Motor Trend Comparo - 2011 Chrysler 300C vs 2011 Hyundai Genesis
03-04-2011, 03:51 PM
#1
TECH Veteran
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Phoenix, AZ Hometown: Aberdeen, SD
Posts: 4,231
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Motor Trend Comparo - 2011 Chrysler 300C vs 2011 Hyundai Genesis Fraternal Twins: Dichotomy is the Name of the Game
From the April, 2011 issue of Motor Trend / By Scott Evans / Photography by Evan Klein
There’s an unwritten rule in the exclusive world of luxury sedans, or at least an expectation, that a contender must offer a V-8 engine to be taken seriously. Just ask the Acura RL. It doesn’t matter if V-6 models sell better or claim better fuel economy—the V-8 engine carries its own prestige, and its presence beneath the hood is nearly as important as the badge on top of it.
There's no greater testament to this phenomenon than the 4.6-liter Tau V-8 powering the Hyundai Genesis. Unlike its luxury competition, Hyundai hasn't been building V-8s for years; it's been building small cars. There was no other vehicle -- car or truck -- to pull an engine from. That Hyundai spent millions developing a V-8 just to play in the luxury-sedan segment tells you all you need to know.
Chrysler, of course, had no such obstacle in the development of the 300C. The company has been building big V-8s and bigger cars for decades. But while Hyundai has been on a tear recently with a string of hits, Chrysler has stumbled in the wake of multiple ownership changes and bankruptcy. In the public eye, neither carries the cachet of a Mercedes or a Lexus brand, but both would like to.
Aspirations to grandeur aren't the only trait these vehicles share. As different as they may appear, the specifications reveal two very similar cars. They're both five-passenger, rear-drive sedans with similarly capable V-8 engines and automatic transmissions only. Both carry long lists of features and prices that handily undercut the competition. And though the 300C appears to dwarf the Genesis, it's only 2.7 inches longer and within an inch in height and width. Likewise, the differences in interior and trunk space can be measured in cubic inches, not feet. The overriding difference, then, is how these vehicles go about delivering on their promises and the results they hope to achieve.
The 300C is not a subtle car. If its sheer size doesn't get your attention, the bold, shameless styling and rumbling V-8 will demand it. Though the shape is instantly recognizable, Chrysler has reworked the sheetmetal for 2011 with modern and retro cues. The same car that wears Audi-like chains of LEDs in its lamps also has mini fins pulled out of the tops of its fenders and enough chrome jewelry to make Mariah Carey blink. While the Genesis may look conservative on its own, next to the 300C it may as well be invisible. Though some appreciated the Genesis' reserved elegance, most referred to it as something along the lines of "that Mercedes-looking thing."
Their interiors tell a similar tale. Where the Hyundai was clearly modeled after the clean, simple designs of its German and Japanese competition, the 300C is unapologetically American. The Genesis' interior flows around you with graceful lines and unobtrusive styling that's highly functional, if not especially memorable. The 300C, again, refuses to be ignored with its overstyled, clocklike gauges, massive touchscreen entertainment center, and wood trim that looks as though it was hand-carved from an ancient tree. Differences in interior noise levels were indiscernible between the two, and materials quality was nearly equal, with Hyundai holding a slight edge. While we may have found the 300C's interior more interesting to look at and more feature-laden, the Genesis must be given due credit for offering a more open and spacious interior front and rear, despite having to work around a 4.6-inch-shorter wheelbase.
The deeper we look into these cars, the more apparent their divergent personalities become. Where the Genesis is quietly confident and demands little from the driver, the 300C is supremely self-confident and boisterous nearly to a fault. This dichotomy made itself well known on the road, where the 300C easily won our hearts. Just looking at the car, you'd expect it to drive like a prince's yacht, but while the 300C absolutely feels like a big, heavy car, it also feels very solid and confident. Off the line, the 300C moves forward like a force of nature -- quickly, but always smooth and never hurried. There's an almost Rolls-Royce-like surge of power that masks how fast you're actually going. Cane it a bit, and you'll find the 300C will top 60 mph in just 5.5 seconds and dash past the quarter mile in 14.0 seconds at 101.4 mph, its 363-horsepower, 5.7-liter V-8 emitting just enough of a growl to let you know it means business.
