Genesis G70 ‘Sport Line’ Shooting Brake (2.2 diesel) – Road Test

Kim Henson assesses the Genesis G70 Shooting Brake, in 2.2 litre turbodiesel form…

(All words and photographs by, and copyright, Kim Henson).

Introduced to Britain in November 2021, The G70 ‘Shooting Brake’ from Genesis was designed and developed specifically for Europe, and was the fifth Genesis model to arrive here.

As explained in my Genesis ‘range sampling’ article in December, and in my recent road test features on the firm’s ‘Premium’ GV70 SUV (Kim’s GV70 Road Test), G80 saloon (Kim’s G80 Road Test)) and GV80 large SUV (Kim’s GV80 Road Test), Genesis operates in a different way when compared with longer-established car makers. Their intention is to provide buyers with a personalised approach to build trust and loyalty for the long run. This involves the allocation of a Personal Assistant to help buyers throughout the process of buying their vehicle.

Additionally, the firm has now introduced their ‘Genesis Flexibility’ subscription service, starting at £599 per month, to enable drivers to enjoy the company’s products in return for a monthly payment, while not actually owning the car.

The G70 Shooting Brake

Derived from the G70 saloon, the sleek, sporty-looking Shooting Brake features a coupé-like profile, including tailgate glass that extends into the car’s roof, and a ‘floating’ rear spoiler.

In addition to a full complement of on-board safety systems, the car is packed with useful ‘convenience’ features. Among many, notably these include a deceptively roomy load compartment (total capacity 1,535 litres or 54.21 cu.ft) plus 40:20:40 split folding rear seats, unique chassis and steering engineering (developed in Germany) for a sporty drive, and a spacious interior awash with luxury features.

There’s more… As is the case with ownership of all Genesis models, G70 Shooting Brake drivers benefit from the ‘Genesis Connected Services’ telematics system app, also state-of-the art instrumentation and control features (including a large and very clear central display screen, plus equally unmistakable, easily-assimilated instrumentation ahead of the driver).

Safety and ‘Convenience’ features

The G70 Shooting Brake was awarded a Euro NCAP Five Star safety rating, and our road test example was equipped with an array of innovative safety systems, among them Smart Cruise Control, Stop/Start, Blind-Spot Collision Avoidance Assist-Rear (BCA), Lane Keeping Assist (LKA), Forward Collision Avoidance Assist (FCA), Forward Collision Avoidance Assist – Junction Turning (FCA-J), Intelligent Speed Limit Assist (ISLA), Manual Speed Limit Assist (MSLA), Lane Following Assist (LFA) and Highway Driving Assist (HDA).

Infotainment/connectivity/convenience systems abound in the G70 SB, and include a Bluetooth hands-free system incorporating voice recognition and ‘phone mirroring’, a standard-fit 10.25 inch display screen with navigation (but a larger, 12.3 inch screen is part of the extra-cost ‘Innovation Pack’, more of which below), DAB digital radio, and a high quality audio system.

Our ‘Sport Line’ test car was upholstered in leatherette, with electric adjustment for the driver and front passenger seats, both of which were heated (with multi-adjustable hot and cold temperature settings), and the steering wheel also incorporated heating elements that could be brought into play and varied in intensity, by the driver.

The diesel-powered Sport Line price is £41,430, to which, on our car, was added the ‘Innovation Pack’, costing £3,250, the ‘Comfort Seat Pack’, listed at £1,850, and Havana Red paintwork, priced at £750 – making a total figure of £47,280.

To put our test vehicle in perspective, the G70 Shooting Brake is currently offered with a choice of four cylinder 2.2 litre turbodiesel and four cylinder 2.5 litre turbocharged petrol engines, and for each engine type there are three levels of trim.

The petrol powered versions are priced from £35,250 for the ‘Premium’ variant, rising through £40,700 (‘Luxury’) to £41,880 for the top line ‘Sport’ version.

By contrast, the 2.2 litre diesels start at £37,600 for the ‘Premium’ model, moving up through £40,250 (‘Luxury’) to £41,430 for the ‘Sport’ (‘Sport Line’) variant (as in the case of our test car).

What is included in the £3,250 ‘Innovation Pack’ as applicable to our test vehicle? Well it includes dual LED headlamps (low and high projection) with adaptive driving beam, a 12.3 inch dashboard cluster 3D Thin Film Transistor (TFT) display, ‘head-up’ display, front parking sensors, ‘Surround View Monitor’ (‘SVM’), ‘Blind Spot View Monitor’ (‘BVM’) – a system that projects rear facing video camera images onto the instrument panel, activated by indicator operation and which alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the rear of the car. A terrific safety system, I feel. Wireless phone charging is also incorporated into this pack.

The optional ‘Comfort Seat Pack’, as fitted to our test vehicle, costs £1,850 and comprises electric tilt and telescopic steering wheel with memory function, driver’s seat memory function, electric lumbar support control (driver’s seat and front passenger seat), ‘walk-in device’ (front passenger seat control from the second row of seats), electric cushion extension for the driver’s seat, also side bolster electric adjustment for the driver’s seat, heated rear seats and ventilated front seats.

Fine Detail

An initial examination around the exterior of the test car revealed the close attention to detail applied in the manufacture and painting of the vehicle, from the snug panel gaps to the high gloss finish. This impression of high quality and care evidently employed by those designing, engineering and building the car continued on close inspection of the interior. The attractive seats, carpets, door trim panels, facia and headlining, plus switchgear that looked and felt ‘high quality’ all told the same story of a car that was well thought-out and carefully put together.

