I used to be not too long ago driving a smooth Genesis G70 sedan and observed that the 19” wheels on it seemed like a stick-tortoise attempting to flee from a starfish caught in an enormous whirling asterisk. Compelled, I Googled the designs of different Genesis wheels and found that they had been equally complicated, fractalized, and animal-inspired, resembling issues like a pane of glass splintered by a lightning strike, an argent snowflake subsumed with a gear rotating round Sauron’s eye, a blistered starfish, or the sand-cast footprints of a sedge of cranes. All of this obtained me considering, What the fuck is up with Genesis wheel design?
To search out out, I reached out to Yougjun Heo, the upscale Korean model’s exterior design group lead. Not surprisingly for a model attempting to tell apart itself in a sea of legacy luxurious automakers, this temerariousness is intentional. “Genesis’ model id is outlined by the next traits: progressive, distinctly Korean, and audacious,” Heo says, clearly emphasizing the ultimate time period. “Our wheel design exemplifies this philosophy by embracing bolder approaches in comparison with different manufacturers, presenting prospects with modern applied sciences whereas incorporating Korean aesthetics.”
Wheels are a key component for speaking this positioning, and in making Genesis, as a younger and comparatively lesser identified model, stand out from different venerable marques. “Our group believes that wheel design is pivotal in differentiating Genesis from different manufacturers,” Heo says. “It’s about making a cohesive and hanging visible id.”
Whereas it could often appear to be the Genesis designers are, actually, throwing issues on the wall to create motifs for his or her wheels, there’s apparently an intentionality behind every design. Actually, in keeping with Heo, there’s even a algorithm for creating these rims.
“First, they need to match the physique design. Quantity two, they need to visually seem massive. And, third, the design message should be clear,” he says. Which means that, irrespective of how sculptural or outré a wheel could also be, if it doesn’t go well with the nameplate, it gained’t be used. “For dynamic fashions just like the G70 and GV70, we use extra aggressive and directional spoke designs to precise dynamism,” Heo says. “In distinction, for fashions like our flagship G90, we go for multi-spoke or dish wheels to convey class.”
After all, Genesis wheels aren’t merely about aesthetics or alignment. They’re additionally meant to offer related performance.
“Our wheels supply important purposeful benefits, together with being light-weight whereas sustaining vital rigidity. Moreover, the spoke cross-section is designed to successfully cool the brakes, enhancing general efficiency.”
The purported utility of Genesis’ kooky wheel design will apparently proceed apace because the model strikes deeper into the electrical age. As I’ve informed you beforehand in my diatribes on the subject, wheels can have a shocking impression on an EV’s effectivity.
“As we develop next-generation EVs, we’re specializing in wheel designs that enhance cruising distance,” Heo says. “This contains decreasing weight by solid wheel growth and researching exterior rim cross-sections.”
All of this intentionality has not, but, resulted within the creation of a manufacturing facility Genesis Donk, however a bitch can dream. Within the meantime, we need to supply true respect to the model for serving to keep distinctive and charming automotive design in an period of pervasive conventionality, and for recognizing the important thing function performed by the one element of a automobile that comes closest to touching the bottom.
“It’s no exaggeration to say that the outside design of a automobile is accomplished by the design of its wheels,” Heo says. “Consider it like sporting a finely tailor-made go well with however pairing it with shabby footwear [gross!]—the general look falls aside.”
