Genesis GV80 Review & Prices

If looks were everything, the Genesis GV80 would win every contest it enters. In SUV terms, it’s like a combination of Henry Cavill and Scarlett Johansson in vehicular form — just really, really good looking. In fact, it’s so handsome on the outside that many people actually assume it’s a Bentley. Which as mistakes go, is a pretty complimentary one. 

If anything, the Genesis GV80’s interior is even better. It helps if it’s been upgraded to the quilted leather trim — Bentley vibes intensify — but even without that, the GV80 has excellent quality and nice wood trim. If someone told us it cost £100,000, we wouldn’t blink an eye.

However, the digital experience is not quite as good. There is a big touchscreen, and an optional fully digital driver instrument screen, but neither is as good nor as easy to use as that of a BMW X5, and it is one of those cars that constantly seems to be binging or bonging a pointless warning at you about something. At least Genesis has kept physical controls for the air conditioning, which does make things a bit easier. 

There’s plenty of space up front, and tremendous comfort in those big front seats. The middle row is plenty roomy too, with optional electric reclining seats for the ultimate in passenger luxury. The GV80’s back seat is just about wide enough for three adults, at a pinch. Because the rear seats can (optionally) slide back and forth, you can juggle the available legroom so that tall adults can fit in the middle row and in the folding third row, although headroom will be tight for those in the way-back seats. 

Fold those third row seats away, and while the GV80’s boot is reasonably big, it can’t compete with the likes of the Audi Q7 for sheer load space.

Genesis has stripped back the GV80 model lineup so that there’s now just a single engine choice, which is a 306hp 2.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine. This is okay in terms of performance, but it can’t be as refined as six-cylinder rivals, and its fuel economy is pretty poor too. Worse still, the lack of a hybrid or plug-in hybrid model makes the GV80 punitively expensive to run if you’re a company car buyer.

Standard four-wheel drive means that the GV80 has plenty of grip in slippery conditions, and there’s a clever camera-based system that reads the road ahead and warns the adaptive suspension what bumps are coming up.

However, even with the warnings the GV80’s springs and dampers are a bit too firm for their own good, making the car less comfortable over bumps than rivals, especially around town. Things don’t get a lot better on the motorway, where there’s too much road noise, and too poor fuel economy. 

Does the GV80 improve when the road becomes twisty? Sort of. The steering is disappointingly light, and the suspension is still too firm, especially in Sport mode, but the GV80 can be hustled along a back road with more ability than you might think. 

Which is not really the point. The Genesis GV80 is a car you buy for its sense of luxury, for its spaciousness, and for its handsomeness. While the handsomeness is undeniable, and the luxury levels are terrific, it just doesn’t have enough talent to push past its more established opposition.

Still, if those looks and that lovely cabin are enough to tempt you, you can get a great price with Carwow’s Genesis GV80 lease deals. You can also check out used GV80s, as well as other used Genesis models, from our network of trusted dealers. Carwow can help you sell your car, too.

The Genesis GV80 is very well-priced against its primary opposition. It’s slightly cheaper, in basic form, than an Audi Q7, and significantly cheaper than a BMW X5 or Mercedes GLE. However, you do have to bear in mind that an all-digital dashboard is an expensive option for the Genesis, and is standard in these alternatives, while the lack of any choice beyond the single 2.5-litre petrol engine brings with it tax and running cost issues that may outweigh any price advantage. 

Equally, it’s worth pointing out that the Hyundai Santa Fe, which uses much of the same tech as the GV80, is much cheaper, and can be had with both hybrid and plug-in hybrid power. 

The Genesis GV80 is easy to manoeuvre and has decent performance, but its suspension is too firm to be comfortable and the steering feels disconnected

In town

The Genesis GV80’s high-up driving position and the fact that the dashboard is set nice and low down give you a really good view out the front when you’re dealing with in-town traffic. There are blind spots around the big windscreen pillars, but they’re not too bad as there are tiny extra ‘quarterlight’ windows ahead of the door mirrors. Those mirrors are huge too, which helps, as does the fact that the view out of the back is fine. The light steering helps with low speed manoeuvres, but the brakes are a bit grabby, though the automatic gearbox helps make things relaxing.

The GV80 comes with a clever active suspension system that reads the road ahead and gets the springs and dampers ready for any bumps it spots, but it does seem to miss some, and the suspension is quite firm when it hits something. It’s not uncomfortable, but a Range Rover Sport is smoother. 

On the motorway

When you need to accelerate up a slip road, the Genesis GV80’s automatic gearbox takes a beat to kick-down, and although power levels are perfectly fine, the four-cylinder turbo engine gets a bit shouty as the revs come up. 

Unfortunately, when you’re cruising at speed, there’s more noise than you’d expect — road roar, mostly — something that contributes to the GV80 feeling cheaper to drive than it is to look at. Average fuel economy is also pretty poor on longer journeys. 

The radar-guided cruise control and lane departure systems are good, but the lane departure warning beep becomes tiresome when you’re trying to drive manually. In theory, the cruise control learns your driving style and copies how you’d drive when it’s activated. 

