A Look At Hyundai Genesis G90 Luxury Sedan

Have a look at Hyundai Motor Company’s vision of opulence, the Genesis G90. Yes, a lavish, highly refined premium sedan from the maker of such mass market models as the Elantra and Tucson. As a matter of fact, Hyundai had launched the award-winning 2nd generation Genesis in Malaysia in mid-2015. Being a new entrant into the local premium segment, we don’t see many on the road but in the U.S. where the Genesis is the luxury sub-brand of Hyundai and is familiar, sales aren’t too shabby with over 31,000 units sold in 2015.

The Genesis G90 premium luxury sedan is mainly targeted at the U.S. market as the new flagship of the brand’s model range. The G90 will compete at the top of the premium luxury car segment with world-class technological innovations and the highest levels of refinement, convenience and dynamic performance.

The person tasked with bringing the Genesis brand further is none other than Peter Schreyer, Hyundai’s global chief of design who brought good looks to Kia. The design of the G90, by the new Prestige Design Division, speaks the ‘Athletic Elegance’ design theme. A prominent nose, short overhang and a bold rear shows off a dynamic yet refined stance.

The G90 starts off with the ‘Crest’ grille, Genesis’ lush interpretation of Hyundai’s hexagonal grille, and runs clean lines all the way back to project a classy, confident yet agile stature. The G90 is powered by either an all-new 3.3-litre direct-injected, twin-turbocharged V6 engine or the award-winning Tau 5.0-liter direct-injected V8. The 3.3-litre produces 365hp and the 5-litre, 420hp.

Both engines are combined with an 8-speed automatic transmission that has low weight and high efficiency to drive the rear wheels. Development and refinement of the G90’s performance was done in Hyundai’s European Technical Center at the Nürburgring in Germany and the California Proving Grounds in the Mojave Desert and as a result, the G90 sports powerful and responsive driving characteristics but the interior remains peaceful and refined; this is a luxury sedan after all.

And a luxury sedan isn’t worth its price tag if you can’t hear yourself think. Engineers have insulated, strengthen and sealed everything from the suspension to the door seals to the transmission housing and air intake. Even the car’s underbody has been engineered to reduce turbulence and noise.

The engineering goes beyond sound insulation. Handling, rid and even steering feel have gone through rigorous development. The G90 features an Intelligent Drive Mode with four drive settings – Eco, Smart, Sport, and Individual. These four modes provide unique calibration settings for suspension, steering, stability control, engine, transmission and H-TRAC AWD, allowing the driver to choose the desired driving character. Further, G90 includes proprietary “Smart Shift and Drive Control” automatic transmission technology that analyzes driving style and adjusts shift character, engine torque response and suspension damping in real-time driving conditions.

The H-TRAC AWD system can direct up to 40 percent of available torque to the front axle, for enhanced traction in adverse conditions such as ice or snow. In more ideal conditions, the H-TRAC Sport calibration features a high degree of rear-drive bias for sportier cornering and acceleration characteristics, with up to 90 percent of available torque distributed to the rear axle. In addition, with the H-TRAC systems’ Economy mode, up to 100 percent of available torque is distributed to the rear wheels for maximum efficiency.

Suspension set-up is a multi-link design for minimized camber and toe changes throughout the suspension travel range. Rear cross member bushings were also improved from a rubber to a hydro construction. In addition, the Genesis Adaptive Control Suspension system with electronic damping control smoothly and precisely controls body motions throughout the range of dynamics with minimal compromises to ride comfort. This adaptive control suspension offers independent damping control for both rebound and compression strokes of suspension travel for improved body and yaw control. Large, 19″ ‘turbine-blade’ alloy wheels ensure immediate response to steering inputs and precise handling character.

G90 features GENESIS SMART SENSE, a suite of active driver safety technologies. These cover the full spectrum of safety, from driver alertness and focus to total occupant safety, and even the safety of other drivers around you. This suite includes such functions as Driver Attention Alert, Automatic Emergency Braking with Pedestrian Detection, Smart Cruise Control, Smart Blind Spot Detection and Rear Cross Traffic Alert. For enhanced visibility for the driver, the Head’s-up Display has been increased from 7.4″ to 9.7″ with enhanced illumination.

G90’s Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB), utilizing sensor fusion technology to help avoid a potential collision or reduce its impact. With this system, G90 will employ automatic braking when it detects another vehicle or pedestrian at an unsafe closing rate of speed. This system uses the front radar from the Smart Cruise Control system and the forward camera from the Lane Keep Assist (LKA) to provide this extra margin of safety.

Particular attention has also been paid to the interior with emphasis on comfort and ergonomics; the driver gets a 22-way powered seat with shoulder adjustment for crying out loud (G90 passenger gets 16-way adjustment). The 5-litre variant gets rear ‘Stressless’ design powered seats with 12-way (14-ways for the right seat position) adjustment and includes slide linked with recline, shoulder-adjusters, rear lumbar support, 4-way head restraints and a rear integrated memory system controlled by a dedicated rear console selector. From the graceful layout of driver controls and genuine, premium material selection, to meticulous craftsmanship, precision leather-stitched instrument panel and an elegant material color palette, virtually every element of the interior focuses on the passengers. Further, wheelbase was lengthened by 4.5″ to significantly increase cabin spaciousness.

Some of the other interior features are an Air Quality System with  CO₂-level sensor that lets in fresh air when needed, a 12.3″ high definition widescreen display on the centre stack, adjustable LED ambient lighting mood lamps and a Lexicon premium sound system with QuantumLogic surround sound and 17 speakers and a 10″ subwoofer.

In addition to the United States, G90 will be offered in markets such as China, Russia and the Middle East. 5 additional Genesis models are planned for launch within the next five years.

The Genesis G90 is a highly refined and advanced piece of machinery. Hyundai has just recently jumped on the autonomous driving bandwagon and when it’s ready with one, you’ll have to let your chauffeur go.