The Genesis is a completely different experience. The 385-horse V-8 is eager to rev and pulls harder than the 300C, so much so that from behind the wheel you'd be certain you're winning the drag race. And while logic suggests you should -- considering that the Genesis weighs 261 pounds less than the 300C, has a newer six-speed gearbox to the 300C's old five-speed, and packs an extra 22 horses -- you'd be wrong. A 61-pound-foot deficit in torque and a slow-shifting transmission hold the Genesis to a 5.8-second 0-to-60 sprint and a 14.2-second quarter mile at 103.0 mph.
It's not just a difference of straight-line speed, either. How fast you can hustle a 300C around a corner is limited only by your preconceptions of the car's size. Though not particularly communicative and a bit light, the steering is quick and precise, and once the car leans into the outside front tire, it tracks through the corner like driving a cruise ship on rails. Goose the throttle a little, and you can even hang the tail out a bit if you so desire. The Genesis, by comparison, is downright boring, owing to its draconian electronic nannies and heavy, artificial steering. In normal driving, the Genesis actually moves through the corners nicely, but even the slightest push will invoke the wrath of stability and traction control systems, which can't fully be defeated. Neither can the 300C's, but they're far more tolerant of exuberant driving and allowed the 300C to best the Genesis on both the skidpad and our figure-eight course.
The real test of these cars, though, is in ride quality, and again the 300C shines. While the 300C knows an SRT8 performance model is likely on the way and can relax a bit, the Genesis tries to be everything at once. The result is a Chrysler that floats down the road on a cloud and a Hyundai that rides like a sports sedan without the credentials to back it up. Worse, the front and rear suspension feel as though they're tuned for different cars, making the rear end nervous on patchy pavement. The Genesis may give its passengers more room, but the 300C gives them a better ride.
Though a formidable competitor, the Hyundai strikes us as a transitional car, for the company and the buyer. It was a solid first effort on Hyundai's part, but now that it's been followed up by the Equus, the Genesis comes off as a corporate stepping-stone to bigger and better things. So, too, is its place in the market, where the Genesis feels like a launching pad toward established luxury brands, not an aspirational car itself.
The 300C has the opposite problem, if you care to call it that. The 300C is the flagship of both the Chrysler brand and the company as a whole. It's the largest, most luxurious car the company builds, and will likely remain so as Chrysler scrambles to fill the void below it. Free of demands to outdo themselves, Chrysler's engineers could leave everything on the 300's sizable table. The result is a car confident of its place in the market and sold for what it is, not what it could be.
The End? Hardly. Not long after you read this, Hyundai will introduce an updated Genesis for 2012 with a new direct-injected V-6, a more-powerful 5.0-liter V-8, and a new eight-speed automatic transmission for both. Shortly thereafter, Chrysler will update the just-released 300 with a new eight-speed automatic transmission. The rematch is already scheduled.
1ST PLACE: CHRYSLER 300C
Better looks, better ride, more gadgets, and a lower starting price. This was the Chrysler's test to lose, and it delivered a star performance.
2ND PLACE: HYUNDAI GENESIS
Still a solid luxury offering from a company not known for such things, but Chrysler beat them at their own value-based game this time.
From the April, 2011 issue of Motor Trend / By Scott Evans / Photography by Evan Klein
There’s an unwritten rule in the exclusive world of luxury sedans, or at least an expectation, that a contender must offer a V-8 engine to be taken seriously. Just ask the Acura RL. It doesn’t matter if V-6 models sell better or claim better fuel economy—the V-8 engine carries its own prestige, and its presence beneath the hood is nearly as important as the badge on top of it.
There's no greater testament to this phenomenon than the 4.6-liter Tau V-8 powering the Hyundai Genesis. Unlike its luxury competition, Hyundai hasn't been building V-8s for years; it's been building small cars. There was no other vehicle -- car or truck -- to pull an engine from. That Hyundai spent millions developing a V-8 just to play in the luxury-sedan segment tells you all you need to know.
Chrysler, of course, had no such obstacle in the development of the 300C. The company has been building big V-8s and bigger cars for decades. But while Hyundai has been on a tear recently with a string of hits, Chrysler has stumbled in the wake of multiple ownership changes and bankruptcy. In the public eye, neither carries the cachet of a Mercedes or a Lexus brand, but both would like to.