As a ‘Shooting Brake’ (indicating ‘estate car’, to most observers) this G70 needs to be practical too – and it is. There’s space within the passenger compartment for five adults to travel in comfort, with good head room and reasonable leg room for those in the rear as well as generous space for the front seat occupants.

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The load compartment is spacious even with three rear seat passengers aboard (465 litres or 16.42 cu.ft, including 403 litres or 14.23 cu.ft below the rear window), but with the seat backs folded forwards, the available space is huge (1,535 litres or 54.21 cu.ft, as already mentioned). Beneath the boot floor are additional small compartments; all very useful, and there is an elasticated ‘net’ type pocket on each side of the boot, and which I found just right for holding cameras or similar items.

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Our test car did not have a spare wheel (a puncture ‘kit’ is provided instead), but a temporary spare wheel is listed at £40 for those wanting extra peace of mind in this regard.

Stowage compartments within the car abound, and these include door bins, front and rear, a glovebox, elasticated pockets on the backs of the front seats, plus a storage ‘box’ and cup holders within the centre console, also twin cup holders built into the rear central arm rest.

Mile after happy mile

During 600+ miles of driving the Shooting Brake, I appreciated the comfortable driving seat and the way that it provided good support from the side bolsters of the seat base and the back rest. The same comments applied to the front passenger seat, and even over long distances seat comfort was excellent. The rear seats provide accommodation for up to three adults to travel, with good head room and reasonable leg room.

The 2.2 litre turbo diesel engine is both powerful (197 bhp @ 3,800 rpm) and torquey (maximum 440 Nm or 325 lb.ft). It provided lively acceleration, from rest and on the move, with a zero to 62 mph acceleration time of just 7.7 seconds, and more importantly for most drivers, was capable of propelling the car from 31 mph to 62 mph in only 5.8 seconds.

The prodigious torque available at all speeds, and delivered in combination with an eight speed auto transmission that always seemed to be in an appropriate gear, meant that the car was easy and enjoyable to drive, whether tootling around town, cruising on the open road or meandering along twisting, hilly routes.

The theoretical top speed of 140 mph is academic, but does help to illustrate that at our U.K. legal motorway limit of 70 mph the engine is working effortlessly, and our car’s tacho needle showed just 1,600 rpm or so at this road speed. It was also mechanically quiet and smooth-running at all speeds, with just a little tyre ‘roar’ evident on some surfaces.

The MacPherson strut front and multi-link rear suspension provided a firm yet generally accommodating ride quality, and on bendy roads the car handled well, with a sporty feel and with effective, powerful brakes (using discs at the front and rear) helping to impart confidence and reassurance. If I am to be ultra-critical at all, I would just mention that some severe road surface imperfections did make their presence felt within the car, leaving its occupants a little more shaken and stirred than I had imagined.

Emissions and fuel consumption

The WLTP figures show CO2 figures of between 177.1 and 182.1 g/km, and an official ‘Combined’ fuel consumption of between 40.7 and 41.8 miles per gallon. During my week’s motoring, including in-town driving, long journeys and countryside meandering, the overall average achieved was 43.6 miles per gallon – some way better than the ‘official’ figures, and a consumption figure that I feel is very commendable for a sporty, luxurious estate.

In fact the figures from ‘our’ car were remarkably consistent, with urban motoring showing trip computer readouts in the low 40s per gallon, while open road cruising for mile after happy mile gave between 43 and 45 mpg.

Driver information plus ease of operating controls

Instrumentation that is a model of clarity, a user-friendly central touch-screen, plus an array of push buttons beneath the touch screen, to activate functions such as radio and sat nav operation (etc, etc.) when required made much sense to this road tester. In addition, the separate-from-touch-screen heating/ventilation/aircon controls were easy to operate and, I feel, encourage road safety as the operator does not have to wade through a variety of menu options in order to activate the various functions.

A simple to use control, located on the centre console, enables the drive mode to be varied from ‘Eco’ to ‘Comfort’ to ‘Sport’, and finally to ‘Sport +’. For almost all of my mileage in the car, I used the Comfort and Eco modes, with occasional switching to Sport and Sport +, when road conditions allowed and, to be honest, just for fun. Switching from Comfort to Sport mode noticeably sharpens up the car’s dynamic responses, re-sets the transmission’s gearchange points and moves the front seat bolsters inwards to provide more lateral grip in sporty motoring. In addition, the instrument panel colour changes from an orange hue to red…

Gearchange ‘paddles’, located just ahead of the steering wheel, are provided too, so that if manual ratio changing is desired, or to engage/hold the car in a low gear while descending a steep hill (for example), the system is easily brought into play.

I found that for almost all of my driving, using Comfort mode and allowing the auto transmission to do its own thing, worked well and performance was impressive.

During about 200 miles of night driving the headlamps proved to be effective on both dipped and main beam settings.

The screen washers and wipers worked well, as did the various cameras that came into play when reversing and when carrying out parking manoeuvres etc. These provided excellent images on the central display screen, with first rate graphics providing relevant useful information. These were welcomed, especially as the Shooting Brake is, by design, a large vehicle and care is required when parking in the (often) narrow parking spaces that are prevalent today.

VERDICT

I drove more than 600 miles in this car, and the more I drove it, the more I liked it and its many clever features.

The G70 Shooting Brake is a sleek-looking, high quality, high specification, innovative, roomy and practical ‘estate car’. It’s a vehicle that offers a great deal within its unique package, and at a price that represents cost-effective buying in its market sector.