Genesis G90 Mechanically Great, Technologically Lacking

VANCOUVER, BC, Canada – When Hyundai began pursuing the U.S. premium sector eight years ago, it opted to do so under its own banner.

The ’09 Hyundai Genesis mid-large sedan, followed two years later by the ’11 Hyundai Equus large sedan proved to the doubters the Korean automaker, which just 10 short years earlier was the punchline to a joke, could make a respectable luxury car.

However, sales results in the low 30,000-range, which they were last year, aren’t super impressive, and brand officials know there are upscale intenders who maybe would buy a vehicle like the Genesis or Equus but have issues walking into a Hyundai showroom.

So now the Korean automaker is launching the Genesis brand. The first fully redesigned car out of the chute is the G90 sedan, a successor to the discontinued Equus and on sale this month at select Hyundai dealers.

Mechanically, the G90 brings Hyundai ever closer to that rarified Tier-1 luxury arena occupied by BMW, Mercedes and Lexus. The car’s 365-hp 3.3L twin-turbo V-6 delivers more power, nearly as effortlessly as the BMW 740i’s 320-hp 3.0L twin-scroll turbocharged I-6, and the G90’s supple ride and handling verges on that of the S-Class.

But on infotainment, the G90 falls short of today’s more advanced systems. And as with the Genesis and Equus, the G90 lacks much in the way of original styling. The car is a pick-the-reference set of design cues. The Bentley-look-alike Genesis logo and Audi grille remain the most obvious nicks.

At 204.9 ins. (5,204 mm), the G90 is just 1.6 ins. (41 mm) longer than the Equus it replaces, but the G90’s wheelbase grows a hefty 4.5 ins. (114 mm) from its predecessor, while minimizing the front and rear overhangs. Height rises just 0.2 ins. (5 mm) over the Equus, and width is down 1.0 in. (25 mm).

The longer wheelbase not only makes for a smoother, more stable ride, but it helps grow what already was a cavernous passenger space. Passenger volume is up 4 cu.-ft. (113 L) from the Equus.

Not surprisingly, the G90’s body structure uses a higher percentage of advanced high-strength steel (52%) compared with its predecessor (38%) and, as is Hyundai’s current custom, a significant amount (650 ft. [198 m]) of structural adhesive.

Improvements to the front-side member and center-floor structure, as well as more laser welding used in door openings, also boost rigidity, the automaker says, claiming the G90 has a stronger, lighter body than the Mercedes S-Class and a 6% higher overall static torsional stiffness than the Benz.

“Hundreds of hours” are said to have gone into tuning the G90 for segment-leading noise, vibration and harshness levels. A few measures undertaken include acoustic glass on every window, 3-layer door seals, a rear-quarter-panel foam sound block and optional 19-in. Helmholtz 2-piece hollow alloys with a sound-absorbing chamber. The wheels also cut total unsprung weight 7 lbs. (3 kg), which improves handling and comfort, Genesis says.

Great NVH, Powertrain

On the road, including a 242-mile (389-km) journey from downtown Vancouver to the bustling British Columbia resort town of Kelowna, the G90 is the quiet luxury vault you expect it to be.

Road and wind noise are minimal, as is engine noise, thanks to things like a single continuous powertrain seal in the engine bay and a variable valve on intake ducting that lessens resonance.

However, on the freeway we note a slight vibration in the accelerator pedal and a jittery ride. The latter could be due to the rough-aggregate roads of the Pacific Northwest; a more recent test in Metro Detroit on smoother roads finds no fidgeting at all.

On one particularly steep, curving hillside road near Kelowna, the optional H-TRAC all-wheel-drive system by Magna keeps the G90’s rear tires glued to the pavement for fun, confident handling. H-TRAC can send 90% or 100% of available torque to the rear wheels when in Sport drive mode or Economy.

There are four drive modes in the G90: Eco, Smart, Sport and Individual. We spend most of the time in Eco, which tweaks throttle responsiveness, transmission shift points and suspension, steering and stability control for optimum fuel economy.

The Smart setting uses artificial intelligence to adapt to a given driver by analyzing his or her behavior.

When activated, the Sport setting results in an immediate and noticeable firming up of the G90’s motor-driven power steering at medium and lower speeds.

Steering thankfully is firm, even in Eco and Smart modes.

The car’s 365-hp 3.3L direct-injected V-6 with twin turbochargers and continuously variable valve timing is derived from Hyundai’s 311-hp 3.8L DI V-6 in the ’16 Hyundai Genesis and its refreshed successor, the ’17 Genesis G80.

