2023 Genesis G90 3.5T E-Supercharger AWD - Yes it's a luxury car and it's great.


The triumvirate of Genesis, Hyundai, and Kia build some fine cars. I think the G90 is the crowning glory of the Korean company, Hyundai Motor Group, on this side of the Pacific. 

The test Genesis G90 3.5T E-Supercharge AWD approaches limousine territory. In fact that's how I used it while driving my wife back and forth to San Ramon, CA from our house. My wife hates the Interstate and finds it less worrisome in the back seat. So I assumed chauffer duty. 

There is plenty of room in the G90; it is 207.7" long on a wheelbase of 125.2". There is 37.2" of leg room for the rear seat, and 42.3" in the front. Nominally a five-person vehicle the rear seat controls are all in the fold down center arm rest reducing it to a four person car. 

It seems a bit odd to me to put the rear seat controls on the pull down center armrest.

Under the hood is the secret sauce that powers the 4,861 lb. G90 to 60 mph in 5.1 seconds, and the quarter-mile in 13.7 seconds at 104 mph. Top speed is limited to 132 mph. These figures are from Car and Driver.

So how does a heavy, luxury car accomplish these times and speeds? Horsepower, specifically 409 hp at 5,800 rpm from a 3.5-liter, DOHC V6 that has twin turbos and an electric supercharger. The power goes out to all four wheels through an 8-speed automatic transmission.

I didn't try any speed runs, it's a luxury car not a sports car or muscle car. But the power was there when I needed it to merge into traffic. The idea was to make my wife and granddaughter comfortable. 

There are three drive modes - Eco, Comfort, and Sport. I did try them all but usually I just left it in Comfort - It is a luxury car after all.

There are a lot of controls here but they are relatively easy to use. The 'Drive Mode' button is in the center of the bottom row.

It's not a luxury car in the old style, not a luxo-barge but a well-built, well-appointed automobile that gets you where you're going in comfort and style while absorbing all the bumps, broken pavement, potholes, and noise on our roads. And if you want to mix it up just punch up Sport and have at it. You won't be embarrassed.


I didn't fool around with the driver's seat settings that much, I got comfy and that was it. The controls are fairly standard, and you can store your settings for the seat, mirrors, steering wheel with buttons on the door. The seats were comfortable and scooted back to ease entry and exit.


The doors open wide, so wide (if you have the room) that they can be hard to reach when seated. No problem, just push a little button and they close automatically. Really. I searched for the inside door release handle but couldn't find it at first - yup there's a button for that as well. Push the button and the door unlatches and opens a few inches. 

All those controls are the bane of those (like me) who need reading glasses. I can't just slip on my glasses to see what a button does, and there are so many little controls that it would take me forever to intuitively know where they are. This isn't specific to the G90 but so many new cars are like my smart phone - they all have way more features than I will ever access.

Thankfully many of these features are 'set it and forget it'. I did take out the owner's manual, more correctly owner's tome. I've seen smaller family Bibles!

Besides the luxury, besides the power, there is economy. Really! The G90 is rated at 17-mpg in the city and 24-mpg on the highway. But wait there's more! I saw a high of 32-mpg on one highway jaunt at 70 mph, and the onboard computer showed an average of 19.4-mpg for over 6,600 miles (remember that this is a press car driven by journalists who may drive a little harder than most owners). 

I suppose that if you can afford the car you won't worry about keeping the white carpets clean. White may look nice but it's not for me. There are three interior colors - Dune Beige, Glacier White, and Obsidian Black - I'd choose anything but white. 

I generally like the electronic key fobs. I usually find most of them easy to use but the Genesis falls short here. There is just too much happening on the unit. There are buttons on both long edges. I literally had to put on my glasses to see which buttons locked and unlocked the car. I appreciate all the cool things you can do with it (start the engine remotely, back it into a parking space or have it drive itself out) but enough is enough. 

The button marked "Hold" is for the remote start, the next to buttons are for remote park.

These buttons are straightforward - Alarm, open trunk, unlock car, and lock.

Genesis has videos on YouTube to show you how to use these and other features. Or you can get out the G90 Bible (owner's manual) and thumb through the hundreds of pages. 

Regardless of the difficulty my semi-Luddite brain had with the techie stuff I still loved the Genesis. Like I said if I owned it I'd probably ignore many of the techie stuff and just revel in the luxury. And the Bang & Olufsen sound system didn't mind it when I blasted some King Crimson. 

In the greater scheme of things (I can't believe I'm saying this) the G90's price is not out of line. The G90 3.5T E-Supercharger AWD starts at $98,700. Out the door it will easily break $100,000. Yes that's a lot of money but look around at what a hundred grand gets you today. There are very few luxury sedans out there. I'm not going to tell you a G90 is the equal of a BMW or M-B but I will say it is worth your consideration. It really is that good.







Comments

Will Askee said…
Thanks for this article. There's a new Genesis showroom in the Tanforan Center, San Bruno. I'll have to check this model out. Still leaning towards another Mercedes Benz EV.

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