Photos: 2009 Hyundai Genesis 4.6
Hyundai shoots the moon with the new Genesis sedan, aiming for luxury stalwarts Lexus and Mercedes-Benz. In some ways, the Genesis is indeed successful, but in areas such as cabin tech, it falls solidly into its price range.
Wayne Cunningham
Wayne Cunningham reviews cars and writes about automotive technology for CNET's Roadshow. Prior to the automotive beat, he covered spyware, Web building technologies, and computer hardware. He began covering technology and the Web in 1994 as an editor of The Net magazine.
2009 Hyundai Genesis 4.6
Hyundai shoots far above its economy car roots with the Genesis, a car that has been much-anticipated since it was shown at last year's auto shows.
Badgeless grille
Hiding its identity, Hyundai leaves the H badge off the front of the car.
4.6-liter V-8
The fact that Hyundai was building a big V-8 got the attention of the automotive press. This engine puts out 375 horsepower and gets the car to 60 mph in 5.7 seconds.
Body styling
The Genesis' styling lets it fit comfortably among Lexus and Mercedes-Benz models. It's not stunning, but generally looks unoffensive.
Ride quality
The Genesis damps out most road jolts well enough, but you can feel the harder hits.
Posterior statement
The Genesis is a little more bold from the back, proclaiming its big engine with twin exhausts, and sporting a large H badge.
Cabin quality
The cabin looks amazingly good, with metal switchgear and leather along the dashboard.
Steering wheel buttons
Buttons on the steering wheel are well-designed, easy to manipulate without getting in the way of driving.
Instrument cluster
The gauges have a clean look, and the center display contains useful information.
Shifter
The shifter controls a six-speed automatic. The car's application controller sits just below that, and moves similar to BMW's iDrive controller.
High-res maps
We were very impressed by the map resolution in the navigation system.
Traffic reports
The navigation system integrates traffic information, such as flow and incidents, but doesn't dynamically route around bad traffic.
Alpha-numeric entry
The oval track for entering letters and digits is an interesting design, and works well.
HD radio
Impressively, the Genesis has an HD radio receiver, and can navigate multicasts.
iPod connectivity
The iPod interface is excellent, letting you browse artists, albums, and genres.
Lexicon stereo
The Lexicon stereo system uses 17 speakers and pumps out 525 watts. It produces top audio quality.
DVD playback
Along with CDs, the six-disc changer also plays DVD movies.
Bluetooth phone system
The phone integration in the Genesis is fairly basic, requiring you to manually enter phone book information.
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