2023 Genesis G90 Yearlong Review: Let’s Abuse Some Self-Closing Doors, Massaging Seats, and Matte Paint

Who wouldn't lust after a six-figure luxury car? You see a Tesla Model S waft past and get that pang of jealousy, imagining the palatial home with the manicured lawn where it parks. Or maybe that huge Mercedes-Benz S-Class slumbers beneath a swanky downtown penthouse. It's a contrarian choice in these SUV-happy times. Or, perhaps, a showy one. Peering back at you from behind tinted glass probably sits a cocky guy like Shooter McGavin from Happy Gilmore, nervously muttering to himself, "Damn you people—go back to your shanties!" Meanwhile, the air-conditioning system perfumes the cabin, and his cockles are warmed by a hot-stone seat massage function.

"Ugh," you think, "what a tool." You reassure yourself that surely the snooty one-percenter has their life of leisure interrupted every so often by a malfunctioning widget—a jammed power-operated trunklid, perhaps, or maybe the seat massager can't muster the right pressure. You know, tragic, day-ruining little snippets of adversity we all hope will befall the owners of complex luxury sedans, right up there with a market crash or tightened water-use restrictions for mansions. Well, guess who's got two hands making finger pistols and is pretending to be one of those people behind the wheel of a 2023 Genesis G90 limousine over the next year? Yep, that's us—our cockles are quite warm, thank you.

Will we look like tools? Or be sidelined by malfunctioning frippery? If so, will it sour our taste of the good life, like regular mustard standing in for Grey Poupon? That's what our yearlong test of the G90 is all about. To flip the script, we'll be adding some adversity to the Genesis' existence, because none of us lives in palatial mansions or downtown penthouses with climate-controlled garages and personal staffs. It'll sit exposed to bird droppings, pollen, and the same air breathed by the unwashed masses.

Lest we sound as though we're pleading, "Believe us, we're just like you!" it isn't common for us to induct a full-size luxury sedan into our long-term test fleet. We're much more used to stuff like our humble Hyundai Ioniq 5 EV, Toyota Corolla Cross, and or Ford Maverick. The only other super high-end vehicle we have is the electric Lucid Air, 2022's Car of the Year.

Expectations here are similarly elevated, not least because if an average new car has, say, a handful of features that make you feel just a little bit richer—maybe a digital gauge cluster or a power-operated panoramic sunroof—the G90 comes with all of those and more. Such luxuries are the reasons people lust after limos like the S-Class, Lexus LS, and BMW 7 Series. To anyone who's ever kept a car long enough to require service beyond basic maintenance or outside of warranty, those represent liabilities—yet more unnecessary stuff that could break over time. Butler, load up a few more expectations, on the double!

The G90's still-upstart status in this class builds yet more pressure. It has something to prove. This is Genesis's third crack at an S-Classy vehicle. The first wasn't even a Genesis; it was the Hyundai Equus, a big, floaty bruiser of sedan that cost impossibly little money given its aspirations. Next time round the first Genesis-branded G90 was incrementally improved and far better to drive, but still vaguely … cheap compared to the best from Benz.

This third effort G90 is the first to break through—the first to truly compete with the traditional luxury players and an excellent vehicle. It's so good that we recently named the G90 our 2023 Car of the Year. The world may be turning to SUVs and trucks, but among cars this year, the G90 is the best on offer in the total sense: Unabashedly low-slung and proudly wearing a trunk, it's lustworthy inside and out and decadent as all hell for its occupants. It's still a deal, with no G90 starting at six figures, despite a Bentley's worth of luxuriousness.

We specifically opted for the ultimate G90, the 3.5T E-Supercharger variant, though there is only one other model to choose from, the 3.5T, which costs $10,300 less. Both get the same 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged V-6 engine, but the E-Supercharger version adds just that: an electric supercharger powered by a 48-volt electrical system, which also includes mild hybridization for extended engine-off periods when stopped at lights. Power rises from 375 hp and 391 lb-ft of torque to 409 hp and 405 lb-ft.

The top model also adds self-leveling air suspension, rear-wheel steering, larger 21-inch jewelry-like wheels, front and rear seat massagers, a Bang & Olufsen audio system, and a rear-seat touchscreen for controlling the climate controls and audio. Every G90 gets Genesis's Highway Driving Assist (a semi-autonomous driving system), a biometric fingerprint driver authenticator, a UV-light phone sanitizer, and a "Mood Curator" that spritzes the air with tailored scents and plays tonally appropriate music while adjusting the cabin lighting.

There are so many power-operated features we'll just lump them together here: The shades for the dual sunroofs, the shades for the rear windows, the trunklid, the rear seats (which recline, too), and even the doors. That's right, step out of your G90 and tap either the release button on the armrest on the inside of the door or the outside of the exterior handle, and the door silently closes itself. It works on all four doors, and you can do this from inside the vehicle via any of the door buttons or an extra pair of easier-to-reach switches on the center console up front. When the driver sits in their seat and steps on the brake pedal, the driver's door automatically closes, too. Should you choose to exercise your arms and manually close the G90's doors, you needn't work too hard—all four have soft close, where they latch themselves, effectively taking over the last inch or so of the shutting motion.

Every G90 comes one way, though Genesis offers a few extra-cost paint choices, the most exotic of which we chose for ours: Makalu Gray, in a matte finish, which looks great over our Dune beige Nappa leather and microfiber interior. The paint added $1,500 to the G90 E-Supercharged model's MSRP, bringing it to $101,295. That's proper money, though even fully loaded and outfitted like a Maybach, it's $14,355 less than the cheapest S-Class you can buy.

Will we want for more? The only widgets conspicuously absent from the G90 are rear-seat screens and perhaps a drink chiller hidden someplace. And on a more basic level, how will the G90—and especially its fancy paint—hold up when treated like a regular car, parked outside most of the time, on the street, like, um, a Hyundai? Stay tuned as we pile the miles onto this bougie sedan. All this typing has us a little tired, though, so we're off to the G90's back seat for a massage, with the Mood Curator set to "calm."