A Motortrend and an AutomobileMag "first" review. Motortrend's sucks as usual but the AutomobileMag one is very well written.

AutoMobileMag's Review

Motortrend's Review

Both of the "reviews" were more like "comparisons to other brands".... It focused too much on comparing the Genesis to other car brands (which is so typical of car reviewers to do that to Hyundai cars). I thought the Genesis deserved a little more respect in the article's tone.

However it was a good read and the pics were pretty nice.

A Motortrend and an AutomobileMag "first" review. Motortrend's sucks as usual but the AutomobileMag one is very well written.

You expected nothing but accolades? Both reviews were informative and a **** of a lot more than we have see thus far.

Very interesting. Two things that jumped out at me:

From the first article:

"Originally, Hyundai planned to offer the Genesis with both its 3.3-liter and 3.8-liter V-6s, which currently serve in the front-wheel-drive Azera, as well as the Tau V-8. But then it came to its senses and realized that the choice of three engines is a bit much for a vehicle with a modest annual sales goal of 30,000 units in the United States and only 80,000 units worldwide." (p2)

So, no 265hp 3.3L V6... and...

"the V-6 model starts at about $33,000 and stretches up near the V-8 model's starting price of $38,000. Fully optioned, the V-8 will be priced in the mid-$40,000s." (p3)

...no more "starts under 30k".

From the second article (motortrend):

"Heck, the base 290-horsepower, 3.8-liter V-6 is really good in this car, and it's coupled, as is the Tau V-8, to a ZF six-speed automatic transmission that ticks off smooth up- and downshifts."

Either this guy is wrong, or everything everybody knows about the 3.8L Genesis is wrong, up to and including the other review, who says the V6 model would have the Aisin 5-speed.




Even the second one, being sassy about the Hyundai brand name and that little quip at the end about "not being enough to propel your expectation..." doesn't come up with anything compelling to say WHY this wouldn't be considered full competition for any reason other than brand snobbery. The steering is a LITTLE too soft compared to Infiniti M... but is the steering BAD? Unresponsive? The suspension is firmer for the American exports... but is it BAD? Does it clunk over bumpy road? Does it wallow?

I understand that some people will focus on the fact that it's not as firm & harsh as a M, others will focus on the fact that it's not as soft and plush as a Lexus. It can't be both. So the evaluations in these articles, beyond the simple point-by-point comparisons, aren't really helpful... I'm still thinking, nobody can quite describe it well enough to be meaningful, we're just going to see it when it gets here... within the next month, right?

You can expect Hyundai to limit the number of units available to keep the price up.

When a fully loaded 2009 Sonata is $27,000 and in mass production,your kidding yourself if you think you could get a Genesis for $30,000.

It's simple supply & demand.

Just my take on it!

No, I meant what I said - the AutomobileMag article is well written and the MotorTrend article sucks. I didn't say anything about the content. MotorTrend journalists tend to just fire from the hip with their writing style(s), while others put some thought into it to make an interesting read.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but I wasn't going off of what "I want the Genesis to cost"; I'm going off of what Hyundai has been claiming for two years about the starting price of the Genesis.

I can't wait till they can test it and we can see some hard numbers on performance and handling.

I'm going off of what Hyundai has been claiming for two years about the starting price of the Genesis.

It's the Hyundai management style, keeping marketing (press releases) isolated from product development and manufacturing.

One of the articles pointed out annual Genesis production (world-wide) and the size of the US allocation against total. Now the suits in Korea can't remember Genesis price speculation propaganda from 2 years ago.

Hyundai has included Chrysler RWD as a rival for potential Genesis purchasers. With gas at or exceeding $4.00, Chryslers $2.99/36 month/12,000 could screw up much of the Genesis launch from day one.

Heeee! "We have a FEELING that this is a 375hp engine!"

I read both previews from MotorTrend and Automobile magazine, (if that is what they can be called) about the soon to be released Hyundai Genesis and to be honest, both did very little to quench my curiosity about the ride and handling of the Genesis sedan. Perhaps, this was intentional?

So why bother publishing these bare bone previews? I suspect because it may have something to do with the pent up demand for specific details on Genesis. This has helped Hyundai create a well orchestrated pre-market dribble, dribble, release of non-specific, yet some what specific details, regarding the Genesis, for which it has masterfully hyped quite successfully, as the desire for even more information about this U.S. spec Korean luxury sedan persist.

This impression is made even more self evident because both MT and Automobile, having realized this, have promised full blown reviews which are already scheduled for their upcoming August issues. This impressed upon me how important the automotive media considers Genesis. Neither preview commented on how well they perceived the Genesis would compare against the new Pontiac G8, current Chrysler 300, New Maxima or Lexus ES350, cars likely to be its main competitive rivals.

However, there were some useful insights that I garnered from these early previews. Namely, the Genesis can hold its own in terms of delivering on the claim of luxury amenities from the Lexus like ride, and the suspension, to the overall fit and finish one equates with a luxury sedan. It also seems to be on par with overall ride and comfort.

I found it amusing that one of the more curious comments came from the Automobile mag reviewer who quibbled dubiously about whether the Lexicon sound system could match or equal the Lexus Mark Levinson’s by boasting, "An optional 500-watt Lexicon stereo might not be the equal of the Mark Levinson's system offered by Lexus, but it will meet the expectations of all but the pickiest audiophiles, and there's easy access to the equalizer function." Don’t forget the operative word here is “might” which was most likely provoked by this reviewer’s "wow" realization that “I can’t believe this is a Hyundai” deer-in-headlight remark.

As the reviews begin to trickle in on Genesis, I expect to read more of this sort of over-bitten hyperbole from established mainstream media types who have yet to get past their jaded memories of Hyundais from the ‘80s and ‘90s. Perhaps the Genesis will force them to get up to speed on the major transformations that have re-shaped Hyundai both on an engineering and technological scale.

Nothing more to ‘Think About’. Yes, imagine Hyundai.
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By the way, Hyundai Genesis website has been updated with new content. Finally!

http://www.hyundaigenesis.com/

This post has been edited by acronis: May 25 2008, 09:10 PM

Check out Edmunds first drive report on the Genesis. This report contains much more details and is much more informative.

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drive...otopanel..2.*#2

Check out Edmunds first drive report on the Genesis. This report contains much more details and is much more informative.

Thanks for posting the Edmunds link.

0-60 / 5.9 and 1/4 mile 103 / 14 flat is disappointing for RWD "375"hp, especially as the price continues to escalate.

Nice work Hyundai, you just made G8 THE affordable grand slam.

This post has been edited by Dean Sr.: May 27 2008, 02:23 PM

The best I've seen so far is a 5.6 and 13.9. I don't think I'm going to spend $33k+ on a Pontiac. If they wouldn't have downsized from the GTO in every aspect, maybe.

Latest pricing info/packages I could find:

"The best I've seen so far is a 5.6 and 13.9. I don't think I'm going to spend $33k+ on a Pontiac."

April '08 Motor Trend: G8, 5.3, 13.8 / 102.8. And, I don't think I'm going to spend 40+ K for a Hyundai either.

Point taken. However remember the G8 is geared for more spirited drivers and the Genesis offers a compromise between the two. The plus factor is the luxurious ambiance as duly noted by Edmunds, which if you have had the opportunity of seeing the car in person as I have, it definitely hits that mark.

Also lets not forget, Market conditions will determine price.

This post has been edited by acronis: May 27 2008, 06:54 PM

I was talking about the Genesis as far as "the best I've seen so far". However, if the Genesis does come in at the mid-40 range it will be an 08 G35 for me at just over 40k - loaded - with nearly identical performance specs.