The girlfriend and I decided to hit Las Vegas for a quick, 24-hour get-away from L.A. And no, we didn't get married. Having heard that the Genesis was a great road trip car and not yet having any substantial seat time in it, the Hyundai was requested.
During the ride back the Genesis hit 15,000 miles, but I must confess I had the display on the tripmeter function (the "ODO" display only shows either total miles or trip miles) and realized it after I arrived back in L.A., hence the 15,268 miles shown. I gave the Genesis a belated happy anniversary card and a bath at the car wash, so we're copasetic now.
Follow the jump for my random observations of the Genesis, as well as how to count cards like Rainman and win big in Sin City.
We decided to make it a Sunday to Monday trip to avoid traffic, and it was smooth sailing nearly the whole 275 miles each way. With the help of the Genesis' near-300 hp V6, a 70-75 mph speed limit and a buddy's V1 detector, we were able to make pretty good time. Including a one-hour stop, it took us 4:45, meaning the drive time was 3:45. No, this isn't a shot from France -- we stayed at the Paris hotel, which comes with its own scaled-down Eiffel tower.
-- Although the outside temp was 97 degrees, the car's coolant temp never even hit the half-way mark; it remained just below that throughout the trip.
-- Nice seats for a long drive -- soft yet supportive and the cooling feature (driver side only) prevented sweaty leg syndrome.
-- The Lexicon audio system is incredible -- good separation and powerful without getting boomy or tinny when you crank it up.
-- Setting radio stations is a PITA, as rather than simply tuning into the desired station and then pressing a numbered button on the dash, you must us the multi-function knob to go to the tuning function, find the station, then go back to the preset function and scroll to the desired preset number then push the knob to lock it in. You have to do this back-and-forth dance for every preset. Of course, once you have all your faves locked in, this is no longer an issue.
-- The Genesis rolls down the highway at high speeds like a bullet train - silently, comfortably and unwaveringly.
-- Nav system has bright and clear displays. Mostly easy to use too, except it got befuddled at the 101 and 10 interchange as we got into L.A., telling us to stay left to stay on the 10 when in fact you must stay right. Later on, it tells you to stay right and shows what you've actually already passed, so for some reason it has a one mile or so lag in this area. This is not the first nav system to do this here, however, as I've experienced this in other cars.
-- Below the veneer of its soft-touch dash and convincing faux wood accents, the Genesis still exudes quality; everything from the selecting a gear to working the multi-function knob has a precise, polished feel to its action.
-- Over 604 miles (including over 50 miles of driving around L.A. after the trip) the Genesis averaged 24.1 mpg.
Oh yes, I was kidding about counting cards and winning big. I actually lost my shirt! Yeah, it was a T shirt from a 5k that I ran a good time in...hmmm, must've left it in the hotel's bathroom. However, I'm not kidding when I tell you I was quite impressed by the Genesis and would have no problem recommending this car to my dad, were he in the market.
John DiPietro, Automotive Editor
throwback says:
11:08 AM, 08/27/09
"would have no problem recommending this car to my dad, were he in the market."
This comment says it all. Good for dads (of a certain age) but not for my duckets.
chavis10 says:
11:16 AM, 08/27/09
If I had $40k to spend on a car, no other vehicle would get my money.
carguy622 says:
11:22 AM, 08/27/09
I guess that previous soda explosion has not caused the buttons further trouble.
jeepsrt says:
11:48 AM, 08/27/09
"-- Although the outside temp was 97 degrees, the car's coolant temp never even hit the half-way mark; it remained just below that throughout the trip. "
I drove my Grand Cherokee SRT8 from Newport Beach to Colorado Springs, and hit temps up to 111 degrees from Vegas to St. George, Utah and it never went above the middle of the temp gauge. Other than an idiot running over a piece of semi tire and throwing it in my lane and breaking loose the bottom grille on the Jeep it was a nice uneventful road trip. Also, the trip from Lake Las Vegas to Newport is probably the most boring and has the worst drivers we encountered.
wobbly_ears says:
11:56 AM, 08/27/09
I think any modern car, reasonably maintained, wouldn't let its oil temp get catastrophically hot. I think the days of overheating are over. When was the last time anyone heard of a modern car overheating?
wayno_san says:
12:09 PM, 08/27/09
I would hope that you guys know that on a lot of cars nowadays the gauges only have two positions... one for "normal", typically the middle of the gauge, and "abnormal" - in the red.... oh, and if you want to count "off" that would make it three. Peace, out.
jeepsrt says:
12:12 PM, 08/27/09
@ wobbly_ears "I think any modern car, reasonably maintained, wouldn't let its oil temp get catastrophically hot. I think the days of overheating are over. When was the last time anyone heard of a modern car overheating?"
