Genesis introduces a new tri-charged "Frankenstein" V-6 engine, to replace the Tau V-8, and it has us puzzled
by Dim Angelov, onHyundai’s luxury arm, Genesis, became its own brand in 2015 and it’s already making some pretty big changes. Aside from making a quick transition to electricity, Genesis is “re-arming” its flagship luxury sedan – the G90 – by introducing a completely new, “Frankenstein” engine option.
So far, Genesis is balancing the act of being competitive on both the EV and ICE front. We knew that this would, eventually, spawn hybrid versions of the Genesis models, and the G90 is the first one. The desirable 5.0-liter DOHC V-8 is no longer on offer, since 2021. The naturally-aspirated unit provided 420 horsepower and 383 pound-feet (519 Nm), and mated to an eight-speed automatic, could accelerate the Korean executive sedan to 60 mph (97 km/h) in 5.7 seconds.
Introduced in 2021, 3.5-liter twin-turbo Smartstream V-6, which replaced the 3.3-liter twin-turbo V-6, will remain as the base engine for the Genesis G90, but it’s the V-8 replacement that has us a bit puzzled. It’s also a 3.5-liter twin-turbo V-6, but it works with a 48-volt mild-hybrid system and an electric supercharger. This setup is good for 420 horsepower and 405 pound-feet (549 Nm). The transmission is still an eight-speed automatic.
Kirk Kreifels points out the new engine’s biggest problem, which is the fuel economy – 17 MPG city and 23 MPG highway. For comparison, the outgoing 5.0-liter V-8 gets 16 MPG city and 24 MPG highway, with the latter being the more impressive one, for obvious reasons.
Acceleration-wise, the new engine will allow for a 0 to 60 mph (97 km/h) in around 5.6 seconds, which is only slightly better than the outgoing V-8 and not far off the base V-6 (around 6.0 seconds). The new range-topping engine’s R&D development is, no doubt, because of the ever-stringent emissions regulations.
It is worth noting that executive sedan sales have plummeted, with the exception of the Mercedes S-Class. This doesn’t bold well for the G90, even if it, now, has a more competitive, hybrid powerplant. That said, we expect the 3.5-liter tri-charged V-6 engine to find its way to other models, within the next year, more specifically in the GV80 SUV.
While the demise of the 5.0-liter V-8 is sad, the introduction of the new powertrain shows that Genesis is no stranger to what the competition is doing and what works. Volvo and Mazda are using similar hybrid setups on their inline-four engines, and now, Genesis one-ups them, by implementing similar technology in its 3.5-liter twin-turbo V-6.
Source: Kirk Kreifels
