Category Archives: Vehicle type

Executive saloon, GENESIS, Luxury

Genesis a luxury beginning

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Genesis GV80

By Bill McCarthy

No-one really has heard of Genesis, well not many people anwyay, unless it’s referring to the Bible or Star Trek, but the company describes itself as an exciting disrupter in the premium segment.

Like other brands, Korean giant Hyundai has developed its own luxury brand with Genesis, designed to make an impact in the executive sector.

How do they do that? One way is to make this particular model look like a Bentley Bentayga, with its muscular stance, huge grille and the ‘similar’ winged badge the similarity is obvious.

That really is where the comparison ends, unless you want to throw around £100k to make up the price difference, and the hand-crafted excellence of the Bentley.

That’s not to say this is not a fine car, but it is aimed more at the executive end of the market, dominated by German brands, and offers something a bit left field. There are a number of SUV and saloon models, with both petrol and diesel power units and all-electric models imminent.

At more than £59k for this model, this is no bargain-basement brand and offers eye-catching styling, interior luxury and a raft of high-end technological goodies and a permanent four-wheel drive to give it a unique flavour. All models also come with a five-year warranty.

 It also features artificial intelligence that learns about the driver and builds on existing state-of-the-art advanced autonomous driver assistance systems (ADAS),

Some of the goodies could seem a little gimmicky, like the two main binnacle dials turning into cameras to show the road when the indicator is activated or the winged-style logo fading from view when the ignition is switched off, but otherwise, they are practical and enhance the driving experience.

It is a big car and in typical SUV style, sits high off the ground, with a muscular profile and featuring stylish alloy wheels and distinctive light clusters. 

The interior matches anything in its segment with a raft of leather, aluminium with thin air vents that run across the passenger compartment, ambient lighting and high-quality materials.

Prominent are the 14.5-inch HD infotainment screen and 12.3-inch TFT instrument cluster with 3D display, which are the brains of the car controlling connectivity, infotainment and navigation functions, while the Genesis Connect system offers live updates and smartphone integration 

The centre console houses the slightly fiddly circular controller which allows selection of the same functions as the touchscreen,  while the glass-topped rotary gear selector, mimics the Jaguar XF.

Inside there is plenty of space with excellent head and legroom, while a power-folding third-row seating is optional as is the huge panoramic roof. The powered and heated and cooled front seats feature top-grade Nappa leather and incorporate a massage function.  

The new 278PS 3.0-litre diesel on this model delivers plenty of pace and reasonable economy for such a big car.

The six-cylinder layout is both exceptionally smooth and quiet in operation, and shifts this 2.5-tonne beast to 60mph in just 7.5 seconds. Gear changes via the eight-speed auto box are smooth, slick and barely perceptible. It also offers three drive modes for extra economy, or to sharpen up performance.

The ride and handling are excellent, leaning into corners with little wallow, while the brand’s ride preview technology and electronically controlled suspension soak up the worst of the potholes.

Safety kit is impressive with blind spot monitoring, evasive steering assist, smart cruise control, lane following assist, driver attention warning, forward collision alert with pedestrian and cyclist detection, plus advanced airbag technology. There are 10 airbags with front centre airbags that are deployed if there is a side impact and these prevent the front occupants colliding with each other.

The boot is huge, particularly in five-seater mode with the powered boot lid opening up a 735 litres of space, which expands to a huge 2,152 litres with the seats folded while the usual array of cubby holes, bins and holders are arranged throughout the cabin.

Factfile

GENESIS GV80 Luxury line D AWD 

Price: £59,700

Mechanical: 278ps, 2996cc, six-cylinder, diesel engine driving all four wheels via 8-speed automatic transmission

Max Speed: 143mph

0-62mph: 7.7 seconds

Combined MPG: 26

Insurance Group: 48

C02 emissions: 229g/km

Warranty: 5yrs/62,000 miles

Skoda, SUV

Skoda powering ahead with Enyaq

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Skoda Enyaq iV80

By Bill McCarthy

WHISPER the question quietly, but is Skoda is now as good as its parent company VW? Its ascendancy in the last 25 years has been remarkable and it now challenges the best with a small, but competitive range of vehicles, all at sensible prices.

The Enyaq is a case in point. The firm’s first all-electric vehicle and sharing much of the technology of its parent firm and offering the kind of range to almost, but not quite, puts range anxiety to bed for good.

It also offers even quicker charging. Built on the VW group’s modular electrification toolkit (MEB) platform it is a good looking, practical, and spacious SUV

It comes with two battery sizes available, the 62kWh (Enyaq iV 60 Nav) and 82kWh (Enyaq iV 80) driven here.

The former offers a range of 256 miles, while the iV 80 SportLine up to 327 miles and Enyaq iV 80 up to 333 miles on WLTP combined cycle. Pretty impressive.

It’s good news on the battery front, but on the infrastructure front, it is still lagging, so any journey of any length still needs careful planning.

Another bonus is rapid charging speeds of up to 80 per cent charge possible in approx 38 minutes and those EV waverers may be convinced to go the whole electric hog.

It certainly looks the part, with a powerful, sculpted stance, all sharp creases angles, together with eye-catching grille, smart alloys, at 19 inches, the largest diameter ever fitted to a Skoda as standard, although sportier 20 and 21-inch wheels can be specified. The crystalline headlights and tail lights add an elegant touch.

As an SUV it offers good interior space thanks to what Skoda describes as the skateboard platform, where the battery is incorporated into the floor to save space and increase headroom.

The interior is pretty minimalist, with the 13-inch central touchscreen dominant. This controls connectivity for smartphones, infotainment with DAB radio and navigation system and is complemented by a smaller digital cockpit display which allows drivers to customise their display

In addition, the multi-function steering wheel adds extra functionality, and includes  paddles for setting the levels of regenerative braking which in turn sends charge to the battery, while standard kit includes cruise control and speed limiter, rear parking sensors, light and rain sensors with auto-dimming rearview mirror.

And in typical Skoda style their Simply Clever additions include ice scraper now in the tailgate, the ubiquitous hidden brolly, plus smartphone pockets on the front seat backrests and two storage compartments in the centre console and foldaway brolly.

There are six different interior designs, Loft, Lounge,  Suite, EcoSuite and SportLine. They all offer something unique. The Suite version on this model features black leather upholstery with brown stitching and artificial leather trimmed dashboard.

Customers choosing the 82kWh battery pack benefit from an increased standard specification that includes chrome detailing, front parking sensors and a rear-view camera,

To the rear you can pretty much pack the kitchen sink, with 585 litres of boot space which expands to 1,710 litres with the rear seats folded flat..

On the road, the performance is impressive. As with all electric cars maximum torque is available from as soon as you floor the throttle pedal.

The drive comes via a rear-mounted motor driving the rear wheels through a single-speed transmission mounted on the rear axle. It is quick, hitting 60mph in just over eight seconds.

Drive Mode Select offers five driving modes (Eco, Comfort, Normal, Sport and Individual), depending on whether you want maximum economy or a more engaging drive.

Handling is excellent thanks to the low centre of gravity while the driven rear wheels improve traction when accelerating. The car feels pretty agile, considering its size, while the ride itself feels comfortable, just what you would expect for a family orientated vehicle.

As first electric efforts go, this seems pretty much the real deal with huge range, practicality and a competitive price.

FAST FACTS

Skoda Enyaq iV80 82 kW Suite

Price: £42,900

Mechanical: 204ps electric motor driving rear wheels via single speed transmission

Max speed: 99 mph

0-62mph: 8.2 secs

Range: 331 miles

CO2 emissions: 0 g/km 

Warranty: 3yrs/60,000 miles