Specs:
Engine: 5-liter V8
Output: 429hp, 376 lb ft of torque
0-60: 5.1s
Starting Price: $46,500
MPG: 29 hwy
Review (A MilesPerHr Exclusive):
Let me paint you a picture: you’re behind the wheel of a Hyundai, following the brand new, 556-hp BMW M6 Gran Coupe. Each of you turn the corner onto a straight and you hear the bimmer spool up its twin-turbo engine for a launch, so you think, “what the hell”, and level your foot to the floor. Predictably, the M6 fires off into the distance, but in an indescribable show of force, that Hyundai you’re driving tears after it. Yes, the $120 thousand-dollar BMW is inching away from you, but it truly is only inching, not disappearing. Before you transfer your right foot to the brakes, you catch the BMW driver do a double-take in the rearview mirror. You both didn’t imagine that scenario; a Hyundai sedan just paced a BMW developed by M GmbH. End scene.
The Genesis R-Spec was, without a doubt, the biggest surprise of Test Days. Now before I go on praising the engine, I must put a healthy bit of emphasis on the point that, besides the weapon under the hood, this sedan is a couch with wheels – a very comfortable couch with heated and cooled seats – but a squishy 5-seater to be sure. After the above scenario took place, I foolishly assumed the car would then offer some level of feedback as it steered around the curve ahead. Instead, the floaty piece of furniture did something to change the angle of its front wheels to get me around the bend, but I definitely didn’t feel the adjustment through the steering. That was a frightening moment.
For the target buyer, this situation will never be a problem. When Mr. or Mrs. well-to-do professional needs to punch it and pass a car on the highway, the Genesis R-Spec will deliver. When they need to relax on the commute from the city to suburbia, the supple ventilated leather seats in the Genesis will again deliver. The driver will never need race-bred steering feel and flat cornering for a track day, so I won’t place blame on Hyundai. In summary, this Korean automaker has found a gem of an engine, and one day it might match the rest of its German rivals for refinement, not just neck-breaking acceleration.
Verdict: What an engine, comfy couch, scarily light steering.
