It was a bit more than a decade ago that I had the opportunity to join other members of the North American Car of the Year jury for a trip to Seoul, South Korea, to get some close-up evaluation of the development of the newest Hyundai sedans. 

After a couple of discussion sessions, we gathered eagerly at Hyundai’s test track, a 6.4-mile high-banked oval that resembles a NASCAR super speedway.

We had designated partners for our one-lap test drives of the recently introduced new Sonata midsize sedan. Trying to get ahead of the line, my partner and I were driven around to the backstretch, where we would get our chance. It turned out we were alone with the engineer who was monitoring the test drives. 

On the whole trip, I was hoping for the chance to get a look at the Equus, a new, full-size luxury sedan that would top the line.

As we waited, I spotted an unfamiliar large sedan parked nearby on the track apron. I guessed it was the Equus, and I quite boldly asked if I could take it around the track for a lap while we waited for our planned test drive. 

The engineer shrugged and said OK, so I didn’t ask twice. I climbed behind the wheel, checked my mirrors, and pulled onto the track. I came around onto the main straightaway and let gravity hold the car in place as I slowed from the 160 miles per hour I had hit on the straightaway, and I sailed through the high-banked first turn at 125.

When I got back to where I started, I pulled off and climbed out — thoroughly impressed.
It was the Equus, a car that had been sold in Korea as a luxury sedan for several years, and I was convinced it would be a big hit for Hyundai in the U.S. market, where it would compete with Lexus, and the German stars from Mercedes, BMW and Audi. That Equus became the Genesis, and then it was branched off to becomes its own luxury brand, similar to Lexus. 

After several years of development and revision, we are presented with a fleet of Genesis vehicles, with a couple of brilliant TVs, and with the G80 and G70 sedans.

Having recently spent a week living with a 2024 Genesis G70 Sport Prestige model, equipped with all-wheel drive and a superb twin-turbocharged 3.3-liter V6, the near perfection of that vehicle made me think back to my clandestine but not illegal hot lap around that 6.4-mile test track in Seoul. I want to do it again, with the new car.

I’ve driven various Genesis models in recent years, and my wife, Joan, agreed with me that the GV70 midsize SUV might be the classiest and most desirable SUV in the industry. 

Now I feel the same way about the G70 sedan, which is not the largest sedan in the Genesis corral, but is perfect size for a family, with stunning exterior design and an uncompromising interior that features quilted Nappa leather seats, with leather on the dashboard trimmed in aluminum bits, and microfiber suede on the top of the dash and the headliner.

The various colors are impressive, too, although it’s hard to beat the highly metallic “Vatna Gray” of the test vehicle. You may go along with the press release that this car was some form of light, almost glowing gray, but to me it looked more like it was a pearlescent white, just one notch off actual white. 

The dark-chrome grille and styled alloy wheels, with their extremely low-profile 19-inch tires, accented the fairly glowing color.

The price of the G70 ranges from mid-$40,000 for the G70 with the new turbocharged 2.5-liter 4-cylinder to $56,900 for the fully-loaded test car, with the newest version of the twin-turbo 3.3-liter V6, which develops 365 horsepower and 376 foot-pounds of torque. 

Needless to say, the G70 with that power launches or passes anything with ease.

On top of the excess of available power at your disposal, the hot-performing twin turbo engine can be held at moderate freeway cruising speed and deliver an observed 25.6 miles per gallon during a 400-mile trip on construction-slowed freeways. 

The Hyundai-designed and -built 8-speed transmission contributes to the fuel-efficiency, and the aluminum shift-paddles located on either side of the steering wheel make it sportier and more responsive to drive hard or downshift efficiently.

Hyundai has long been at the forefront of developing precise, helpful driving aids, and the G70 is loaded with all of them. They include lane-departure and lane-keeping and blind-spot collision alert, as well as forward collision avoidance assist, rear cross-traffic alert, intelligent speed limit assist, highway driving assist and driver attention warning.

The Sport Prestige package adds electronically controlled suspension, limited-slip differential, head-up display, and a surround-view monitor, which is shown on the 10.25-nch navigation screen. And the driving mode control on the console can be switched from Eco to Normal to Sport to Sport-Plus, and you’ll feel a combined tighter steering, firmer suspension and tighter — but not uncomfortable — ride quality by changing.

The Lexicon audio upgrade fills the interior with clear sounds, as loud as you can stand.

The seats themselves are multi adjustable and can be set to format whatever body you might put into it. And for the kids, or friends, sitting in the rear seat, there is a camera-based warning system that won’t let you exit if moving traffic is coming from behind.

All of those safety features are no-cost additions on the Sport-Prestige model of the G70, and they make the standing sticker price of mid-$50,000 make it seem like a standout bargain, next to comparable Lexus, Infiniti, BMW, Audi, Mercedes or Cadillac sedans.

With the added steering and handling precision of all-wheel drive, it seems as though the biggest competition for the Genesis G70 sedan might be those Genesis SUVs sitting across the showroom floor.
It would be fun to compare, but I don’t think I can persuade Genesis to build a 6.4-mile banked oval track in my back yard.