All Car Review's video: 2019 Genesis G70 first drive review: A worthy sport sedan challenger

2019 Genesis G70 first drive review: A worthy sport sedan challenger The G70 is handsome, with a more aggressive design than Genesis' G80 and G90 sedans. I like the prominent crest grille, flowing character lines sprinkled along the body, tasteful slathering of chrome trim and available 19-inch wheels (18s are standard). Overall, the design exercises restraint and doesn't wear any over-the-top styling elements like Lexus' spindle grille. The resulting look is clean and sophisticated. Slide into the cabin and you're greeted with an abundance of soft-touch surfaces, accent stitching, aluminum trim and comfortable and generously bolstered seats that snuggly hold passengers in place. Sound deadening efforts are also apparent -- the cabin is nicely isolated from wind or tire noise from the big 225/40R19 front and 255/35R19 rear Michelin Pilot Sport 4 rubber on my test car. The quiet interior setting is perfect to enjoy the sweet-sounding 15-speaker Lexicon audio setup that's controlled via an intuitive and responsive 8-inch central touchscreen infotainment system. Other infotainment features include standard Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and three USB ports to power up phones, while navigation with real-time traffic updates and a wireless charging pad are optional. There's no shortage of safety technology, either, with blind-spot monitoring, adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go, lane keep assist and rear cross-traffic alert equipped on all G70s. To further raise its safety game, a color head-up display, 360-degree backup camera and parking sensors are available. At launch, a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder with 252 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque will be the base engine, mated to a standard eight-speed automatic transmission and available with a choice of rear- or all-wheel drive. Genesis will also offer a six-speed manual gearbox, exclusively in RWD 2.0T configuration. At its best, the 2.0T should return fuel economy figures of 22 miles per gallon city and 30 mpg highway with rear-wheel drive and the automatic transmission. Lower those numbers to 21/28 if you're going AWD, and lower them further to 18/28 if you want the manual. Want more power? Genesis will offer the G70 with a 3.3-liter twin-turbo V6 -- the one from the Kia Stinger GT -- with 365 horsepower and 376 pound-feet of torque. Like its Kia kin, an eight-speed automatic is the only transmission available with this engine, though buyers can choose between rear- and all-wheel drive. Fuel-economy for the V6 model is rated at 18 mpg city and 26 mpg highway with rear-wheel drive. AWD lowers that highway number to 25.