By Ewan Kennedy, Marque Motoring
Genesis GV80 is a large SUV from Hyundai’s sub-brand marque that specialises in upmarket vehicles. It’s been on sale for several years and has just been updated with revised safety, comfort and convenience features.
There is a big variety of models together with quite a few optional extras. Our test GV80 had two individual second-row seats with power-slide function, wing-type headrests and a one-touch rest mode
STYLING
It’s a great looking car with an oversized grille in a honeycomb pattern. Dual horizontal lights are stacked one above the other. That stacked look is duplicated at the rear. The lower window line is quite high to give the limo look to what is after all an SUV not a sedan.
The rear window upper area has a sort of airfoil look that was admired by all we showed it too during our week’s road test review.
Genesis GV80 is offered with a choice of 10 exterior colours. There are seven gloss shades, and in Luxury Package models a further three matte colours. There are matte-chrome exterior trims and a chromed grille.
INTERIOR
The Luxury Package GV80 we tested versions had 18-way power adjustment and Ergo-motion functionality for the driver and the front passenger seats.
The six-seater we drove had individual second-row and third-row seats and dual 9.2-inch entertainment touchscreens.
The seats in the rearmost position are nice and wide but legroom means they are really suited to children under the age of about 12. Adults may be able to squeeze in there if you need to carry six large people but they’re not going to be very happy…
Dual 9.2-inch HD rear seat entertainment touchscreens, with dual headphone jacks, make the GV80 almost limo like back there. Though it doesn’t have the same stretch out space as you get in a full limousine.
Unlock buttons have been added to the rear doors, which were previously lock-only.
The glass roof shade screen looks to be able to suppress the summer heat from getting into the cabin excessively. We tested the GV80 in winter, which even here on the Gold Coast where we are based seemed to keep the heat out. This may give us a good excuse to borrow another test car when summer arrives as we really did enjoy our test…
INFOTAINMENT
The screen is far too wide and not nearly tall enough to fit in what is happening ahead when you’re using it for satellite navigation. OK, so it looks great, but what’s the point of that when it’s a triumph of style over common sense?
It’s a fair stretch for the driver’s hand to the screen so there’s a danger of them not touching the correct part of the screen while they are driving (not that you would do that of course…)
On the plus side the GV80’s screen is bright and almost has the sort of definition you get on a high-quality TV.
The sound from the radio is very good though as still happens far too often in just about every vehicle we have road tested the DAB+ function cuts out if it’s blocked by tree-lined roads and in cuttings. Apparently, this is difficult to overcome, but it really is time someone made this happen.
GV90’s second-row armrest has wireless (Qi standard) smartphone charger, storage space and controls, including a Genesis Integrated Controller.
There are twin 9.2-inch HD Rear Seat Entertainment touchscreens, with dual headphone jacks
ENGINES / TRANSMISSIONS
The Genesis GV80 we tested has a 3.5-litre twin-turbo petrol V6 with a power peak of 279kW. The torque of 530Nm is spread all the way from 1300 to 4500rpm.
Other engines offered are a 3.0-litre inline six cylinder with 204kW but with a very high 588Nm.
The entry level Genesis engine is a 2.5-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol with 224kW and 422Nm. That power plant may be all that most drivers want so it’s worth test driving one to try it for performance.
Most have an eight-speed automatic and on-demand four-wheel drive, however the four-cylinder in its most basic guise is rear-driven. The latter may be fine for many owners, though if you really want to hammer it hard the AWD system is probably the better option.
SAFETY
Genesis GV80 has a five-star ANCAP safety based on testing conducted by Euro NCAP in 2021. However, the rating only applies to two of the four available models, the 2.5T AWD and the 3.0D AWD.
It has 10 airbags including a front-centre airbag.
Standard features include Autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection; Junction Assist; Forward Collision Warning; Evasive Steering Assist; Blind Spot Monitoring; Rear View Monitor; Rear Cross-Traffic Assist; Driver Inattention Warning; Lane Following Assist; Lane-keep Assist; and Safe Exit Assist.
DRIVING
The 3.5-litre twin-turbo petrol V6 has plenty of grunt and the torque of 530Nm is spread all the way from 1300 to 4500rpm. It’s great to drive thanks to being in the peak torque band virtually all the time.
There’s more turbo lag than we like in normal driving but when you drive it hard the computer seems to get the message that you want plenty of performance and adjusts the lag to make it even better.
Fuel consumption during our 356 kilometres of road testing on motorways, suburban roads and in the hilly areas behind our base on the Gold Coast was surprisingly low. Overall, we used just under 10 litres per hundred kilometres. If you do constantly hammer it along consumption does jump a fair bit – but this isn’t a sports machine so who drives like that?
This is a large SUV that’s aimed more at occupant comfort than at going off-road. As such its handling is on the soft side but competent enough in the way it holds the road on twisty roads. If you do hustle it along it will understeer a little but certainly not to the extent that it spoils the fun. Back off the throttle and it feels happy to putter along, which will probably sit those in the passenger areas of the GV80.
AT A GLANCE
MODEL RANGE
GV80 2.5T five-seat RWD: $92,200
GV80 2.5T seven-seat AWD: $97,200
GV80 3.0D seven-seat AWD: $105,200
GV80 3.5T seven-seat AWD: $109,700
Note: These prices do not include government or dealer delivery charges. Contact your local Genesis dealer for drive-away prices
