Today I was part of a group that was given a walkaround of the new 2015 Genesis at Hyundai World Headquarters. I have previously been given a two hour drive in a fully camouflaged car and here are my impressions and the answers to a few questions from Forum Members .
First Off I want to say the car is beautiful. Not as dramatic as an Audi A7 but certainly a looker. It is more conservative in its styling but the lines are very classic and will not grow old quickly. It looks good from every angle and the sheetmetal looks better in person than in pictures. I can't really find fault with anything on the exterior. It was shown in a color I think was called Parisian Gray and it is a spectacular choice and will be the color of mine when I order it. The interior was Ivory with Premium leather and it had a faux Alcantara headliner. The real wood dash was Black Ash and was a matte finish on both front and rear door panels as well as the dash. It is a heavily grained wood and is reminiscent of what Audi uses in the A6. Gorgeous. Both front seats now have complete adjustability and both have ventilated and heated seats where the previous only heated the passenger side. There is real aluminum on the dash, not painted plastic and I think the interior is superior to any of the luxury competitors. The A6, BMW 5 Series and Mercedes E class all could learn from what Hyundai has done. I am not exaggerating nor playing favorite due to being a Hyundai fan. This is truly an objective appraisal. The 9.2 inch Nav Screen is 720P and gorgeous to look at. The navigation is also projected in the Heads Up Display which is bright and easy to see in the windshield. You can even adjust where it is displayed.
Someone asked about adjustable bolsters. I said the car was not equipped with them. I was WRONG!. YES! It has power adjustable bolsters. The drivers side has an adjustable bolster that is operated by a sliding switch under the round lumbar controls.
FULL LED Headlamps. NO. The car does not have them it has HID Projector lamps similar to the current car with a really nice LED surround and Jewel like running light/turn signals along the lower edge of the front end. Look for them in the future though. They will likely use that as a mid-cycle refresh.
Someone wanted me to address the lack of chrome along the trunklid. There is no chrome strip. The designers thought the look was cleaner and frankly I don't disagree. They like the nice clean, classic look and they feel it will stand the test of time better as it is.
The car will come with standard 18" wheels with 19" as an option and on the 8 cylinder vehicle. The corporate thinking is that no matter what car you drive, they don't want their customers to look any different in a base unit car than in the Premium Package vehicles. The luxury feel of the car will be available at all price points. Specifically the lead guy said when he sees a BMW on the street he can look at the 17" wheels and say to himself, "That guy has a base unit vehicle." That won't happen to a Genesis driver. By the way, the 19" wheels were seen on two other cars while there and still under wraps and they are beautiful and very three dimensional looking.
You're gonna love the Heads Up Display. Well done Hyundai. Well done.
The self opening trunk is pretty cool. You just walk up to the car and stand near the trunk for a few seconds and it will open by itself. It works very well and it is driver selectable. If you don't want it to work you can turn it off. Also there are hooks built in to hang grocery bags on. These same hooks could be used to tie down the trunk if you're carrying something.
No fold down rear seats. This would be the #1 thing I would have wanted to see changed along with water bottle holders in the door pocket. This most assuredly isn't a deal breaker for me but I was pretty disappointed when I learned of this. I had already been made aware of it when I was given a ridealong a couple weeks ago and I've already adjusted to the disappointment.
The dashboard. Oh the dashboard. Everything about the instrument panel is upgraded and pure luxury. The beautiful (REAL) wood, the (REAL) aluminum, all of the switchgear, knobs, anything you touch is better than the previous model (I own a 2013) Can you say Equus? Love that 9.2" screen.
The leather seating. We were exposed to the Premium Leather only. It's as nice as anything at any level of Mercedes, Audi or BMW and better in most cases. I like it better than what my Audi has and better than my neighbors A7 too. Terrific! Besides that the leather the seats were designed to support the average frame and remain comfortable at the same time. I actually liked the bolstering better than I remembered from my ridealong. The first layer of foam is directly adhered to the underside of the leather to eliminate some of the sagging we've seen in our earlier versions of Genesis after some miles are on the seats. They are firmer with a still soft initial feel because of the double layer of varied firmness foam.
The doors close with a different authority than previous. There is a deep thud and the car can be ordered with self cinching doors. On the inside I know there are a few people not happy that the door pockets are no longer hinged but that's life. I think the doors are more attractive and look and feel richer in every respect. One of the car magazines said that when you step inside you immediately sense that you've stepped up a level or two from the earlier Genesis. Let me say right now, it's definitely two levels. As far as I'm concerned my nieces brand new Mercedes CLS is not superior to this cars interior in any way. NONE!
It seems like there is more room on the inside of this car even though it's only slightly longer and the same width. The longer wheelbase is part of the reason for that. Since I've also ridden in the car I have a little more insight into how it's going to feel and I can say pretty much everything about this car is better. As I've stated before, the rack mounted power steering unit has elevated the game on this car. For those of you not familiar, most cars power steering units are located on the column and take away that feeling of precision you feel when you're carving a corner. It costs Hyundai more bucks to include this but imparts the same feel you might experience in an Audi and that intuitive feel is what they were shooting for. The ride is a bit more compliant with a little more dive than an Audi but I think they've nailed the compromise extremely well. Since I am a three time Audi owner and still own one I think I can speak on that. At high speed this car hunkers down on the road and gobbles it up with no corrections required by the driver to keep it tracking straight. Just look where you want the car to go and it follows your eyes. The car has automatic braking that will bring your car to a full stop if you are asleep at the
wheel not paying attention. It also has lane keep assist that can vibrate in your hands to alert you or even steer the car back into its lane. Driver selectable, of course The driving mode selector is located next to the gear shift lever and paddles are standard on the car in case you want to get more involved. The backup camera is supplemented with detection for cross traffic coming that you may not see when backing out of a parking spot and will even brake for you if you don't stop on your own.
I recently attended the Orange County Auto Show and sat in and played with just about everything that resides in this size class of car and this one is the winner for me. I have to admit I loved the CTS but
Cadillac's insistence on shoving that CUE system in our face without any knobs was beyond stupid. Even then, nothing in this class offers the rear seat room of the Genesis and that's a major selling point for me. I don't want unhappy passngers on a road trip. The Genesis is like the story of the Three Bears and Genesis is all baby Bear, everything is "Just Right." Now my Number One complaint: I can't have one yet. Stay tuned.
Finally I want to say one final thank you to the guys at Hyundai. Former President John Krafcik was kind enough to allow me the chance to do a ridealong and membership in the Hyundai Thinktank afforded me the opportunity to see the naked version of this car ahead of the general public. It was greatly appreciated. For those of you who are Hyundai fans, I encourage you to join the Hyundai Thinktank. It's a tool they use to gauge the ideas and thoughts of drivers so they can improve your ownership experience and you get to share your mind with them. The moderator, Jason does a helluva job and it will enrich your ownership experience. Thank you to Eric, Jason and Ricky Lau.
