OK, let’s take a break from cameras for just a moment and switch to… cars.

I originally wrote this in 2020 after owning my car for a couple months but never published it because I wanted more time to get used to it. Not having a daily commute to Portsmouth or Exeter combined with not leaving my house due to the pandemic made me feel alien in my car for quite a while. It’s been two years (and barely 11,000 miles), numerous trips to various parts of the state, and a trip to North Carolina, so I think I’m finally ready.

Overall my G70 is the best car I’ve ever owned and it was worth every penny. It’s sporty, it’s fast, it’s luxurious, and it’s been very reliable. It’s not perfect, but overall it’s great. Below are my numerous likes and few dislikes.

Likes

• It looks so good
  • I love the hood creases. I love the front air intakes (even though they are fake). I love the semi-angry-eyes headlight shape and the fact that they say “Genesis” on the sides. I love the side profile and the way the back windows meet at a point. The proportions are great: it doesn’t look stubby but doesn’t look awkwardly long. Havana Red is a beautiful deep crimson that stands out.
  • I also really like the dark chrome and dark wheels, even though I didn’t really want them. They provide a unique look to the car.
• Power tilt / telescope steering wheel
  • Because it’s so easy to use I can adjust it while I’m driving. I’ve tried adjusting my manual ones while driving and almost crashed. It’s also nice that it ties into the memory / entry / exit system. Nothing like seeing your wheel come down to you once you get in the car.
• The power trunk
  • Kind of a gimmick, but pretty convenient when it opens all the way instead of just popping up. Very “upscale”.
• The Genesis Welcome Lamps
  • It has these Genesis Welcome Lamps that light up under the mirrors and project an image of the Genesis logo on the ground when I walk up to the car. Pretentious much?
• The surround view monitor
  • Even though it is exactly the same as the one in Sally’s six-year-old Santa Fe it’s still really good. I am not a great reverser or parallel-parker, so having more cameras is extremely helpful for me.
• The driver’s seat
  • It has adjustable side bolsters and 4 way lumbar. The bolsters inflate completely in Sport mode to keep me tucked into my seat around those spirited corners. It’s very comfortable and even Sally likes the way it hugs you!
• Radar cruise control with stop and go is crazy!
  • It keeps a very reasonable distance from the car in front and accelerates smoothly to close the gap. It stops too. It has four settings that determine how closely it follows the car ahead. I kept it at the longest distance for a while because I didn’t trust it. Now I’ve got it in the middle. It reacts so quickly to speed changes in the car ahead that I think it’s safer than me sometimes.
• Auto hold is neat, making drive thrus a bit easier to handle by keeping the brake applied when my foot isn’t on it.
• Engine is incredibly smooth
  • The 4 cylinder turbo in the CX-5 was a bit grainy, especially during acceleration. The V6 in my G70 is always smooth even when the turbo is engaged. Depending on how you time it, the power boost can be very smooth or it can press you back in your seat. While cruising on the highway I can easily go 90 without realizing it. It also doesn’t make that “glug, glug, glug” sound that my TL made at idle.
• The throttle and transmission are very responsive
  • Even in comfort mode the 8 speed transmission shifts down quickly to provide more power; in Sport mode it is nearly instant. The transmission in my TL was frustratingly sluggish but the G70 is very quick. The paddle shifters are super fast as well. I feel like I never have to wait for them.
• Rev matching
  • The transmission includes has automatic rev matching which downshifts as you slow down to keep the engine in a more usable power band and allows the turbo to spin up faster. This reduces situations where you have to slow down for a car that is turning, for example, and suffer a delay as the transmission downshifts a gear or two to give you enough power to accelerate. My TL had a similar feature but it only worked in Sport mode which I rarely used due to it cutting off sixth gear. The G70 does it all the time, even in comfort mode. It is more aggressive in Sport mode, but I can still feel it in Comfort mode and it provides that extra power that I want.
• Lane keeping assist is really cool
  • I have it in standard mode (a level below “active”) and I find it to be nice. It’s generally unnoticed save for the occasional gentle turn of the wheel from one side of the lane when I get too close. I didn’t realize it was even enabled until I deliberately let go of the wheel and started drifting to the side. I’ve noticed it a bit more lately; it even helps me take curves!
• Auto high beams work really well
  • Just turn on the high beams and it will shut them off when a car comes near. Once the car is gone, they go back on. There are a bunch of disclaimers in the manual about how it may not function on hills and curves but I in my experience on both main and back roads it has never made a mistake. It sees cars pretty far out and courteously shuts the beams off. It does occasionally shut off for a street light or bright parking lot, but I’ll forgive it.
• The headlights bend with the steering wheel
  • It seems like a gimmick but its actually very useful and lets me see better as I come around corners. Definitely works as advertised.
• Genesis Connected Services works really well
  • Starting my car is quick from my phone and I can adjust the climate control and turn on the steering wheel heat. The are the same features as Sally’s Santa Fe (when we pay the subscription) but the signal seems to travel much faster and the requests succeed more frequently. With the pandemic I haven’t had a chance to use this as much as I’d hoped, but it’s good when I can.
• The audio system is great
  • It is so crisp and separates different parts of the music very well. The bass isn’t as thumping as my TL, but it’s very refined. I really loved my TL’s audio system and my G70’s is in the same class. As a bonus Bluetooth mode shows the song name, album, artist, and progress; my TL didn’t show any of that.
  • Oh and how could I forget Apple Car Play. Simply fantastic. I can play all my playlists, use maps, listen to podcasts, and even ask Siri to play requests for the boys.
• Power folding outside mirrors
  • They sound like a gimmick but I use them everyday when I park in the garage at home. Helps keep my mirrors from getting bonked by distracted kiddos.
• That heads up display
  •  It shows my speed, lane keeping assist, blind spot, cruise control, and next direction if I’m using the nav. I basically never look at my gauges. Its bright and crisp and even though it fades when I wear sunglasses it’s still visible enough for me to use it 100% of the time. It even italicizes my speed when in Sport mode. Could not live without it.

