Twin-turbo Genesis sedan provides a serious rush

A menu of Mark Glover’s AutoGlo car reviews can be seen on the Business page of The Sacramento Bee’s website – www.sacbee.com/news/business/article4005306.html

Sacramento, California – I’ve had a recent run of Genesis models – think Hyundai with luxury and performance extras – but my recent week with the 2018 Genesis 3.3T Sport with rear-wheel drive takes the cake.

This new addition to the Genesis lineup stands out in performance, which is exceptional and downright addicting.

The 3.3-liter twin-turbo V-6 power plant doesn’t just propel the sedan…it projects it through a seemingly parallel universe where the laws of physics don’t apply.  Response is so instantaneous and so dramatic that surrounding cars in motion appear to freeze in place as my ride blazes ahead.

This is a serious rush.

I repeatedly found myself mashing the accelerator to get the full experience from the advertised 365 horsepower and 376 foot-pounds of torque.  This is a finely tuned piece of machinery that delivers the kind of response that other cars advertise, but don’t quite deliver the goods at this level.

This G80 dispatches pokes, texters, mobile phone chatters and slow-footed drivers so quickly, it’s like they were never there.  How many cars can do that? … cars that are priced less than $100,000 that is.

For perspective, my tester was feature loaded and wore an understandable bottom line of $56,225.

Beyond the primo sport sedan performance features, customer-pleasing perks were plentiful.

The comfort/convenience package included premium leather seating surfaces, a power tilt-and-slide panoramic sunroof, an exceptional 9.2-inch touchscreen with multiple functions, a top-level 17-speaker audio system and even a wireless charging pad in the front of the cabin.

A full round of state-of-the-art driver safety/assist features comes standard.  Exceptional federal crash-test safety ratings are topped off by a max five-star overall score.  As usual, the Hyundai-based warranties are more than generous.

By the way, it looks good with sporty lines that are not overdone.  From all sides, the G80 radiates luxury more than it does power.

OK, fuel mileage isn’t so great at 17 miles per gallon in the city and 25 mpg on the highway, but I’m guessing the G80’s target audience is not counting pennies at the gas pumps.

My week with the tester only added to my respect for Hyundai, which has evolved from a one-time maker of cheap cars to a producer of top-quality vehicles.  And in my book, this G80 leads the automaker’s current fleet of models.