As I mentioned in a previous post, there are four “Ride & Drives” here at the 2008 Orange County Auto Show, the most of any recent show. Manufactures sponsoring the event include Chrysler, Ford, Hyundai, and Mazda. Though I’m a Mazda fan, I decided to try out Hyundai’s latest creation first.
Before I continue, a brief explanation on what’s involved in a Ride & Drive for those not familiar with the term.
In a “Ride & Drive”, the manufacture provides several vehicles for the public to test-drive. Drivers provide their license and sign a waiver in case they’re involved in an accident, etc. The driver then drives the vehicle of interest while a car representative rides shotgun and answers any questions. Afterwords, drivers fill out a brief questionnaire of the experience.
So what was it like driving Genesis. Very, very pleasant. Exterior-wise, Hyundai wisely chose a conservative design, aping the more classic Mercedes-Benz than the more contemporary BMW or Lexus. The sedan feels quite spacious – interior room is equal to a BMW 7-Series – but doesn’t drive like a boat. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised how tight the Genesis felt at curves. Course, we were driving on city streets and not a race track but that’s appropo for the Genesis’ target market.
The V-6 engine (the V8 was not available) was luxury car muted. Same with interior noise: I had no difficulty conversing in a normal tone with my rider while instrumental music floated from the numerous speakers. And speaking of “entertainment”, the Genesis is the first car I’ve ever driven with a back-up camera. Though I didn’t use it, I noted the large screen and well-organized center stack.
Interior material and design was, again, luxury car appropriate. Stitched leather covered much of the dash. Same with the real wood insets. Hyundai wisely choose to keep the environment controls, radios, etc., as user-friendly as possible, straddling the minimalistic German systems (I’m looking at you, iDrive) to the more cluttered Acura stack (which is saying a lot since I’m an RL owner).
My final take on the Genesis? To paraphrase a colleague who, too, had driven the Hyundai Genesis, “Lexus had better watch out.”