fowing Fluidic Sculpture vehicles—
which went from Sonata to Elantra and
so on—Hyundai would establish more
physical presence in the market. "We
wanted a lot of consumers with little or
no familiarity with our brand to take
notice of our car," Krsteski notes.
Now that that's been accomplished
they've moved on to the next level,
refning the fuidics. Rather than con-
tinuing with the broad gestural lines,
they're using precision and detail,
Krsteski says. He describes it as "a
refned fuidic aesthetic. It is less of a
line-based approach, and more
volume-based."
What's more, they're creating more
commonality. He cites the grille, for
example. The previous generation
Genesis and Sonata have wing-shaped
grilles; the Elantra has more of a
hexagon. So they've essentially melded
the two together. "The previous car,"
Krsteski says, "has a nice front end,
but it's a bit passive. One of the things
we really wanted to push was a proud
presentation of the new grille shape."
The 2015 model has almost exactly the
same exterior dimensions as the 2014:
2014 2015
Wheelbase 115.6 in. 118.5 in.
Length 196.3 in. 196.5 in.
Width 74.4 in. 74.4 in.
Height 58.3 in. 58.3 in.
Note how the wheelbase is stretched
even though the overall length of the
car is only upped a visually undiscernible
amount. "The added wheelbase helped
us pull the cabin rearward for the
classic proportions of a long hood and
an increased dash to axle." He says
that this helps telegraph the message
that this is a powerful rear-drive car.
p The 2015 Genesis has 123-ft
3
of total
interior volume, considerably more than
its competitors: Infniti M, 118.5; BMW
5 Series, 116; Lexus GS, 113.3; Mercedes
E-Class, 113.1; Cadillac CTS, 110.7-ft
3
.
t The taillamps are LED, as are the
indicators and fog lamps up front. This
version is the 420-hp 5.0-liter V8. The
Genesis is also available with a 311-hp
3.8-liter V6. Both are mated to an eight-
speed automatic transmission. The six is
oered with the HTRAC all-wheel drive
system developed by Hyundai and Magna.
AD&P; > June 2014 > FEATURE > On the 2015 Hyundai Genesis > Gary S. Vasilash > gsv@autofeldguide.com
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