Dynamically, the G90 knows its job and executes to a tee. Progress is serene, even on 21in wheels. Isolation from the outside world is almost total and the air-sprung, multi-link set-up makes a surface showing decades of decay feel like it was recently repaved. The trade-off is a little roll in sharp cornering, but the G90 doesn’t wallow.
The steering is well-judged, with decent weight and a response that’s in keeping with the car’s size and mass. Rear-wheel steering aids stability and usefully tightens the turning circle. The G90 is made to be driven in, but if you choose to drive it, you won’t be disappointed.
The G90 has always been competitively priced against the established opposition, and despite a price rise for the new model, even the range-topper we drove remains cheaper than the entry-level S-Class. For the money, you get a handsome, opulent, beautifully built saloon that offers something different to the traditional segment heavyweights – perfect, we suspect, for Genesis’s professed hard-to-please target market of ‘luxury disruptors’.
Graham Heeps
More importantly: what is the Genesis G90 like from the back seat?
While the Genesis G90 is unlikely to come to the UK, it’s certainly selling well in its home market of Korea. Genesis doesn’t break down its sales numbers by model or region, but it has admitted that the bulk of its sales in its seven years of existence to date – which will top a million cars later this year – are made in its home market. During my recent trip there this week, the G90 was a regular sight on the roads.
This trip also provided a chance to spend many hours in the back of a G90 – where most owners will spend their time, as they’re usually chauffeured around.
What strikes you first is just how much space there is back there, whether you’re in the standard model or the gargantuan long-wheelbase one, which adds a further 19cm to the car’s length and provides Rolls-Royce-rivalling levels of leg room.
The materials, fit and finish are all top-notch too. From the deep-pile carpet on the floor through to massage seats and plump head cushions, the first impressions are very much on par with those of enjoying an S-Class – the current and long-time market-leader – for the first time.