On a twisty road

The Genesis GV80’s sport mode stiffens up the suspension’s dampers and sharpens up the steering, as well as giving the engine and gearbox a good jab in the ribs. Even the seat’s side bolsters tighten up. That keeps the body impressively flat through corners, but it comes at the expense of ride comfort, which wasn’t all that great to begin with. The steering is also way too light, feeling disconnected from the front wheels even in Sport mode, but overall the GV80 can be hustled along a back road with more vim than you might expect, even if it’s a long way from BMW levels of precision. 

The Genesis GV80 has seats for seven, but the boot is smaller than an Audi Q7’s

There’s a big, deep storage space under the front-seat armrest in the Genesis GV80, which is lined with expensive-feeling felt so that anything you stash in there won’t rattle around. On the centre console, there are two cup holders under a cover that springs open with a smooth, damped motion. Ahead of those there’s more space and another smooth cover, as well as a wireless phone charger and two USB sockets. The glovebox is a useful size, but mostly taken up by owners manuals, while the door bins are too narrow to hold a large water bottle. There’s plenty of adjustment in the driving position, helped by an electrically adjustable steering wheel. 

Space in the back seats

The middle row of the GV80 optionally gets the same lovely quilted leather seats as you’ll find in the front, and kneeroom is very good as is headroom. There is enough width in the seat for three adults to fit, and the small transmission tunnel doesn’t eat too much into foot room. 

There are posh airline-style seatback pockets, and there’s an armrest with neat cup holders and storage. For extra cash, the rear seats can be given electric adjustment as well as manual back-and-forth sliding. That Comfort Pack also includes heated and ventilated rear seats. There’s a domestic electric socket in the back too, which is handy. 

Someone sat behind the front-seat passenger can use extra buttons on the side of that seat to move it forward and adjust the backrest, which is great if you’re carrying VIPs, but not so great if your kids work this out and use it as a torture device. 

What about the third row? The folding way-back seats are set higher off the floor than in most seven-seat SUVs, which makes them more comfortable. If you juggle around the sliding middle row seats, you can just about make enough legroom for tall adults in both rows, but it will be a bit of a squeeze. Headroom’s tight in the back, though, so a Mercedes GLS is a better bet for carrying seven adults. It’s well-appointed in the third row, with cup holders and lidded storage spaces, but there aren’t any USB sockets which is annoying. 

Boot space

The Genesis GV80’s boot is opened by a button on the rear screen wiper arm, which means you don’t have to reach down under the edge of the boot where all the road grime lives. With all seven seats up and in use, boot space shrinks to being barely usable. There’s no load lip, though, and handy scuff plates. 

Optionally, the rear seats fold electrically and if you do that there’s 727 litres to play with, which is not as big as an Audi Q7, but still pretty decent. The boot floor is reversible with a rubber side that’s easier to clean. The second row also folds electrically (an option) opening up 2,144 litres of cargo space, and the floor is almost entirely flat, but there is an annoying ridge over which larger items will have to be lifted. At least the luggage cover stashes neatly under the floor when it’s not needed. 

The Genesis GV80’s cabin is totally gorgeous, and looks and feels way more expensive than it costs, but the infotainment system isn’t as good as others 

If you told us that the Genesis GV80 cost £100,000, we’d have believed you. That’s based entirely on how good the interior looks, at least, especially with the optional quilted leather for the seats, door cards, and the little knee-pads on the transmission tunnel against which you can softly rest your legs. The whole cabin is beautifully put together, and touches such as the lovely wood trim really lift the ambience. 

The tech story is a little more mixed. There is a big touchscreen, but it’s a bit too far away to reach comfortably. Thankfully, there is a BMW-style control wheel and touchpad, but that too is less slick to use than the German system. 

If you want a head-up display and an all-digital instrument panel, then you have to pick the expensive Innovation Pack, but even then some of the on-screen graphics look a bit too early 2000s, and just aren’t sharp enough. Thankfully Genesis has kept separate controls for the air conditioning, which use a mix of physical rotary controls and some touch-sensitive ones — just regular buttons would have been better. 

The two-tone option for the leather trim looks great, though, and makes the GV80 look even more Bentley-ish.  

Genesis’ decision to drop the V6 diesel engine option has left the GV80 with only a 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, which has unpleasantly high emissions of 241-248g/km. That puts it in the second highest band for VED road tax, and you’ll have to pay the extra levy in years two to six because of the GV80 costing more than £40,000. Considerably more. 

If you’re a company car user, a GV80 is going to set you back at least £350 per month. The likes of the Audi Q7, BMW X5, and Mercedes GLE all come with much more tax-efficient plug-in hybrid models, which leaves the GV80 kinda out on a limb. 

The Genesis GV80 has some impressive safety credentials, scoring a maximum five-star rating from Euro NCAP. That score included a 91%t rating for adult occupant protection, 87% for child occupants, 66% for vulnerable road users, and 88% for the active safety systems. However, if you want the highest-spec driver aids, including the upgraded active emergency braking, you’ll have to spend extra on that pricey Innovation Pack.

Genesis hasn’t yet featured in the Driver Power owner satisfaction survey, so we can’t speak with certainty in terms of reliability, but Hyundai — which owns Genesis — did come in 17th place overall, which is a solid score and ahead of such traditional reliability kings as Suzuki and Mitsubishi. The GV80, as with all Genesis models, comes with an impressive five-year warranty that includes roadside assistance and inclusive servicing, plus Genesis will collect your car and drop it back to you when it needs a service.