The verdict: The updated 2022 Genesis G70 makes smart changes to frequently used areas — a more substantial refresh than most cars get after three years.
Versus the competition: Despite the changes, the G70 remains small for its class, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing; it puts the focus on the driving experience and luxury trimmings.
There’s no shortage of love for the Genesis G70 around Cars.com’s offices: We named the sports sedan our Best of 2019 when it debuted, then bought one for a year-long test drive and enjoyed 16,000 miles behind the wheel. Then the unthinkable happened: It lost to the newly redesigned BMW 3 Series in a head-to-head comparison.
For 2022, the Genesis G70 gets a number of changes that bring the fight back to the 3 Series and other redesigned players in the compact sports sedan class. The changes address some of our gripes about version 1.0 by boosting both its in-car tech and, to a lesser degree, the driving experience, through a new Sport Plus mode. The ’22 G70’s front and rear styling are also overhauled, bringing it in alignment with more recent Genesis redesigns and introductions, including the G80 full-size sedan and GV80 mid-size SUV.
Related: 2022 Genesis G70 Gains Family Resemblance, Sport Plus and Drift Modes
For this review, I drove a 2022 G70 Sport Prestige with the 365-hp, twin-turbocharged 3.3-liter V-6, rear-wheel drive and optional equipment that brought the as-tested cost to $51,445 including destination — still a relative bargain, which remains one of the G70’s greatest strengths.
New, Unique Multimedia System
The previous G70’s 8-inch multimedia screen and user interface were almost direct lifts from any number of parent-brand Hyundai’s products. That’s no longer the case, as the new 10.25-inch touchscreen has fresh graphics and high resolution for the backup and parking cameras, replacing the grainy, low-resolution display from the 2019-21 G70. The previous screen’s size and resolution were among the reasons it lost to the 3 Series in our comparison, and it’s no longer a ding against the G70.
Apple CarPlay can be used across the entire width of the screen — not a given in cars — and the 2022 G70’s control system remains committed to not doing anything stupid in the name of “cool” like replace tactile controls with capacitive ones or use a touchpad instead of a touchscreen (2022 Mercedes-Benz C-Class and Acura TLX, I’m looking at you). The G70 keeps the same user-friendly layout as before, with volume and tuning knobs along with a slick, customizable star button that you can configure as a shortcut to CarPlay, Android Auto or another screen.
Updated Instrument Panel
The previous instrument panel had a traditional speedometer and tachometer, with a center digital information display nestled between them (pretty standard stuff). For 2022, half the instrument panel is now digital to accommodate new functionality, including available blind spot monitoring, which shows camera views of the car’s left and right blind spots — a neat trick borrowed from some Hyundais and Kias.
On the downside, I found the layout a bit trippy because the tachometer needle moves in a counterclockwise sweep and the speedometer moves in a traditional clockwise sweep, but they’re not clocked in a way to make them move in a mirror image, so they look out of sync. My preference is a fully digital instrument panel that lets me choose various configurations, as you’ll find in the BMW 3 Series — and overseas G70s, but not in the U.S. Also, with the steering wheel in my preferred position, it obstructed the instrument cluster just like it did on the previous G70. I wasn’t alone in this observation, and the changes for 2022 didn’t fix that annoyance.
New Sport Plus Driving Mode
Throughout our entire year of owning a 2019 G70, I wanted an additional sport mode on top of what it had — something to make the G70 feel even more sports-car-like. Well, what do ya know: One has been added for 2022, though its effect varies depending on engine choice. On G70s with the V-6, the new Sport Plus mode gives the G70 weightier steering, sportier stability control settings and transmission programming that holds a gear instead of automatically shifting, even if you’re bouncing off the rev limiter. On four-cylinder G70s, there’s a more aggressive transmission shift pattern, higher idle (750 to 1,000 rpm) and weightier power steering tuning.
While the G70 3.3T’s onscreen drive mode settings make it look like the Sport Plus mode has its own elevated level of suspension programming above Sport mode, a Genesis spokesman says suspension programming is the same as Sport. The most noticeable change in the 3.3T’s Sport Plus mode is how relaxed the stability control setting is, letting the car gently drift without much intervention.
