• Auto123 reviews the 2022 Genesis G70.
• The luxury brand’s smallest sedan offers a delectable mix of sportiness and refinement that’s perfect for road tripping ‘à deux’.
• Genesis continues to offer more for less in the premium sedan segments.
End of summer. No kids along. Just the two of us, for a little getaway up the North Shore of the Saint-Lawrence in Quebec. From having previous experience with all of the sedans produced by Korean luxury brand Genesis, I knew any one of them would be an ideal companion for our modest road trip. But there’s ideal and there’s ideal. The G70 provides an element of sporty performance not quite found to the same degree in the bigger G80 and even bigger G90. Those tend to fall into the boat category.
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Not so the sprightly G70, a true sport sedan. For 2022, the model received a number of substantial changes to update its looks and the equipment found within. An overarching goal on both those fronts was to take the model in a more upscale direction. As for the styling, we’ve since seen it repeated in the revised new versions of the G80 and G90, so there’s an emerging signature from Genesis that suits the brand well as it “ages”.
The indoor changes include a bigger 10.25-inch multimedia touchscreen and an 8-inch data screen. They’re not on the level of massiveness that some German automakers now have in their compact sedans, but they do the job just fine, and the resolution and speed of graphics are first-rate.
That’s in keeping with the solid finishing you find inside, something we’ve gotten used to from Genesis in its short history.
We covered a lot of the changes when we first test-drove the revised 2022 G70, way back in May of 2021, and you can check on that for some of the details.
Then, as now, our vehicle driven was the G70 3.3T Sport, meaning it was the spunkiest, beefiest model in the lineup with its V6 and turbocharger and 265 hp and 376 lb-ft of torque. That is more than this car needs to give it some real get up and go, but who were we to complain?
Actually my partner did complain, whenever I engaged Sport mode. I would do it sneakily without telling her but she always figured it out anyways, the added grumble from the engine, noisier accelerations and slightly stiffer suspension drawing rebukes from the passenger seat about the needlessness of it, when we had a perfectly good, and smooth, and quiet, highway cruiser under us in Normal mode. Back to Normal the car went. We were on holiday, after all…
Still though, if you drive this car alone at least some of the time, it’s nice to have the mode, because it really does put the Sport in Sport Sedan, and this car’s substantial handling, acceleration and even braking capabilities are drawn out to their full potential.
I shouldn’t go overboard lest you think this does not remain a car focused on providing luxury-level comfort. It does. The seats are wonderful, the steering wheel is pleasing to hold and space is fine for those legs, shoulders and heads placed in the front row. This being a compact sedan, all of that is more limited in the back, but adults can fit in there just the same. They’ll just feel the limitations more than they would in the 80 or 90 sedans.
The back seats sat empty during our road trip, of course. We racked up, each way, a few hundred km in the G70, and this felt like the just-right size and format for what we were doing.
The trunk is not massive but it happily swallowed up our two suitcases with room to spare for any doohickeys we were going to bring back. (That, in the end, consisted of a tiny, ancient cast-iron frying pan. I kid you not. That was the extent of our souvenir shopping. Don’t ask).
Our driving was on a mix of divided and one-lane highway and secondary roads. As I had noted my first time around, this car sticks to the road and is wonderfully agile when the curves accumulate. Power is there to spare, and the braking can make it all come to a stop quickly if need be. The 8-speed auto transmission that manages everything is wonderfully discrete and extremely prompt. Absolutely no complains there.
Visibility out back is not superb thanks to the G70’s ground-hugging contours (and thus slightly sloping roofline). And if you like the high seating position and better view you get from an SUV, this isn’t for you. There’s the also-impressive GV70 for you.
As for fuel consumption, we averaged 9.3L/100 km for the entirety of our trip, which isn’t much to write home about but not awful either, especially since it beat the official combined average of 11.5L/100 km – probably because we avoided city driving for the most part). If fuel economy matters to you, seriously consider the base 4-cylinder 2.0L engine, which still provides sufficient power for most anybody’s needs.
We like
Looks
Handling, power, agility
Refined interior
Value
We like less
Rear visibility
Second row space
Smallish trunk
Resale value questions are valid
The competition
Acura TLX
Alfa Romeo Giulia
Audi A4
BMW 3 Series
Cadillac CT4-V
Lexus IS
Mercedes-Benz C-Class
Volvo S60
A couple of your recurring questions, answered:
Is the Genesis G70 a serious option in its segment?
Absolutely, with the caveat that you don’t care about the instant status provided by the BMW, Audi or Mercedes badge. So if you like being a maverick and not following the flock, this one’s for you, because in terms of what it gives you for the money it’s great value.
Is the Genesis G70 actually, truly a luxury car?
Well aside from the status questions raised above, I would say yes. The multimedia system is excellent and the screens in front of you are of quality, though there are massive, advanced systems now found in rival luxury models, so the arms race continues there. But otherwise, the seating is super comfortable, the materials and the finishing first-rate. Ironically, the pricing is the other point that keeps it from being lumped in with the Germans; it’s lower than theirs.
Specifications sheet of 2022 Genesis G70
Road Tests and Reviews
