Hyundai Genesis. The first true assault from South Korea against the European dominated luxury segment. During its development, Hyundai reportedly used a 5-series as a benchmark for the Genesis. They've even gone on to claim that it has a greater interior volume than that of the BMW 7-series or Mercedes-Benz E-Class. With a class act marketing job, a refined interior, sophisticated styling, and ambition... Hyundai is quite determined to carve their own slice of the luxury pie. They've even stated their sales goals for the car: 55,000 overall global sales in '08 and 45,000 in 2009. Only time-- and most importantly the public's reaction to a luxurious offering from a brand known for pure economy --will tell.









Technical Specifications

Drivetrain: Front Engine / Rear Wheel Drive
Engine: 4.6L V8 32-valve CVVT producing 375hp @ 6500rpm / 3.8L V6 24-valve CVVT producing 290hp @ 6200rpm
Transmission: 6-spd automatic ZF automatic equipped with a LSD / 6-spd automatic
Weight: 1817kg (4006lbs)
Length / Width / Height: 4976mm (195.9in) / 1864mm (73.4in) / 1481mm (58.3in)

It's cool because Hyundai has managed to pull off what nobody ever thought they could do, and they did it in fine style. Lately a lot of Hyundai's products have been class-competitive in quality, but with class-normative prices. This mixes the Hyundai legacy of being cheap with the current hyundai trend of being exceptionally well designed and executed. An unbeatable combo.

Good =/= cool.

This is a good car. A very good car. And it's amazingly smart decision to get one of these if you want a comfortable, luxurious car without exorbitant prices (BMW, MB, Audi, Lexus) or questionable reliability (the first three), and save enough for a lengthy vacation in the process.

But that doesn't make it cool. Absolutely nothing about this car makes me go "hot damn!" Thus, I am forced to give this absolutely excellent car an "uncool."

I've been rooting for Hyundai for years and years now and only recently have people come around to what I've seen, so that's why this car is cool to me. It's a big fat "I told ya so" to the world.

It's not though. Uncool, because you still have to tell people its a Hyundai.

Let me re-quote myself...

Hyundai has raised its game quite a bit. Can't you look past the badge and at the engineering itself? Or are you so stubborn and affixed to images of the past?

That's not a fucking answer. I hate that fucking attitude. Why does the fucking brand name determine everything? Why do we do road tests and bicker about specs and details when all that matters is the fucking badge on the hood? Goddamn ignorance is what that is, and ignorance is DEFINITELY not cool.

Getting into a Genesis is getting ahead of the curve that's set by morons who say shit like that, and that feeling is so good that I just have to change my vote to frozen now.

This is an incredibly uncool reason to justify calling this car frozen.

I want to say cool, but it's still a large floaty sedan... which is uncool. Showing off your Hyundai to all your BMW friends isn't a necessarily festive occasion either. Meh.

Yes, I think it's neat too to see Hyundai really starting to make great cars. But seriously, are you saying that the Genesis sedan gets your heart racing? That it grabs at your loins?

No, but is that what "cool" has to be? That's more like "exciting" or "animalistic". Things don't have to be exciting or primal to be cool, nor does being exciting guarantee that it's cool.

Its a very good car indeed. But nothing special about it .. no real spark to make me want to take the longer route home. Uncool.

It doesn't have to have those specific gut feelings, but it's got to evoke something in your gut, and not just your brain, to be cool IMO (not to mention frozen). All you've said, really, is that it's "cool" because it's a good car from a company that didn't use to make good cars. But is that really "cool"? You have on multiple occasions taken people to task for "confusing good with cool," and I can't see what's actually "cool" instead of "good" about the Genesis sedan.



http://forums.dieselstation.com/index.php?...714&hl=good



http://forums.dieselstation.com/index.php?...458&hl=good



http://forums.dieselstation.com/index.php?...188&hl=good



http://forums.dieselstation.com/index.php?...099&hl=good

Yeah, I do get a gut reaction from this car. It's a deep feeling of respect that goes beyond my logical assessment of the vehicle's capabilities. Best way I can describe it.

I voted cool for this car. And the reason why I voted that is for the sheer reason that it will depreciate like a rock and be a very good car available for not much money. Props to VW for making such a solid effort upmarket and proving that they're capable, and I hope the best for them, but I'm not sure that this is the right response to move upmarket. Again, I hope they move a bunch of these, but I would be willing to bet these will be sitting on the lots for a long time.












Wait, did I get the wrong brand there?

The Phaeton started at nearly twice the price of the base Genesis, and ended up about twice the price of the top of the line Genesis for the W12 model. Kinda apples and oranges, really.

Same concept here, Clark. However, I'd go so far as to state that the Hyundai is a further stretch upmarket. There are two options for this car, either its a landmark accomplishment and breakout of the uber-budget segment for the Korean manufacturer or the car slides into bizzare obscurity. Either way, its kinda cool.

Eh I think Hyundai will have more success than the Phaeton did. The Phaeton was an exceptional vehicle, but it cost every bit as much as its rivals (Audi A8, BMW 7-series, Mercedes S-Class, Jaguar XJ, Lexus LS) in both 8 and 12 cylinder trims (where applicable). The Genesis is a raging bargain in its class and thus fulfills people's expectations of what a Hyundai should be as opposed to the Phaeton, which did not fulfill the expectation of what a Volkswagen should've been.

Its a good car. Its a clever car. It could save Hyundai's bacon. It could hurt sales of luxury brand competitors. Its not a cool car.

I didn't know Hyundai's bacon even needed saving?

I didn't word it right...I just meant it could give them a good sales boost. Stop being sour now that your beloved Genesis is getting more Uncool votes than you wanted.

I can't imagine pulling up in it and people going "Oh damn that's a cool car!" More rather, I imagine them thinking to themselves, "Hey, that's a nice car he's got." So uncool it is.