Genesis G70 Shooting Brake
Hyundai-backed newcomer sets its sights on BMW’S 3-series and Mercedes’ C-class. Should they be worried?
FORGING INTO BATTLE IN THE EUROPEAN compact executive class without a legacy badge is an act of not inconsiderable bravery. Customer loyalty is difficult to overcome and the current contenders have all been carefully honed over decades of development.
Yet resource is the great equaliser, and new player (in Europe anyway) Genesis is introducing its G70 family with substantial backing from parent company Hyundai. This isn’t the first model Genesis has brought to Europe – it has also launched a few SUVS and the larger G80 saloon in the past 12 months – but the 3-series-sized G70, which is available in saloon or shooting brake forms, is the first that’s been designed specifically for Europe. On first acquaintance the G70 looks to be off to a good start, its lines unconventional but striking, with twin-bar headlights and a distinctive grille fronting a fundamentally sleek body. There’s more than a bit of accidental reference to the Bug-eye Subaru Impreza estate at the rear with its wraparound screen, and there’s a sense of width and aggression that makes a 3-series look meek and the C-class unimaginative in comparison.
The G70’s technical make-up is not entirely unfamiliar. Unlike its larger siblings, which sit on a new and bespoke platform, the G70 shares its rear-wheel-drive chassis with the Kia Stinger, a car we’re rather fond of. The G70 is marginally smaller than the Kia, and like the Stinger has Macphersonstrut front suspension that features unusual double ball-jointed lower arms. Sport models add some uprated hardware to the package, including meatier four-piston Brembo brakes, 19-inch wheels wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S rubber, and a limited-slip differential.
A key element the G70 doesn’t share with the Stinger in EU markets, however, is the Kia’s flagship twin-turbocharged 3.3-litre V6 petrol engine. Instead the G70 range is limited to two fourcylinder motors: a 2.2-litre diesel with 197bhp, and a 2-litre petrol with either 194bhp (‘2.0T’) or, as here, 241bhp (‘2.0T Plus’). The petrol engine is the same ‘Theta’ unit as found in the Hyundai i30 N, which bodes well considering its performance in that
application, but the results are somewhat mixed when paired with the G70’s chassis.
The duality that key rivals like the 3-series and new C-class have absolutely nailed is immediately lacking. The Genesis’s ride can be jarring and struggles to contain smaller bumps and intrusions – something that is common to other Genesis models we’ve tried – while at the other end of the spectrum body control is limited. Most models bar the very entry-level variant include adaptive dampers, but the added lateral stability when in Sport mode doesn’t do much to improve roadholding, and it comes with an obvious deterioration in ride quality. The steering, meanwhile, lacks precision just off-centre, which makes it a fine motorway companion but knocks your confidence during the initial turn-in phase of a bend.
That 2-litre engine is quite refined and even has a fairly cultured (albeit augmented) note under hard acceleration, but there’s so much inertia to the way the revs build and fall that any hope of keen throttle response is smothered. The eight-speed automatic transmission is perfectly smooth and well calibrated to the engine, and manual shifts via the paddles are good, but overall it’s a powertrain that feels off the pace: most of the G70’s rivals now use mild-hybrid set-ups that enable them to hit harder while using substantially less fuel.
There are high points to the G70, however. The interior, while a generation behind the crisp designs in other Genesis models, is solid and finished in excellent materials. The novel ownership model may appeal to some too: there are no traditional dealers, instead cars are brought to and/or collected from you for test drives, sales, servicing, maintenance, etc.
But as for the product, well, it’s probably not this G70 Shooting Brake that’ll cause Genesises to suddenly appear en masse on European roads.
Yet the story of the marque doesn’t start and end with this model, as there is a range of EVS set to hit the road from later this year, hoping to capitalise on customers who are willing to trade that brand loyalty in the search for innovation. But for now the G70 Shooting Brake will join the compact executive class as an interesting but ultimately incomplete addition to the class.
Engine In-line 4-cyl, 1998cc, turbocharged
Power 241bhp @ 6200rpm Torque 260lb ft @ 1450-3500rpm Weight 1717kg (143bhp/ton) 0-62mph 6.4sec
Top speed 146mph Basic price £40,700
+ Striking looks, quality interior
- Thirsty and lacklustre engine; dull and unresolved handling evo rating ★★★☆☆