Aspirations to grandeur aren't the only trait these vehicles share. As different as they may appear, the specifications reveal two very similar cars. They're both five-passenger, rear-drive sedans with similarly capable V-8 engines and automatic transmissions only. Both carry long lists of features and prices that handily undercut the competition. And though the 300C appears to dwarf the Genesis, it's only 2.7 inches longer and within an inch in height and width. Likewise, the differences in interior and trunk space can be measured in cubic inches, not feet. The overriding difference, then, is how these vehicles go about delivering on their promises and the results they hope to achieve.
The 300C is not a subtle car. If its sheer size doesn't get your attention, the bold, shameless styling and rumbling V-8 will demand it. Though the shape is instantly recognizable, Chrysler has reworked the sheetmetal for 2011 with modern and retro cues. The same car that wears Audi-like chains of LEDs in its lamps also has mini fins pulled out of the tops of its fenders and enough chrome jewelry to make Mariah Carey blink. While the Genesis may look conservative on its own, next to the 300C it may as well be invisible. Though some appreciated the Genesis' reserved elegance, most referred to it as something along the lines of "that Mercedes-looking thing."
Their interiors tell a similar tale. Where the Hyundai was clearly modeled after the clean, simple designs of its German and Japanese competition, the 300C is unapologetically American. The Genesis' interior flows around you with graceful lines and unobtrusive styling that's highly functional, if not especially memorable. The 300C, again, refuses to be ignored with its overstyled, clocklike gauges, massive touchscreen entertainment center, and wood trim that looks as though it was hand-carved from an ancient tree. Differences in interior noise levels were indiscernible between the two, and materials quality was nearly equal, with Hyundai holding a slight edge. While we may have found the 300C's interior more interesting to look at and more feature-laden, the Genesis must be given due credit for offering a more open and spacious interior front and rear, despite having to work around a 4.6-inch-shorter wheelbase.
The deeper we look into these cars, the more apparent their divergent personalities become. Where the Genesis is quietly confident and demands little from the driver, the 300C is supremely self-confident and boisterous nearly to a fault. This dichotomy made itself well known on the road, where the 300C easily won our hearts. Just looking at the car, you'd expect it to drive like a prince's yacht, but while the 300C absolutely feels like a big, heavy car, it also feels very solid and confident. Off the line, the 300C moves forward like a force of nature -- quickly, but always smooth and never hurried. There's an almost Rolls-Royce-like surge of power that masks how fast you're actually going. Cane it a bit, and you'll find the 300C will top 60 mph in just 5.5 seconds and dash past the quarter mile in 14.0 seconds at 101.4 mph, its 363-horsepower, 5.7-liter V-8 emitting just enough of a growl to let you know it means business.
The Genesis is a completely different experience. The 385-horse V-8 is eager to rev and pulls harder than the 300C, so much so that from behind the wheel you'd be certain you're winning the drag race. And while logic suggests you should -- considering that the Genesis weighs 261 pounds less than the 300C, has a newer six-speed gearbox to the 300C's old five-speed, and packs an extra 22 horses -- you'd be wrong. A 61-pound-foot deficit in torque and a slow-shifting transmission hold the Genesis to a 5.8-second 0-to-60 sprint and a 14.2-second quarter mile at 103.0 mph.
It's not just a difference of straight-line speed, either. How fast you can hustle a 300C around a corner is limited only by your preconceptions of the car's size. Though not particularly communicative and a bit light, the steering is quick and precise, and once the car leans into the outside front tire, it tracks through the corner like driving a cruise ship on rails. Goose the throttle a little, and you can even hang the tail out a bit if you so desire. The Genesis, by comparison, is downright boring, owing to its draconian electronic nannies and heavy, artificial steering. In normal driving, the Genesis actually moves through the corners nicely, but even the slightest push will invoke the wrath of stability and traction control systems, which can't fully be defeated. Neither can the 300C's, but they're far more tolerant of exuberant driving and allowed the 300C to best the Genesis on both the skidpad and our figure-eight course.
The real test of these cars, though, is in ride quality, and again the 300C shines. While the 300C knows an SRT8 performance model is likely on the way and can relax a bit, the Genesis tries to be everything at once. The result is a Chrysler that floats down the road on a cloud and a Hyundai that rides like a sports sedan without the credentials to back it up. Worse, the front and rear suspension feel as though they're tuned for different cars, making the rear end nervous on patchy pavement. The Genesis may give its passengers more room, but the 300C gives them a better ride.
Though a formidable competitor, the Hyundai strikes us as a transitional car, for the company and the buyer. It was a solid first effort on Hyundai's part, but now that it's been followed up by the Equus, the Genesis comes off as a corporate stepping-stone to bigger and better things. So, too, is its place in the market, where the Genesis feels like a launching pad toward established luxury brands, not an aspirational car itself.