How It Drives
This sport-tuned suspension (surprise, the most expensive one) is the one to get. In Comfort mode, it delivers the relaxed shock absorption and ride quality of the standard suspension, while in Sport and Sport Plus mode, it’s dialed up an extra notch versus the fixed sport suspension of our long-term 2019 G70. Yet even in both sport modes, which have the same firmness, the suspension never feels harsh or jarring — which the standard sport suspension does over large impacts. Overall, this suspension choice and the changes for 2022 gave my test G70 a very different feel from our previous long-term tester.
What separated this 2022 even more is that the car I tested was rear-wheel drive and wore Michelin Pilot Sport 4 summer tires; all-wheel-drive versions get all-season tires. That added a layer of playfulness compared with the all-wheel-drive version we owned, which wore all-season tires. Thanks to a limited-slip differential (standard in the top Sport Prestige version but not other V-6 versions, as it used to be), the G70’s abundance of low- to mid-range power and torque annihilates the 255-mm-wide tires. There’s wheelspin at low and even at rolling speeds, but it happens in a controlled manner that lets the rear end gracefully slide out in corner-exit, power-on conditions. It did get old, though, and after a while, I just wanted forward bite rather than laying down strips of rubber or drifting. All-wheel drive is available, and it does have rear-wheel-drive flair when pushed. New for 2022 is an available drift mode.
A new variable exhaust valve system is included on Sport Advance and Sport Prestige trims. It’s said to give the exhaust a more aggressive sound, but without hearing them back-to-back I couldn’t hear much of a difference. It lacks a distinct audible experience even with a selectable electronic augmentation component called Active Sound Design. The minimal sound experience was especially noteworthy compared with the 2021 Acura TLX Type S I drove right after the G70. That car makes its driving experience much more known with how playful it sounds (mechanically and through electronic augmentation).
Still a Value Win
The G70 remains an impressive example of what you can get for your money. In addition to the 10.25-inch touchscreen, fresh looks and already high-quality interior, there’s also a stout standard safety and driver-assist feature lineup, including forward collision warning, lane departure prevention, blind spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go, and Highway Driving Assist, which is a semi-autonomous driver-assistance feature that centers the G70 in its lane; it does its job well.
Having lived with an earlier G70 for a year, one seemingly minor change was actually pretty notable: There’s new true proximity keyless entry, in which you simply walk up and pull the door handle to unlock it. Previously, you had to press a button to unlock the door (with the key close by), but now it’s a convenience feature that delivers even more on the promise of convenience.
Speaking of convenience, Genesis’ valet program for service is practically unbeatable and was a huge perk of owning a G70: Your Genesis dealer’s service department will come to you, pick up your car, drop off a loaner, then return your car when the service is done — for three years and 36,000 miles. All of the above come with the G70 at its $38,570 starting price, along with the 252-hp, turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder and rear-wheel drive.
My advice, though, is to skip the 2.0-liter altogether in favor of the optional 365-hp, 3.3-liter V-6. The 2.0-liter is an unrefined engine that’s loud, gravelly sounding and sluggish compared with the great turbo fours out there (Acura TLX and BMW 3 Series). A difference of 3 mpg combined in the G70’s EPA ratings (20-21 mpg combined for the V-6 and 23-24 mpg for the four-cylinder) is hardly enough reason to consider the 2.0-liter. It is, however, a $4,500 jump to a V-6, comparing base trim to base trim. The 3.3-liter is what makes this car, though, so I’d scrape my pennies together and splurge for the bigger engine. It’s comparably priced with four-cylinder rivals, and the changes for 2022 make the G70 feel new all over again.
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- What It Was Like to Own a 2019 Genesis G70 for a Year
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- 2019 Genesis G70 Video: Get Over Your Biases, It Really Is That Good
- We Bought a Genesis G70: Here’s What We Paid
- 2022 Mercedes-Benz C-Class: Honey, I Shrunk the S-Class
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