Genesis G70 Shooting Brake 2022 review

If you just took a look at the G70 Shooting Brake, then sat in it and felt the quality of the seats and the aura of the cabin, you’d probably be surprised to hear that it cost anywhere under six figures, which makes the $79,000 asking price sound like something of a bargain.

That is, however, $16,000 more than the G70 sedan it’s closely related to, but it is a touch cheaper than the BMW 330i Touring it’s very clearly aimed at competing with ($80,971). 

The Genesis wagon is offered in one spec only and that includes all kinds of fruit, from Nappa leather to heated seats front and rear (also cooled in the front), a heated steering wheel, head-up display, a banging 15-speaker Lexicon premium audio system, Brembo brakes and a limited-slip differential. Your standard kit also includes a 10.25-inchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a 12.3-inch “3D” instrument cluster (it looked fairly 2D to my eyes, but I can see what they’re going for), 19-inch alloys, adaptive LED headlights and a panoramic sunroof.

Featuring Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Our test car featured the no-cost option Sport Line Styling Package, which gets you grey 19-inch Sport alloys, some dark chrome bits, sporty pedals, an aluminium trim, and very classy quilted seats.

It’s worth noting that I had some gremlins with the CarPlay screen sometimes not turning on, and a graphic of the car covering my central screen during one drive, as if it just didn’t want to leave, but still, it felt like the kind of spec level that would cost you a fortune in options to reach in a European marque.

The Genesis wagon is offered in one spec only.

Well, there’s the fact that it’s not an SUV, for a start, and the impressive fact that this is a wagon, or Shooting Brake, that manages to be more impressive to look at than the sedan it’s based on. That does not happen often.

I love its sleek, fast lines from every angle, I think the nose looks impressive, the speed of the overall shape, all of it looks like something Bentley or Jaguar, or even Alfa Romeo, and perhaps its only weak point is the rear light cluster and the way it's incorporated into the boot. 

Other than that, it’s just a beauty. 

The Shooting Brake has sleek, fast lines from every angle.

And here comes the rub. The reason everyone buys SUVs today, and eschews the station wagons that were once our family haulers, is because we now all need an enormous amount of space, and the 465-litre boot, while substantially more capacious than the G70 sedan’s 330 litres, is not going to be enough for some people.

Unfortunately the loading area is also slightly mouth shaped, so it does’t seem friendly to bulky items or wide loads. Personally, I’d be happy with it but I can see problems for others.

This wagon has a 465-litre boot.

Those others include my 10-year-old daughter who declared the rear seat base to be too long, leaving her kicking her heels in the air, and yet not happy at all.

I found I could sit behind my own seating poison with usable knee room, but still some pinching around the feet, but head room was certainly not a problem (I’m 175cm tall).

The heated seats are lovely, but if it’s warm, the car automatically fires up the cooling, and blows cold air up your shorts, which is a bit shocking.

The rear seat base may be considered long.

There are map pockets in the rear seats and bottle holders in each door and there’s one USB outlet between the seats. There’s another one between the seats in a storage cubby, and yet another in the centre console, just above the wireless-charging pad. 

Small bottler holders are also in each of the front doors, the seats are very comfortable in the front and overall the interior feels premium, particularly the way the leather wraps around you and through the dash design into the centre console. There’s something a bit previous-generation BMW about it, but in a good way.

The only letdown is that some of the plastics, particularly on the indicator stalk and the gear lever, feel a lot more Korean than European, and not in a good way.

The seats are very comfortable in the front.

Now, to be fair, the engine in this Genesis does a commendable job with what it’s got, but that doesn’t mean it’s a damn shame you can’t have the 3.3-litre twin-turbo petrol V6 that is an option in the G70 sedan. 

The G70 comes with a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine.

Instead, you must make do with a very hard working and keen 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder, making 179kW and 353Nm. Unfortunately, you can also hear it working hard, if you attempt to drive it in a spirited fashion, although in Comfort mode, and indeed in most situations, the cabin is fairly quiet, and the eight-speed torque-converter transmission does its best to keep everything smooth and calming, too.

The shame here is that the Shooting Brake feels like it would be an even better and more enjoyable wagon with more power on board.

The claimed fuel-consumption figure for the Genesis G70 Shooting Brake is 9.1 litres per 100km, but in just over a week of mainly inner-city driving, and, admittedly, regular use of the Sport mode, I averaged a trip-computer verified 12.9 litres per 100km. On long trips, I’m sure the lower figure would be easy to get, but my lead foot did not help things here.

The Genesis is packed with safety kit, particularly the active kind, which constantly imposes itself on your attention. Still, you can’t argue with 10 airbags when it comes to safety.

The Shooting Brake has not been separately tested, but the G70 sedan received a five-star ANCAP rating.

The Genesis is packed with safety kit. Safety equipment includes AEB with pedestrian and cyclist detection and junction support, forward collision warning lane-keep assist, lane-following assist, adaptive cruise control with stop and go, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, a 360-degree camera, safe-exit warning and driver-attention alert.

While it’s not quite the industry-leading and slightly related Kia offer of seven years, the Genesis is covered by a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty with 50,000km of free scheduled servicing, and five years of roadside assistance.

Genesis is covered by a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty.

If you live within 70km of a Genesis studio you'll also get five years of hte impressive Genesis Concierge Service, which means a concierge will come and get your vehicle when it’s time for servicing and leave you with another Genesis to drive while it's gone.

All up, it’s a hell of a deal.

The reason that I would choose this Shooting Brake over any comparably priced SUV on the market is the same reason that station wagons are simply superior, if you enjoy driving more than lugging stuff - a lower centre of gravity.

That advantage, which sounds like something from a physics class, is clearly on display in the Genesis, which handles like a sedan rather than a top-heavy truck, and a well-sorted sedan at that.

This Genesis handles like a sedan.

The ride and handling balance is well sorted, the steering offers pretty good feel, aside from being a little on the light side, and the whole experience is both involving and encouraging for the driver.

Switch into Sport mode and the driver’s seat gives you a good squeezing with its bolsters, which kind of tells you that things going to get serious now.

The engine takes on a more angry tone and the gearbox allows you to stretch each gear, more so if you choose to shift manually, using the paddles. The problem is, while it really does its best, and revs with keenness and some volume, the 2.0-litre four cylinder just doesn’t have quite enough in the trouser department to make the G70 wagon truly exciting.

But it is, however, a pretty classy feeling and very pleasant drive, and for the kind of family hauling this Shooting Brake is designed to do, it’s more than capable, and just invigorating enough.

The Genesis makes for a classy feeling and very pleasant drive.

The chassis does feel designed to take more power, however, and it would be great to see a six-cylinder engine dropped in here. 

Overall, though, I loved driving the Shooting Brake because it was a nice break from sporty SUVs, and so much more pleasant to look at as well.

Whether the Genesis brand has enough cut through to break through with an offering as radical as a station wagon remains to be seen, but what they really need is to get them in front of people’s eyeballs, because it really has the street appeal to attract buyers. Everyone I showed it to thought it was a far more expensive European car.