Okay, we hear you, today might not be the heyday of the full-size luxury sedan. Just ask Mark Del Rosso, who was recently named CEO, Genesis Motors North America, after successful stints as president of Audi of America and president/CEO, Region Americas for Bentley Motors. As the luxury market — and the market in general — has turned toward crossover SUVs, Genesis’s sedan lineup will quickly get refreshed. At the same time, the Genesis G90 sedan is still the brand’s flagship, and in the tradition of most new luxury-car offerings it is in many ways a stupendous value. It is priced like a midsize German sedan, yet it has the room, creature comforts and sheer curb value of a 7 Series or S-Class.
For the curb value one can thank former Hyundai chief design officer Peter Schreyer, previously a high-ranking design executive at Audi, and Luc Donckerwolke, former design director at Bentley, Lamborghini and Audi. Their European influence is telling even in a design that is entering its fourth model year. The G90’s exterior is refined and imposing without having the bombast of some of the more overt large Audi sedans.
The sleek but lengthy hood makes it clear this is a sedan to be reckoned with, and it rides on one of the longest wheelbases in the class with its wheels pushed out to the corners. With its short overhangs and minimal rear deck, the G90 has a modern appearance that impresses but doesn’t shock, which is the idea. In the rear, chrome-finished dual asymmetrical exhaust tips are integrated into the lower bumper, one of several high-luxe touches. They offer an attractive counterpoint to the vertical LED taillights. The G90’s restrained exterior design yields an exceptional 0.27 coefficient of drag for minimized wind noise and enhanced fuel efficiency.
While the Genesis G90 offers a choice of two powertrains — 3.3-liter direct-injected, twin-turbocharged V-6 engine with a 365 horsepower and a 5.0-liter direct-injected V-8 engine producing 420 horsepower — our drive time was spent in the V-8 version, officially labeled G90 RWD 5.0 Ultimate. With high-pressure direct injection, the car’s “Tau” V-8 benefits from an optimized intake runner length, enhanced timing chain and upgraded multiple-injection mapping, all of which enables it to deliver 383 lb.-ft. of soul-satisfying torque at 5,000 rpm.
Both V-8 and twin-turbo V-6 models are equipped with eight-speed automatic transmissions with impressive shifting smoothness and speed. The transmission has steering wheel paddle shifters to enable manual shifting when desired, and in the V-8 sedan in particular we imagine that will likely be never. If you are wondering, the turbo V-6 delivers a peak of 376 lb.-ft. of torque across a wide 1,300 – 4,500 rpm, so between the two versions all-around drivability is about a toss-up. Both V-6 and V-8 G90s are available in rear-drive and all-wheel-drive, and all G90 powertrains feature driver-selectable Intelligent Drive Mode.
Since the straight-line performance of the twin-turbo V-6 and the naturally aspirated V-8 are virtually identical, buyers can choose their pick based on subtler preferences. The 5.0 Ultimate is, well, the ultimate, especially if you favor the velvety acceleration of a traditional large-displacement engine. Depending upon your point of reference, you might call the twin-turbo sportier, but it is a relative thing. Don’t think M or AMG here. In all its configurations the G90 can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in about 5.5 seconds, a laudable number but not leading edge.
Befitting its role, the G90 5.0 Ultimate is engineered to prioritize ride comfort and quiet. The Sachs/ZF adaptive control suspension uses electronic damping to manage body motions, and it offers additional stability through its Dynamic Stability Damping Control. Its able to provide independent damping control in both rebound and compression strokes, offering good body and yaw control. What this means is the suspension is working very hard so your body inside the car doesn’t have to. The ride is controlled without hint of excessive body roll, while at the same time offering pillow top comfort.
The interior of a luxury car is typically a place to show off “upscale” materials like full grain leather, genuine wood and even polished carbon-fiber. Just make it expensive please, so we know we’re not in a Chevy. And that, understandably, is the route the G90 takes. It is more traditional and less inventive than a contemporary Audi, but the G90’s cabin is certainly attractively comfortable. Occupants are surrounded by genuine wood accents, and the instrument panel features wood accompanied by leather-stitching. The brushed chrome accents remind you of high-end audio systems, and, speaking off that, the Lexicon audio speaker grilles are machined stainless steel.
The seats are covered in perforated leather, a luxurious sporty-retro touch, and they are generously sized. Headroom and legroom front and rear compare well to luxury sedan competitors. For instance, both front head and legroom are substantially greater (by inches) than the well-regard Lexus LS 500 sedan. The rear seats rival the front seats for comfort with an elaborate drop-down center armrest and rear climate controls.
Convention continues in the configurable instrument panel. It features traditional round displays that are easily readable, and it is accompanied by a seven-inch high-resolution TFT-LCD display in the center gauge cluster.
A vast array of systems are controlled via the car’s 12.3-inch high-definition widescreen in the center of the dash. As one would naturally guess, it houses the key interfaces for the Lexicon premium sound system, which delivers QuantumLogic surround sound via 17 speakers and a 10-inch subwoofer with impressive fidelity and power.
In addition to audio, the widescreen is also the gateway to a variety of additional functions, which are chosen and activated using a console-mounted control knob in standard European-style fashion. The good news for Luddites is the existence of conventional pushbuttons for things like climate control. The G90’s one-megapixel digital camera that is activated when parking contributes images that share the screen with a high-resolution 360-degree multi-view monitor. The system is fitted with steering guidelines, so parking the massive G90 is relatively easy.
On the safety front, the G90 features a very representative array of electronic safety and driver aids. Included are automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, smart blindspot detection with rear cross-traffic alert and lane keeping assist. Also standard are driver attention alert, dynamic bending light with high beam assist and a 360-degree multi-view monitor.
Those dealing with bumper-to-bumper traffic will benefit from the G90’s adaptive cruise control. It has a stop-start functionality that operates down to zero mph in stop-and-go traffic conditions and it will deploy the automatic emergency braking system should an impending collision with a vehicle ahead be detected.
With a large luxury sedan fuel economy is not necessarily top-of-mind, but for the record the G90 lags some of its more recent big-sedan competition. Fuel economy for the rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive V-6-powered G90 is 17 mpg city/24 mpg highway/20 mpg combined. Fuel economy for the V-8-powered G90 RWD 5.0 Ultimate that we drove for this test is 16 mpg city/24 mpg highway/19 mpg combined and all-wheel-drive lowers each by one mpg.
Though the Genesis G90 is several years into the market, it is still very contemporary and feature-filled. Certainly, it doesn’t have the long histories of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class or the BMW 7 Series to give it a big kiss of prestige, but buying a G90 represents a contrarian spirit that is laudable. Once you are safely ensconced in its quiet space bubble you are the monarch of your universe, and that is exactly what a luxury sedan should do.
