vladfrenkel

Hi
Thought it might be interesting for some of you. Went with my friend (who is testing it for the second time...) to test new Genesis. He's been seriously thinking about RL in the past, so he wanted to compare them side by side, that is why he drove my car to the dealership as well as from it.
First I didn't wanted to test drive it, so I've occupied the front passenger seat on the Base Model as well as back seat - on fully loaded one ($40K version).
First, some impressions - from outside car looks great, base model on 17'' doesn't look as impressive as loaded ($40K) model on 18'' wheels. Cars seems and certainly is very solid and heavy. Some things noticed - outside impressions - similar to TL missing trunk button, so the way to open it from inside or from the fob ( BTW one of the small things why I prefer RL over TL), also the sound the passenger and driver door opens is a little bit cheap (not as rich) in my opinion (doors opens to lightly if you know what I mean).
Anyway steps into interior details. A lot of space for front and back passengers and pilot sit is fully equipped. Navigation screen looks fresh and very bright. Menus looked very intuitive, and overall very liked the Genesis interface. My friend liked Genesis navigation better than RL one. I'd say from my experience GUI looks better on Genesis (much more crisp display), though back end seems more loaded on RL/Honda. Leather is a very good quality but not double stitched as RL's. Pls note, overall interior wise car looks very well equipped and polished. Now things noticed with respect to interior. First, leather smell is very "interesting" in my opinion. No, it is not bad, but not "wow" pleasant smell I've experienced first time stepping into german, Lexus or RL. Second - back seat recliner was opened, so I've tried to close it - it took an actual "elbow" action to close it, cause regular push wasn't enough. Actual buttons and knob, doesn't have luxury preciseness, no problem they work great, but at the same time missing "bells and whistles" in my opinion.
Fourth - my friend is a very aggressive driver, so during hard turns, I didn't felt that seats are holding me as good as RL seats does (passenger impression), also as a passenger I've missed side door holding bar, that RL has, cause there is no gripping point for your arm to hold on to in Genesis.
Now last with respect to interior - turned on A/C on LOW, and it took almost 1.5 min to start blowing cold instead of hot air into our faces... (car was on all this time).
Now, driving impressions. I liked the way this car accelerates, and overdrive on it is very impressive. 2500-5000 RPM looks like more HP is achieved. Then decelerate aggressively, liked the way ASIN switched 2 gears down very quickly. Suspension felt very stiff, and car handles very nicely on 18'' ($40K version).
Noticed the following - Really high start up RPM(s). We've been shown the car for almost 5 min by the dealer (all this time engine was on). RPM started from 1800 and drop to 1300 in 4 min, and stay pretty high in my opinion before we started our driving test. So it takes engine quite some time to heat up (started with nice weather outside - 80 F air temp). Learned the following, "Manual" mode will switch you automatically onto the next gear, before car reaches the red zone, so on the "Manual" (it is my belief) RL could be very close or as quick as 6cyl Genesis. Handling in the corners shows a lot of understeer (which is expected for such a long car) , SH-AWD feels more neutral on A-spec wheels (just installed in my car)- same turns.
Overall, car worth every penny it costs. If you could negotiate $37K+tax deal on "loaded" I'd sure think about it (in couple of month). In my case, I have just installed A-spec kit, still on my 17'', so using the same turns and driving technics my tires starts squealing before Genesis 18'' does. So, maybe my next big upgrade would be 18'' for RL, then I'd be able to compare aples-and-aples with respect to handling sensation on RL vs Genesis.
I wasn't able to test Sound System - my friend have tested it last time and found it very pleasant. He still wants to test drive 4.6L version which will arrive in mid September, before he could make his decision. Maybe 8 cyl version, I'd also take for drive test.
My final - wow, great car, same as 2009 RL impressions (GREAT), still not convince, that enough for me to upgrade my 2008 RL with A-spec suspension kit.

lumpulus

Your "next big upgrade" should be NON-Michelin tires.....Thet is why you're squeeling so much.

neuronbob

^^ +1 on the tires. IIRC, you've got stock wheels and tires. The stock Michies are not made for spirited driving. You need to upgrade, my friend.

I appreciate your comparison even if it was from the passenger's seat.

Chas2

And unfortunately the 245/50-17 is such an odd size. You may have to go to 18's for more choice, especially if you want an all season tire.

vladfrenkel

Thanks a lot Neuronbob, lumpulus.
Do not know about Michelins, they also involved as well, but the way car been tested there was not enough tire curb, so SHAWD as well as VSA, simply tried to "Hold on" to the ground.
BTW, what would you recommend with respect to tire package (I believe Curry tires+rims package comes with Michelins).
My car has only 5K, so my tires are practically new, so upgrade doesn't seems that partical for now, even though I do prefer to drive aggressively from time to time (plus it is pretty big impact on family budget paying $2300-$2500 for tires and rims).
With respect to Genesis testing, didn't want to drive it, cause I'm afraid I'd want it and like it more than I mentioned in my review.
You see, I'm RWD biased, cause I've had BMW's in the past 6 yrs, so rather than be blinded by RWD characteristics of the car, I've decided to stay neutral and record all my impressions from the passenger sit. It all might change for 8 cyl version.
I've checked KBB last night, seems like trade-in for 2008 RL with 5K mileage is only $30K and private party is $35-36. So If I'd want to upgrade/exchange from RL to Genesis I'd have to add my money on top of the RL - I'm not ready for it, at least yet.