The reduction in displacement is more than offset by addition of the twin turbos, which raise torque to an estimated and neck-snapping 376 lb.-ft. (510 Nm), arriving as early as 1,300 rpm and holding through 4,500 rpm. The 3.8L’s 293 lb.-ft. (397 Nm) comes on at a leisurely 5,000 rpm.

Despite the availability of the great 5.0L DI V-8 Tau engine, a 2011 Wards 10 Best Engines winner, the 3.3L V-6 is all a G90 buyer really needs. Although the G90 AWD weighs in at a porky 4,784 lbs. (2,179 kg), there is never a time the 3.3L feels out of breath.

Like the G80, the G90 uses an 8-speed automatic. As with most Hyundai automatics, it’s a fast upshifter, but using the standard steering-wheel-mounted paddles makes for easy downshifting when extra torque is needed to climb steep hills.

We test the 5.0L G90 briefly, at moderate speeds in a residential area near Kelowna, and are still impressed by its throaty exhaust and 420 hp. The latter spec is important for those who often drive at wide-open throttle on traffic-free highways. But for those drivers who mostly deal with stop-and-go traffic or urban routes, the 3.3L twin-turbo six is more than enough. The 5.0L’s torque rating is a mere 6lb.-ft. (8 Nm) higher than the 3.3L’s.

If you’re a luxury buyer who must have a V-8, you’ll be glad to know Hyundai has made the 5.0L relatively affordable. It carries just a $1,600 premium over the G90’s 3.3L.

Fuel economy in the 3.3L model is great to good. We tally 26.5 mpg (8.9 L/100 km) on a long freeway journey but 19.1 mpg (12.3 L/100 km) in heavy traffic and the hills. The 3.3L G90 is rated at 20 mpg (11.8 L/100 km) combined.

Infotainment Lacking

One of the most disappointing features of the G90 is its voice-recognition system and some of its physical controls.

Unlike many luxury cars today, it cannot take natural speech commands. You can’t just say, “Find nearest Starbucks.” Instead, you need to ask for the “nearest coffee shop” and then hope a Starbucks is in the list.

You’ll be presented with at least four options, and if you want to see anymore you’ll need to scroll down. Scrolling through and reading a list while driving can be distracting and dangerous.

The G90 does have what at first looks like a handy feature, a free-text search, for use while parked. But in most tries it can’t find what we want, including a very distinctively named restaurant open for almost a year.

And the central knob controller, like BMW’s iDrive for search entry, is infuriating in its functionality. To navigate through the three rows of the on-screen keyboard, you nudge the knob up or down. But when you need to move side-to-side you don’t nudge the knob left or right, you turn it. We repeatedly kill the search entry by nudging and not turning.

Needing to know the exact address of your destination is a pain, but it at least quickly understands and maps our office location when asked.

And despite proclamations by Genesis officials the brand paid close attention to center-stack ergonomics during development, the tune knob is teeny and a long reach from the driver’s seat.

The G90 is on par with most luxury German cars in that it lacks Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Yet, in an intriguing recent development, it will offer Amazon Alexa capability, making it possible to adjust the G90’s temperature, lock its doors, honk its horn and shut off the engine via voice from an enabled device. We hope to review it soon.

The car’s advanced safety technology shows mixed real-world results. In British Columbia, the adaptive cruise control always picks up on the car ahead, and the camera rarely misses lane lines.

In Metro Detroit, ACC is nearly as reliable, although like many systems it can bring you to a complete stop so long as the vehicle you are trailing also is stopping. It can’t recognize a stationary object, such as a car already stopped at a light.

Lane lines, even freshly painted ones, also aren’t detected roughly half the time in the Michigan test.

The car’s 12.3-in. (312-mm) widescreen is a sight to behold. Colorful and with a crisp, clear presentation, it ranks right alongside the best luxury-car center displays. The smaller, 7-in. (178-mm) TFT screen between gauges also has great resolution.

The G90 has a nicely designed interior with contrasting materials. The car’s soft, supple leather, glossy real-wood and voluminous amounts of stainless-steel trim is a lovely combination. The woven plastic trim right of the center screen is visually appealing and unique.

But for a car costing $70,000, we must nitpick the interior stitching, which is tight and off-kilter in a few G90s we test, as well as the suede-like headliner, which feels rough to the touch.

The G90 started life as a successor to the Equus, a low-volume, Hyundai-plus model that wasn’t meant to usher in a new brand.

We fully expect the forthcoming G70 3-Series competitor to have more of a wow factor in design (witness the baby blue ‘New York concept’ car from April) and technology.

For now, the G90 is an excellent deal when comparing its $68,000-$72,000 price range to more-expensive German offerings. If you can live without a more advanced infotainment system, massaging seats and gimmicky features like gesture control, the ’17 Genesis large sedan is worth a look.

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'17 Genesis G90 Premium AWD Specifications