I saw quite a few cars overheated on our trip, including a newer Hyundai Elantra overheating on top of the Hoover Dam, and a BMW Z3 on the way to Vegas.
johnnyturbo says:
12:13 PM, 08/27/09
Wobby and wayno,
Agreed. Thankfully, seeing a car with its hood up and steam shooting upward is a rare sight today.
My point was more that the Genesis' cooling system is so efficient that the temp needle never even reached the half-way mark, even in near-triple digit ambient temps.
ahightower says:
12:43 PM, 08/27/09
14.9 mpg? Not terribly impressive. You must have been very reliant on that V1. Average speed was only 73.3 mph though, that's not too terribly fast.
brn says:
12:59 PM, 08/27/09
At highway speeds, 97 degrees shouldn't be a big deal for any car. Only once have I ever seen the temperature break the halfway point on any car that I've ever driven. That particular one was overheating and squirting anti-freeze out the radiator (it was an old and tired car).
John, you say 24mpg, but your photo says 15mpg. I'm sure there's good reason for that, but a little explanation would probably be helpful.
Also, congratulations on the new wife. :)
johnnyturbo says:
01:30 PM, 08/27/09
a hightower and brn:
The trip computer's MPG function automatically resets itself if a significant amount of time has passed between the car's usages. For example, that dash shot was taken after the car had sat overnight and then traveled only about six miles to office, so it averaged 14.9 mpg for my brief commute, much of which has heavy traffic.
ahightower says:
02:06 PM, 08/27/09
Huh. I like the manual reset mpg meter in my car. So that I can complain about how inaccurate it is after I fill up and manually calculate my mpg for the tank.
DLu says:
02:17 PM, 08/27/09
LOL @ ahightower ... I do that too!
johnnyturbo says:
02:27 PM, 08/27/09
ahightower,
I'm old school as well. The on-board computer is nice to get an idea of the mileage, but I prefer doing the math myself. So yes, I got an honest 24 mpg.
As far as my average speed, keep in mind this included slower L.A. freeways and that it was smooth sailing "nearly" but not "all" of the way.
brian55 says:
02:47 PM, 08/27/09
With $40K, I'd get a G37 with premium, nav & tech!
pezzy669 says:
03:18 PM, 08/27/09
What is with the resetting after sitting awhile on a $40k car???
Even lowly $24k Jettas from 1999 kept the average until reset or if you hit some ridiculous mileage since last reset.
drinkduff77 says:
04:18 AM, 08/28/09
I don't think vehicle cost has anything to do with it. It's just a programming choice.
wobbly_ears says:
07:18 AM, 08/28/09
Nope, the gauge resetting is a bug. It happens in Azeras too. Out of the blue, the trip meter resets itself.
It's a known bug which apparently Hyundai has refused to rectify. Doesn't hurt anything, but still should have been programmed right to begin with.
stingray454 says:
12:57 PM, 08/28/09
"My point was more that the Genesis' cooling system is so efficient that the temp needle never even reached the half-way mark, even in near-triple digit ambient temps."
At least 95% of the vehicles sold today have cooling systems just as efficient as the Genesis'. It's not like this thing has over 400hp and was being driven hard on a track.
Big deal.
compliance says:
01:37 PM, 08/28/09
I'd bet anything the temp gauge is a dummy that won't move from its location barring anything but thermal meltdown. They can't be trusted.
anonimo says:
10:03 PM, 08/28/09
I've had two Audis (had an A3 and now have a TTS) and they both have the automatic trip computer reset function on ONE of the TWO trip computers. One of them resets after the car is idle for more than two hours or so (for recording data specifically related to your current outing) and the other is more of a long-term computer that doesn't reset until you manually reset it. I usually just leave the auto-reset computer on the display because that's normally the most relevant data (and I'll occasionally scroll the display to check the long-term data on the other computer). I think Audi's application of the auto-reset is nicely done.