For those who think Seattle’s traffic is the worst in the nation and is a place where unmaintained roads break one’s spine with every pothole hit, hasn’t driven the 2015 Hyundai Genesis.
This $52,450 luxury sedan is not only comfortable, but loaded with conveniences that will make you hate traffic and the ill-kept roads a little less.
Take, for instance, Hyundai’s Smart Cruise Control (radar-assisted cruising) is incredibly intelligent and can help you avoid becoming overly angry at the person six cars ahead of you doing 10 miles an hour underneath the speed limit. Instead of getting anxious, turn the 17-speaker radio up, pop into smart cruise control and relax your way around aggravating traffic in style and luxury.
Real wood-accents surround the driver and passenger giving them a feel of refinement, while the nine airbags, including one for the knees, keep occupants safe from all the other people on the road.
There’s plenty of room for all size of passengers, too, with tons of room in the back seats for even the tallest of adults. The heated seats are sure to please everyone in the back-seat area, along with the rear-heating options, too. No longer will the backseat be the lesser of all seats, as they have many of the same creature comforts.
While satisfaction is to be had by all those riding in the Hyundai Genesis, the driver is the center of extravagence-attention.
Drivers have the ultimate in creature comforts, with the 12-way power front seats, including some of the best lumbar support I’ve seen in a vehicle, along with a power tilt and telescopic steering column, ensuring one can find the best position all-around.
Not only will drivers be swimming in contentment while driving the Genesis, they’ll be serenaded with the sweet sound of the Genesis’ 3.8L V6 engine producing 311hp.
The soundtrack for this car had me smiling the whole time I had it.
While the powerhouse normally stays quiet so as not to disturb the luxuriant driving experience, it can come to life with but the tap of a pedal. The Genesis’ HTRAC all-wheel drive technology, can increase or decrease the amount of power to each of the wheels in order to accommodate driving conditions.
What this means in the real world is that when you step on the gas, there’s little screech of tires and a lot of grip all around. A drive-train intelligent enough to provide just the right amount of power to each wheel.
The Heads-up Display (HUD) not only shows the car’s speed, the next turn while using navigation functions, cruise control speeds, distance to other cars while using the smart cruise control features, but also (the reason no cop will listen to a Genesis driver’s complaints about no speed limit signs) a notification of the current speed limit for the area.
As a diligent auto-journalist, I tested out the speed limit notification by driving around through changing speed limits and… it’s smart. The changes in speed limit show up on the HUD within 10 to 20 feet of the sign, so you really will know pretty quickly that you’re speeding. You can’t help but notice it, the limit is right next to where your speed is shown!
While the Genesis is full of the kinds of comforts that will have Seattlites wanting to get out and drive, there’s one aspect they won’t be very happy about – the MPGs. The V6 engine gets around 19 mpg’s combined (16 city and 25 highway), not bad for a large luxury sedan, but not great for many of the eco-minded people in the area.
However, the luxuries that surround occupants of the 2015 Hyundai Genesis is going to make the lack of better fuel economy fade away into the (automatically dimming) rearview mirror.
