every time you put it into reverse, which I found annoying. And the automatic windshield wipers got faked out a few times by our Seattle drizzle. Speaking of the windshield, the Genesis has "acoustic laminated glass." I wasn’t sure what this was, but managed to find the definition at the Jaguar site. The seats are comfy as hell and adjust like fifteen different ways. To me Volvo still makes the best seats, and these are up there with Volvo seats. Plenty of room and comfort for rear passengers, too. The sunroof worked like a champ and the stereo sounded great. So let’s drive.   

The first thing I did was romp on it. Electronic throttle control combined with traction control takes some of the fun out of things, but still, you gotta love RWD, and this car has a good amount of get-up-and-go for a big V6 sedan. It delivers plenty of power for point and squirt driving in Seattle traffic. All in all the car is a both a great boulevard cruiser and confident left lane hauler.

The ride is decently firm, but the suspension also soaks up the crummy mix of roads we have here in Seattle. Handing is nice and predictable, though we didn’t take it out on an autocross course or anything like that. That’s not what this car is about, despite some of the Hyundai videos we have on the site.

But does this car have soul? Does it have personality? Would an enthusiast like this car? To me, just being RWD is a HUGE step in the right direction. But other than the obvious value and quality, the car doesn’t have seem to have any particular trait that I would call "Hyundai." My sense is that an enthusiast might opt for something like a Pontiac G8 for less money, or spend a bit more to get into to a Bimmer or Mercedes.

So who would buy this car? I’m guessing it will appeal to a buyer who wants luxury and value but doesn’t care so much about name brand status. My Toyota Avalon-driving realtor neighbor in his mid-50s went completely nuts for it. I let him sit in the driver’s seat a bit and then had a hard time getting him out. For a car in the mid $30k range, the Genesis definitely offers a lot of bang for the buck. I bet that if Hyundai can get buyers onto their dealer lots and into this car, they are gonna have no problem selling them.

Stay tuned for John’s analysis of some of the gadgets I mentioned above, and for Jen’s tear-down.