Genesis’s lone wagon is forbidden fruit in the U.S.
While Genesis has been in America for some time, the Korean luxury brand has only very recently hit Europe. It’s landed with a bunch of Euro-pleasing cars–the G70 and G80 sedans, and GV70 and GV80 SUVs–each with gas and diesel engines designed to keep fleet managers and retirees smiling. The electric GV60 SUV is on its way, too. In a market that, let’s be honest, BMW kinda owns, it’s a brave move.
America does get all of those models, but there’s one reserved just for Europe: the G70 Shooting Brake.
See, the G70 is a decent looking sedan, and it makes the most of Genesis’ distinct light graphics, but it’s a car that was begging to be a wagon. To win hearts and minds in Europe, an SUV will take you some of the way, but a well designed estate will turn the right kind of heads. Genesis reckons the Shooting Brake will account for the lion’s share of G70 sales in Europe, which is pleasing to hear because it’s stunning to look at.
The extra length on the roof doesn’t make it look bulbous, instead tapering the car off for a sleek, more complete profile. From the rear it’s a looker, too. Genesis’ designers have managed to make the car look much smarter, and give an extra dollop of trunk space; the Shooting Brake gets 16.4 cubic feet, a huge boost over the sedan’s 11.7. As impressive as that sounds it’s still not as vast a chasm as you get in even a VW Golf wagon. Perhaps buyers in that segment don’t care about such things, but if you’re trying to beat BMW on its home turf offering less space than a 3er isn’t the smartest shout.
Prettiness carries over to the inside, as Genesis’ design team created a slick space to be in. It’s not overdone and chintzy, but nowhere near Polsestar-esque minimalism. The switchgear looks good, the wheel is well sized, and the nav screen isn’t overwhelmingly large. In fact, it’s pleasantly small. It feels like a rebellion against the massive slabs that litter other premium cars these days. The screen’s interface is pretty slick, if not as smart as iDrive and its ilk, but it comes with smartphone integration to bypass what was surely years of development work.
The interior materials are an odd mix. There’s leather where you’d hope for leather, sure, but some key switchgear is a touch on the wrong side of plasticky. Importantly it does look good, even if the feel is occasionally off.
For a car on BMW’s lawn, you’d expect every measurement to be taken to make sure the Germans are left wanting. The G70 Shooting Brake doesn’t feel all that large inside. It’s not cramped per se, but you feel more penned in than you would elsewhere.
Sharing underpinnings with the Kia Stinger, and being developed under the watchful eye of Albert Biermann, the G70 is a decent drive. With the 2.0-liter turbo, there’s 241bhp and 260lb ft to play with. Genesis says it’ll do 0-62mph in 6.1 seconds and 149mph, and manage up to 29.5mpg in the process. It’s the quickest G70 we get (the V-6 isn’t available in Europe), and it’s on par with the equivalent Bavarian. Will we get an RS 4 or M3 Touring competitor? It’d be interesting to see which bits of the Hyundai N DNA would make their way across, wouldn’t it?
The little 2.0 feels punchy, but despite the Genesis website’s promise that it was ‘born on the race track’ it won’t set your beard alight. The promised 0-62 time feels achievable, but this ain’t a car to thrash. It’s a cruiser. Point it at a stretch of highway, bury the gas, and you’ll find the miles (and your gas) vanish remarkably quickly. Switchable drive modes do change things both dynamically and aesthetically. The latter makes the instrument binnacle change its look to suit your mode.
The sportiest setting does make the G70 a little more sprightly. The usual raft of ‘box, gas, steering, etc changes happen as you’d expect. Thing is, the G70 Shooting Brake weighs 3693lbs, which (depending on spec) is similar to a Golf. Find yourself somewhere twisty and, while it’s not the most entertaining thing in the world, you’ll find some fun. The steering flows nicely, the brakes could do with a bit more bite, and the way you can swing its beautiful rear around will cause you to break a smile. Think of it more as a really long warm hatch and you can have something of a blast in it. Part of you will probably wonder whether a Beemer would be more fun (it will be).
Bystanders watching you have fun, however, will be largely bemused. They’ll be asking two questions: How old is the driver? What on earth are they driving?
Genesis has a way to go over on these shores. People have no idea what it is or who it’s for, but that’ll change with its aggressive marketing and customer service programs. They’re still a rare sight on the roads, but the odd sighting does feel rather special. Genesis’ design language works well over here, and it does make the competition look either dull (Mercedes, AHEM) or try hard (oh, hi there pointy Audis) by comparison.
The Shooting Brake is a special looking thing. The kind of car that gets the ‘what is it?’ comment, but from people who are genuinely curious about it, not being mean on the sly (Cupra, I’m looking at you). It’s got presence, and style by the bucketload. It drives well enough, though won’t have you setting your alarm for an early dawn raid. Does it give Genesis enough cache to succeed where Infiniti failed? Time will tell. And it’ll do it with a really long, really cool roof.
Keyword: The Genesis G70 Shooting Brake Has Presence