After a week in the Genesis G70 3.3L Sport last year (ok 4 weeks before this was written) I was excited to test the same car model with a smaller engine (2.L and four cylinders) for a week, starting January 21.
According to PR hacks and pop psychologists, that’s the saddest day of the year, aka Blue Monday; we’re all drowning in post-Christmas debt with nothing to look forward to but months of winter when the only sunshine is accompanied of by polar vortex temperatures.
A couple of months later, when this piece was finally completed, I’d say they’ve been right.
This year, the saddest day of the year was also the coldest till then, following a snap snowstorm that typically paralyzed TO traffic. So, I decided to pick the G70 up on what is presumably the saddest Tuesday of the year instead.
Imagine my surprise. I’d somehow completed paperwork for the same car. But, for several reasons, there was no way I was NOT going to take the same model.
Reason #1: I’d spent well over an hour delivering its predecessor, refuelled, to the detailing company with the contract in deepest GTA suburbia. Getting back home would’ve cost over two hours on public transit on a miserable winter day.
Reason #2: My wife loved the G70 3.3L and was looking forward to the 2L. She loved the smoothness of the ride, balanced superbly with the sporty performance. Big engines, and talk of them, just put her to sleep (even when they’re not running in closed spaces) and she probably wouldn’t have been able to tell whether the 2L was any different (she certainly wouldn’t’ve cared, provided it had heated seats and satellite radio on a 15-speaker Lexicon sound system). Returning home with nothing when we could re-have the 3.3L for a week wouldn’t’ve made sense.
Reason #3: This beast is an effective antidote for seasonally affected depression. The battleship grey exterior wouldn’t help, mirroring the terminally overcast skies, but is a more tasteful alternative to the fire-engine red that too many male auto enthusiasts favour.
So here’s some more discussion of a lovely car that was back in our lives to bring happiness at this low time of year.
Approach the G70 at night and hidden lights from inside the unfolding power mirrors project a Genesis logo onto the ground a la Batman. Meanwhile, a low athletic stance quietly promises the performance of a Batmobile.
Within you’re cossetted in sporty leather seats, quilted in diamond shapes. In minus 30-degree weather, the G70 roars to life without complaint or hesitation.
People say you can’t come home without experiencing disappointment. And maybe you’re wondering whether I found the G70 3.3L as diverting second time around. After all, I gushed like a schoolgirl with a crush. For my impressions on its performance, I recommend you read that first piece. For an idea of the responsive acceleration, it launches fast as this.
As you’d expect of a luxury power sedan, the temptation of all that power is tempered with a litany of safety features. The headlight adaptive cornering system is unique to the Sport model. (There’s an available 2L Sport version too, and all models include all-wheel drive.)
When I finally did return the G70 3.3L six days later, the region was heading back into an even deeper polar vortex deep freeze and one of the worst snowstorms to hit town since we called in the army to clear our snow all those years ago.
And given this unexpected repetition of test drives, how appropriate that we were just a couple of sleeps away from Groundhog Day.
