Old-school done right: Genesis GV80 3.5T
Interior upgrades, a new grille and wheels, and these ‘micro-lens array’ headlamps differentiate the 2025 GV80 from the ’24 model. This is the top of the Genesis SUV lineup—a luxurious, well-sorted and responsive vehicle that, at $60,000 to near $90,000, still delivers comparatively good value.
Interior upgrades to the GV80 for 2025 include this new sweeping 27-inch touchscreen that houses both the driver’s gauge cluster and the shared infotainment display, as well as three new interior colors: Earth Brown (shown), Bordeaux Brown and Glacier white. Serenity, and comfort and high-touch materials come standard with every Genesis.
If the GV80 has an ergonomic flaw, it’s this otherwise elegant arrangement on the center console. It’s too easy to wind up twiddling the infotainment control (upper knob) instead of selecting Reverse-Neutral-Drive-Park.
Interior upgrades, a new grille and wheels, and these ‘micro-lens array’ headlamps differentiate the 2025 GV80 from the ’24 model. This is the top of the Genesis SUV lineup—a luxurious, well-sorted and responsive vehicle that, at $60,000 to near $90,000, still delivers comparatively good value.
Interior upgrades to the GV80 for 2025 include this new sweeping 27-inch touchscreen that houses both the driver’s gauge cluster and the shared infotainment display, as well as three new interior colors: Earth Brown (shown), Bordeaux Brown and Glacier white. Serenity, and comfort and high-touch materials come standard with every Genesis.
If the GV80 has an ergonomic flaw, it’s this otherwise elegant arrangement on the center console. It’s too easy to wind up twiddling the infotainment control (upper knob) instead of selecting Reverse-Neutral-Drive-Park.
Unlike the gorgeous GV80 Coupe we oohed and aahed over just before Christmas, this GV80 is a normal mid-size SUV. In this case, ‘normal’ means with foldaway third-row seats and without the Coupe’s sloping semi-fastback roof; otherwise there’s hardly anything normal about it. And it’s ‘mid-size’ only in North America—anywhere else, the GV80 would be a large car indeed.
What’s not normal about the GV80 is the same thing that distinguishes every Genesis vehicle from others in its respective class: unabashed presence and luxury for less. This is not to say that the GV80 is inexpensive—our well-equipped (self-closing electric doors, powered rear window shades, heated armrests, etc., etc.) GV80 has an MSRP just north of $80,000—but that it compares with other deluxe wagons that cost much more. This value proposition has been Hyundai’s party trick all along, and Genesis is of course Hyundai’s yacht-club brand.
Why, though, does this one cost so much less than its GV Coupe stablemate? In part because our Coupe had the optional electric supercharger bolted to its 3.5-litre twin-turbo V-6 engine, which raised its puissance to 409 horsepower and 405 pound-feet of torque. Without the supercharger, which BTW is available only in the Coupe, this ordinary GV80 must make do with just 375 horses and 391 torques.
Again, though, there’s nothing ‘ordinary’ about 375 horsepower, which is enough to make this large barge scamper. The V-6 itself, un-supercharged, is an $8,000 upgrade; the basic GV80 engine is a 2.5-litre Four rated for 300 horsepower. While we’re differentiating, note that the third row of seats is available only with the 3.5T engine (and not in the Coupe at all). But every GV80, whatever the engine or body style, comes with a super-smooth 8-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel drive.
While the competition—the Audi SQ8 (500HP, $98K), Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT (650HP, $206K), BMW X5M Competition (617HP, $127K) and Mercedes-Benz AMG GLS (603HP, $150K)—classifies as sport-luxury SUVs, Genesis calls the GV80 a luxury-sport vehicle. Without an autobahn on which to unleash all those German horses, every GV80 does very well in North America, where the top posted speed limit that I’m aware of is 75 miles per hour.
This said, however, the GV Coupe we drove in December is lighter on its feet than this non-supercharged, turbos-only GV80, and therefore just that much more impressive and desirable. The Coupe, we wrote, ticks all the boxes; this GV80, plush and competent as it is, feels more old-school. It’s good to have choices.
Next week: Ford Bronco Sport