Dislikes

Everything can’t be perfect, and there are a few little annoyances about my G70.

• Home Link
  • The Home Link garage door buttons only work when the car is running. My usual routine is to open the garage door before I start the car and close the door after I shut it off. Both Sally’s Santa Fe and my TL’s Home Link buttons worked when the car was off. It’s not the end of the world but I don’t like having my car running while the garage door is closed or is closing.
• Turn signals
  • The turn signal indicators are located at the absolute top of the instrument cluster. The steering wheel obscures this area if it is adjusted downward at all. Combine that with a relatively quiet “click” noise and I end up driving around with my signal on pretty frequently. I’d like to see the indicators in the center of the cluster and in the heads up display.
• Gauges
  • The gauges are angled too low. If I lower the steering wheel at all it covers part of the instrument cluster. I actually like to lower it about half way but that puts the top of the wheel right in the middle of the cluster making the gauges and most of the information useless. The important stuff is in my heads up display, but without it I’d be screwed.
• Seats
  • The leather has a very matte texture to it and it scuffs very easily. The scuffs wipe off but it seems to attract dirt quickly. The leather in my TL was either worn in enough or different enough not to do that. One stray boot already scuffed the leather in the back seat. I try not to look at it.
• Apple Car Play
  • Car Play support is awesome, but it doesn’t connect well about 40% of the time. My music has a ton of static in it and I have to unplug and reconnect. It’s quick and it fixes the issue, but this never happens in Sally’s car with the same phone. I don’t know what it is.
• Bumper color mismatch
  • My bumper is a slightly different shade of red than the rest of the car. It’s most visible on my rear bumper and most visible in bright light. I didn’t notice until a few weeks after buying the car. I did some research and it is pretty common with red on this vehicle. It’s also a pain to fix and you risk getting a different mismatch so I decided not to do anything about it. It’s certainly something I’ll look for when I get my next car though.

Conclusion

Overall I’m very happy with my purchase and I’m impressed with Genesis. I expect to keep this car after it’s paid off and will seriously consider buying another Genesis afterward. That car would most likely be electric, since Genesis plans to only introduce electric vehicles after 2025.