Ever since we learned that Genesis would have a manual transmission option available for the four-cylinder G70, we've been hoping that the company would confirm its availability for the U.S. And that time has finally come. It started when Car and Driver discovered the EPA listed a manual G70 and its fuel economy along with the rest of the model's line. We reached out to Genesis, and the company confirmed that the transmission is indeed going to be available in the U.S.
It looks like it's only available in a rear-wheel-drive configuration, while automatic versions of both the four-cylinder and six-cylinder can be had with all-wheel-drive. We're fine with that, though. The manual also takes a hit in fuel economy. It gets just 18 mpg in the city, but 28 mpg on the highway and a combined rating of 22. The next-most-frugal model is the automatic four-cylinder with all-wheel-drive, which has the same highway rating, but city mpg increases to 21, and combined increases to 23. The best of the bunch is the automatic rear-drive four-cylinder that gets 30 mpg on the highway, 22 in the city, and 25 on the highway. At the other end is the twin-turbo V6 with all-wheel-drive, which rounds out the bottom with 18 mpg city, 25 highway, and 20 combined. Going with rear drive adds one mpg to highway and combined ratings.
Still, even with the lower fuel economy, we're excited about the manual Genesis G70. We already love the way the G70 drives, as well as its platform-mate the Kia Stinger, so we can only imagine that adding a manual will make it more fun. It will also join a rarified group of small, manual sports sedans. Others with the configuration include the Cadillac ATS, Audi A4, BMW 3 Series. Here's hoping people will buy this car and convince Genesis to keep the transmission around, and maybe even convince Kia to offer it on the Stinger.