The 300C has the opposite problem, if you care to call it that. The 300C is the flagship of both the Chrysler brand and the company as a whole. It's the largest, most luxurious car the company builds, and will likely remain so as Chrysler scrambles to fill the void below it. Free of demands to outdo themselves, Chrysler's engineers could leave everything on the 300's sizable table. The result is a car confident of its place in the market and sold for what it is, not what it could be.
The End? Hardly. Not long after you read this, Hyundai will introduce an updated Genesis for 2012 with a new direct-injected V-6, a more-powerful 5.0-liter V-8, and a new eight-speed automatic transmission for both. Shortly thereafter, Chrysler will update the just-released 300 with a new eight-speed automatic transmission. The rematch is already scheduled.
1ST PLACE: CHRYSLER 300C
Better looks, better ride, more gadgets, and a lower starting price. This was the Chrysler's test to lose, and it delivered a star performance.
2ND PLACE: HYUNDAI GENESIS
Still a solid luxury offering from a company not known for such things, but Chrysler beat them at their own value-based game this time.
03-05-2011, 03:53 AM
#7
The Hyundai Genesis has been an identity crisis since the begining, when they were new, they compared them to Mustang GT's, then to the new challenger/stang/camaro V6's, now to luxury sedans? Wtf is the target market for this car and what exactly is it? Sports car? Luxury car? Budget car? Family sedan? Track car? It's been marketed as all of those things...I'm a business undergrad and even I can look at that and tell you it's terrible marketing right off the bat...how can the consumer like it Hyundai doesn't even know what it is?
Trending Topics
03-05-2011, 11:49 AM
#10
I'd take a 300C, especially a SRT8 when they come out, in a NY minute. Make mine AWD. I like the big, bad, "Amurican" look. The new ones look a little softer, but I'd accept the trade off for the new interior. Asian cars just don't look right too me - like Asian bikes. Harley over Honda, 300C over Hyundai.
03-05-2011, 02:39 PM
#12
TECH Fanatic
iTrader: (7)
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: middle of nowhere, IL
Posts: 1,083
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
its fairly clear that Hyundai doesn't take it seriously either, when they won't even put their own emblem on the grille....plus you still have to tell your friends and neighbors that you spent $50K+ on a Korean car.
on a side note, what kind of worthless comparison doesn't give the readers pricing?
on a side note, what kind of worthless comparison doesn't give the readers pricing?
03-05-2011, 05:58 PM
#15
Me too...the new Charger as well.
I agree. 
I'd take a 300C, especially a SRT8 when they come out, in a NY minute. Make mine AWD. I like the big, bad, "Amurican" look. The new ones look a little softer, but I'd accept the trade off for the new interior. Asian cars just don't look right too me - like Asian bikes. Harley over Honda, 300C over Hyundai.
03-05-2011, 06:50 PM
#16
TECH Enthusiast
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Louisiana, USA
Posts: 700
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I'd take the 300 as well....as long as it's in black (doesn't wear white very well). The Genesis just looks too generic both inside and out. There isn't any visual or stylistic hook to it at all. Kinda like a really expensive Camry.
03-05-2011, 10:07 PM
#19
On The Tree
iTrader: (2)
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Waffle Land
Posts: 119
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
They both look like crap. I would take a BMW 3 series over both. I like the other Hyundais and I never liked the 300c After seeing retards at my unit put chromed out rims and bentley badges on them. I don't want to be associated with that. The only Dodges I would drive would be the Viper or the Ram.
Last edited by TheHitman; 03-05-2011 at 10:16 PM.
03-06-2011, 02:35 AM
#20
care to explain? Or does your jackass comment really just sum up your contribution to the thread? 
I'm sorry if you don't agree that this is a pathetic attempt at marketing.
For those of you who haven't noticed some of the blatant copying here's some quickly thrown together examples. There are many more within Hyundai's lineup. (hyundais on the left, Jaguar/mercedes on the right)
I'm sorry if you don't agree that this is a pathetic attempt at marketing.
For those of you who haven't noticed some of the blatant copying here's some quickly thrown together examples. There are many more within Hyundai's lineup. (hyundais on the left, Jaguar/mercedes on the right)
Last edited by MasterTomos; 03-06-2011 at 03:21 AM.