Wanna-BMW: Genesis G70 AWD 3.3T Sport Prestige




It even looks BMW-ish, with the size, stance and style of a compact German sedan, and packing the same degree of firepower as an upper-end 3-Series: a 3.3-litre V-6 with a turbocharger on each bank of the Vee, tuned to make 365 horsepower and 376 pound-feet of torque. The 8-speed automatic transmission, mit flappy-paddle shifters, knows its job, as does the struts-and-multilink suspension, and yes, there are the de rigueur red Brembo brake calipers peering out from 19-inch sport alloy wheels. The available $4,400 Sport Prestige package includes a limited-slip rear differential and a tuned suspension, both electronically controlled.
The harmony continues on the inside. The leather-lined four-place, four-door cabin is elegant, comfortable (much more so in the front seats than the back) and quiet, at least until the variable-valve exhaust system lets the engine be heard as the revs climb. Materials, fit & finish are top-tier and chrome is about non-existent. The equipage is on par as well: The sun/moon roof, the trunklid, the steering wheel and seat adjustments are all electrically powered. (Dial up Sport mode and the driver’s-seat side bolsters draw in for a snugger fit.) Cruise control is adaptive, HVAC is thermostatically controlled and everything that hands or fannies touch can be heated. The touchscreen offers the usual suite of apps and there’s a wireless phone charger.
There are modern safety aids galore, too: front and rear collision-avoidance assistance, lane-keeping and lane-following assistance, rear-traffic crossing and blind-spot alerts, a two-view (rear and top-down) backup camera and a rear-occupant alert so we don’t forget about that child seat back there. Genesis even lets the driver knows if it’s safe to open the door in traffic.
The G70 follows the classic sport-sedan formula and everything is done well—carefully thought-out, lovingly polished, posh and professional. Oddly, though, in light of the smashing successes of many Genesis SUVs and large sedans (the G80 Electrified, the GV60 Performance, the GV80 3.5T, the GV70 3.5T, the G90 3.3T, et al.), the G70 Sport doesn’t work quite as perfectly. Maybe this points out the difficulty in blending cream and tabasco into one dish. Or in programming today’s drive-by-wire systems to behave as linearly and predictably as mechanical linkages and hydraulic servos that have been honed over decades of development.
In short, this G70 has a vanishingly mild case of electronic hiccups—occasional and ever-so-slight hesitations when swapping gears or transitioning from stop to go. It may be easier to rub these out in a luxury sedan or SUV than it is in a car that’s meant to be extra responsive, crisp and sporting; perhaps the edginess is just a bit too edgy? We’d likely overlook it in a lesser car, and it disappears on the highway, where the G70 is swift, smooth and silent.
On top of all this virtuousness, the G70 also has the Genesis ace up its sleeve: Pricing! For 2025, the entry-level 300-horsepower 3.5T starts at $43,250 while our loaded 3.3T Sport Prestige (called the Sport Advanced Prestige for model-year 2025) with available all-wheel drive stickers for $58,350. This is thousands of dollars less than comparable cars from the Teutonic Trio, and don’t overlook the Koreans’ longer warranties, either.
Next week: Chevrolet Silverado ZR2 6.2