Hyundai proves its staying power with 2012 Genesis

BY JOHN STEIN Automotive Editor February 3, 2012 5:03PM

2012 HYUNDAI GENESIS

ENGINE: 333-horsepower 3.8-liter V-6

TRANSMISSION: eight-speed automatic

DRIVETRAIN: rear-wheel drive

FUEL ECONOMY: 19 city/29 highway

BASE PRICE: $34,200

AS TESTED: $43,035

WEBSITE: hyundai.com

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My Genesis tester featured a gorgeous Platinum Metallic exterior and fitting black leather interior. The 2012 Genesis shows off slight exterior revisions with the headlamps and attractive LED accents, a more sophisticated grille design, revised chrome accent trim and revised rocker panels. The revised rear bumper features a sharp sports integrated exhaust treatment and new combination lamps.

This year’s model makes more of a statement under the hood with the addition of Hyundai’s new 3.8-liter V-6 and 5.0-liter V-8 power plants. The introduction of direct-injection technology is a welcome upgrade that suits performance and mileage.

The 3.8-liter delivers 43 more horsepower than the previous 3.8, and this really makes the new Genesis perform at a level that was possibly one of the only criticisms of the previous model.

The new 3.8-liter offers 333 horsepower and 291 pound-feet of torque. Mated to an all-new in-house-developed eight-speed automatic transmission with Shiftronic, this is a combination that makes the Genesis fit right into this class. The Environmental Protection Agency fuel economy estimate is 19 mpg city/29 mpg highway.

Of course, if the 3.8-liter is this good, you have to ask: What’s the 5.0-liter V-8 like? That’s easy — it the 3.8-liter on rocket fuel.

Hyundai refers to it as the 2012 Genesis 5.0 R-Spec. Mated to an eight-speed transmission, Hyundai call the big brother Genesis its “ultimate performance and luxury sedan.” It’s a moniker earned, for sure. Featuring the gasoline direct injection 5.0-liter Tau V-8 that delivers 429 horsepower (premium fuel needed) and 376 pound-feet of torque, this Hyundai has a 0-60 time of 5.1 seconds. Fuel economy is 16 mpg city/25 mpg highway.

Inside the cabin you will find a laundry list of more standard luxury features than one might ever anticipate for a base price of $34,200. This is a sedan that impresses with its value long after you have been taken by its beauty and build characteristics.

Look for features such as supple leather seating, heated rear seats, a sophisticated audio system and LCD cluster display.

Considering the neighborhood in which it lives, the 2012 Genesis is basically a steal. While the base Genesis 3.8 is $34,200, add the technology package and premium packages and it jumps to $43,035.

The base price for the 5.0 R-Spec is $46,500. (Freight charges are an additional $850.) This gives Genesis a $16,445 advantage over the 2012 Infiniti M56S and $17,525 over the 2011 BMW 550i.

Of course Hyundai’s industry-best warranty makes this deal even sweeter. Genesis comes with a 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty, a five-year/60,000-mile basic warranty and five-year/unlimited mile roadside assistance.

If you have some hang-up about a Korean luxury offering, try the Genesis and be prepared to rethink a lot of what you might believe you know about this class of sedans.

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