Car News

The 5 things you need to know about the 2018 Genesis G70

21 Sep 2017

Isaac Bober 2

The 2018 Genesis G70 will arrive Down Under early next year, here are the 5 things you need to know about it.

THE 2018 GENESIS G70 has only just been revealed and the way the Internet has reacted you would think it is the most important new car this year. And maybe it is. The Genesis G70 and its Kia Stinger sibling certainly show a fast-maturing of the Korean twins (I’m talking about Hyundai and Kia) that while European brands won’t admit it… a recent encounter between yours truly and the PR at Euro brand suggests they’re becoming more than a little tetchy at the growing popularity of Hyundai and Kia.

And they should be… both brands have done the right thing and that is if you don’t have the talent within your four walls to create something people want, then go and poach them. And that’s exactly what they’ve done. I mean, can you really argue about the potential handling of a vehicle overseen by the former BMW M maestro, Albert Biermann. But, back to the G70.

In its recent announcement heralding the G70, Genesis said it would now concentrate on developing an SUV line-up. And, while Genesis offerings haven’t been overly amazing to date, the G70 and those that follow it have the makings of being truly competitive with their European rivals. Let’s get into this.

Representing the design direction of the brand…

According to Hyundai/Genesis, the new G70 represents the future design direction of the brand. The brand described it like this, “Athletic elegance is represented in the exterior design as the car captures both beauty and tension, like an athlete poised to perform”.

I’m not sure I’d go quite that far, but I can see where Genesis is coming from, and when you consider that former VW Group design guru, Luc Donkerwolke oversees design at Genesis (this is what I meant about buying in talent) you can clearly see the European design of the thing shine through.

Some commentators have likened the design to Infiniti and I can see that, but I reckon you can clearly see that the Audi A4 was fixed firmly in mind when they designed the thing. There’s that long, thrusting bonnet and short rear overhang; classic sport sedan proportions.

Genesis calls the grille ‘crest-type’ and there are deep creases (character lines in designer-speak) running alongside the flank, LED daytime running lights will be standard fitment. Indeed, Genesis says the LED DRLs hint at the brand’s future move to quad-style headlights. At the rear, the tail-lights are an evolution of those on the G80 and have been “stretched to the end of the rear to convey a wide and dynamic stance”.

While we know there will be a range of engines to choose from we don’t yet know what the local spec will be like, although we do know there’ll be 10 colours to choose from: Platinum Silver, Carbon Metal, Marble White, Titanium Black, Racing Gray, Graceful Gray, Lapis Blue, Royal Blue, Blazing Red and Umber Brown. And to compete with the Europeans you can bet there’ll be a range of G70s to suit a range of budgets.

A driver-focussed interior… says Genesis

Looking at the images, I think Genesis should be saying an Audi-esque interior… There’s no doubting that from the pics, the Genesis looks good on the inside with it 8-inch touchscreen sitting proud on the dashboard. As we’ve seen in the i30, while it might appear as if the screen is just tacked on it doesn’t come across like that in the metal, or plastic, or, whatever.

Genesis says there will be five interior colours to choose from, including Obsidian Black, Sandstorm Gray, Velvet Burgundy, Tobacco Brown and Vanilla Beige. The top-spec 3.3T variant and the top-spec models with the 2.0T engine will have access to two other colours, Sports Gray and Sports Red.

Materials used on the inside of the thing include aluminium door handles, quilted leather door panels, metal speaker grills and, like Audi, quilted patterns and Nappa leather will be available. The infotainment system will feature Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity as well as native sat-nav and, we expect, some bespoke elements to set the vehicle apart. We do know, that in the Korean market, the G70 will feature server-based voice recognition technology but whether this will feature in European or Australian markets is unknown at this stage. A 15-speaker Lexicon surround-sound system will be standard.

Expect the driver to be well accommodated for but as for back seat passengers we just don’t know yet. It’s a little bit bigger in some areas than a BMW 3 Series but smaller than a Kia Stinger, so, don’t expect it to be Skoda Superb-esque in the back seat. There’s no word on boot space yet, either.

Let’s look at the engines and performance

The Genesis G70 will be available with three engines, two petrols and one diesel. These are a 3.3-litre V6 that makes 272kW and 510Nm of torque and which will be available with rear-wheel drive only in Australia, and a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder making 185kW (188kW with the cost optional sports package) and 353Nm of torque, and a 2.2-litre turbocharged four-cylinder diesel making 149kW and 441Nm of torque.

Like its Stinger sibling, the Genesis G70 has been honed at the Nurburgring and will share much of the Kia’s trick handling bits, like launch control (is this really necessary, though?), adjustable motor-driven power steering, and the Hyundai/Genesis systems are a far cry now from what they once were, adjustable suspension, and with blokes like ex-BMW M guru Albert Bierman overseeing the ride and handling, and money seemingly no object, this thing should be pretty darn good. It’ll also get dynamic torque vectoring to help combat understeer and a limited slip differential.

Genesis said, “The seat positions have been adjusted to lower the center of gravity of the car to maximise performance. To augment the driving experience, the Active Sound Design (ASD) system creates an aural character that reflects the engine load and driving mode settings.

“Noise, vibration and harshness have been minimised in the G70 through enhancements in multiple areas, including: vehicle body structure, exhaust system, sound absorption and isolation, suspension and body frame connection, design of side mirrors and door sealing systems.”

We know the G70 has been tested all around the world, but locally-delivered cars will also have their own bespoke ride and steering tune, with development performed by Hyundai’s local engineering team; it used roads around the Blue Mountains, NSW for testing.

What about safety?

Genesis said, the G70 was designed to meet the strictest safety criteria although it hasn’t been NCAP tested yet.  From the press guff, “The G70 has also been designed to help protect other pedestrians – when imminent impact with a pedestrian is detected, its active hood function triggers lifting the hood to absorb shock and minimise the risk of injury.

“An unparalleled suite of advanced driver assist systems such as Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist (FCA), Highway Driving Assist (HDA), Blind spot Collision Warning (BCW) and Driver Awareness Warning (DAW) have been added as part of the ‘Genesis Active Safety Control’ to offer the highest level of safety and convenience in its class.

“The FCA system provides added safety with newly developed technology designed not only to protect vehicles and pedestrians, but also cyclists on the road. It automatically activates emergency braking through integrated radar-camera sensors when detecting bicycles.

“‘Genesis Active Safety Control’ is the brand’s newly labeled advanced driver assist system package previously known as ‘Genesis Smart Sense.’”

What else can we expect?

Well, the new G70 will get ‘posture control technology’, this was introduced in the G90 and basically tailors a bunch of elements, like the seats, steering wheel, mirrors and head-up display to suit the driver’s pre-set information.

Stay tuned for more information about the Genesis G70, including local pricing and final specification.