The Hyundai Genesis 5.0 R-Spec Is A Luxurious V8 Sleeper That Can Keep Up With A Camaro SS

Back around the time of the great recession, Hyundai pulled out all the stops with an audacious midsize luxury sedan called the Genesis. It was so well-built, so refined, and such great value, that it immediately landed North American Car of the Year, Canadian Car of the Year, and Consumer Reports’ top midsize luxury car pick. The original Hyundai Genesis was a big deal when it launched, firmly establishing Hyundai’s next big vision in North America with available 4.6-liter V8 power as a feather in its cap.

However, Hyundai wasn’t happy to rest on that. It needed to inject something more into its luxury sedan, and in 2012, that happened. While it’s still far removed from the Genesis models of today, consider it an early sign of what was to come from the now-standalone Genesis brand.

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Yes, Hyundai upped the ante and dropped in a five-liter variant of the Tau V8 to create the Genesis 5.0 R-Spec. We’re talking about 429 horsepower and 376 lb.-ft. of torque, numbers that could easily run with the big boys in the V8 luxury sedan segment. What’s more, that five-liter V8 came mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission, so despite the extra power, the R-Spec actually managed a single MPG better in EPA highway fuel economy testing than its 4.6-liter predecessor. Score.

Hyundai wasn’t done yet, however. See, R-Spec was the brand’s experiment with sportiness prior to N, so this Genesis sedan gained stiffer Sachs dampers, a single millimeter of extra anti-roll bar diameter both front and rear, 13.6-inch front brake discs compared to 13-inch units on the old 4.6-liter V8 model, and a set of admittedly pretty mid Bridgestone Potenza S-04 summer tires. Mild changes overall, but remember, Hyundai was still figuring things out.

Aside from the 19-inch wheels, the darkened headlight innards, and some extremely subtle badging, you’d never know a Genesis sedan was a 5.0 R-Spec, unless you had one jockeying for position next to you, because that’s where the new powertrain made all the difference.

The end result was a five-liter sleeper that could run from zero-to-60 mph in 4.8 seconds during Motor Trend testing. For the record, Motor Trend managed a zero-to-60 mph run of 4.7 seconds in the then-new fifth-generation Chevrolet Camaro SS convertible, meaning this big sedan was right there with it. According to Motor Trend, the driving experience as a whole seemed about on-the-money, as the mag wrote:

The finished product surprised us on the real-world blacktop. The R-Spec was composed in and out of corners and wore its 4199 pounds well. Compared to the 4.6, excessive body lean is nearly cured in the 5.0, which pushes when spurred aggressively (thank its burliness and 54/46 front/rear weight distribution). Although weighty and more communicative, the steering still lacks the directness of some of its German rivals.

Of equal importance, Car And Driver reports that the overall suspension tuning was leaps and bounds more buttoned down than the chassis tuning on the regular Genesis sedan.

A more significant improvement, however, can be felt behind the wheel. Whereas our long-termer flopped into corners and crashed and clopped over expansion joints, the R-Spec offers much-improved body and wheel control, and never gets overly harsh.

Speaking from experience, yeah, it’s a more dialed-in experience, with less body roll and much tighter body motions over expansion joints. Are there any demerits? Sure. The eight-speed automatic isn’t particularly rapid, and the steering somehow feels more wooly than the German competition, but this is a luxury sedan. You aren’t going to be hustling it ultra-hard, and that’s where the rest of the Genesis experience shines.

You sit in this park-bench-wide, well-stuffed, heated and cooled chair, get to experience a 528-watt 17-speaker Lexicon sound system, and are surrounded with materials that feel right up to the luxury car standards of the time. Add in the fact that you have tons of interior room and all the toys you could realistically want for a 2012 model-year car, and it’s easy to feel like huge miles could simply disappear under the wheels of this thing. However, because it’s still rocking a Hyundai badge, you can pick one of these Hyundai Genesis 5.0 R-Spec sedans up for cheap.

Looking for a throwaway with moon mileage? Boom, a 2012 model with 201,623 miles on the clock for $5,980. Yep, this is an actual car up for sale in Kentucky, and as far as sub-$6,000 cars go, it looks pretty magnificent, right? Think German sports sedan performance without German complexity.

However, before you go running to your checkbooks, there’s something you need to know. Early 2012 model year examples are known to suffer from oil consumption, with some owners noting going through more than a quart every thousand miles. It seems like this issue was fixed sometime during the 2012 model year, so if you want to avoid rolling the dice, you’re really looking for a 2013 or 2014 model.

Thankfully, those are still reasonably priced. Here’s a 2013 Hyundai Genesis 5.0 R-Spec up for sale in North Carolina for $12,598 with 93,172 miles on the clock. Wild to think that this thing’s just barely out of the factory powertrain warranty. Sure, it might have one minor claim on the Carfax, but as a potent daily driver, you could do a whole lot worse for the money.

Or shoot, if you want a really nice-looking one, this 2013 model year example with 78,000 miles on the clock is up for sale in Florida for $14,999. On the one hand, that’s a lot of money for an 11-year-old Hyundai. On the other, it’s not bad for a seemingly well-kept 429-horsepower V8 luxury sedan.

So, if you do your homework and look for 2013 to 2014 models, a Hyundai Genesis 5.0 R-Spec could be the swift yet sensible luxurious highway crusher you’re looking for. Sure, it might not have a roundel or a three-pointed star on the nose, but it’s a 429-horsepower road rocket that promises far less complexity than its German counterparts at a price you can afford. How sweet does that sound?

(Photo credits: Hyundai, Autotrader sellers)

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