Yahoo Autos Tested: 2021 Genesis GV80 3.5T Delivers Guilt-Free Opulence
From the December 2020 issue of Car and Driver.
We love a good deal. Maybe it's the Midwesterner in us. When making small talk with strangers, we know the joy of responding to a compliment with "Thanks, I got it on sale." And while you can't exactly say that you got a 2021 Genesis GV80 on sale, its value will certainly make you feel like you did.
The GV80 is the fledgling luxury brand's first SUV, the follow-up to a trio of sedans (the G70, G80, and G90, in ascending order of size) that we have mostly enjoyed and, in the case of the G70, awarded a 10Best designation in 2019. The crossover impresses with a level of build and material quality that puts some traditional luxury brands to shame and for a price that makes even experts like us do a double take. And once you see the GV80 in the wild, its design and presence may have you doing a double take, too.
Bold and blocky, it doesn't look quite like anything else on the road. When it does draw comparisons, they're not to price-point competitors like the Acura MDX or BMW X5. They're to the Bentley Bentayga and Rolls-Royce Cullinan. Perhaps that has something to do with former Bentley designer Luc Donckerwolke's hand in the design.
The cabin is just as striking as the exterior, and it feels like a new take on automotive interior design. At a time when many carmakers are replacing switches and buttons with vast touch-sensitive black panels, Genesis uses silver-tone knurled knobs and select physical buttons with white accents, creating a light, bright space. The large rotary dial that controls the infotainment system lives in the center console and clicks with satisfying precision as it turns. A wide 14.5-inch touchscreen can display calming nature scenes when it's not being asked to show splashy graphics from, say, SiriusXM's Radio Margaritaville. And every material from the dark open-pore wood to the satin-metal trim to the leather that covers the posh front seats fits so exactly, you'd think it had been done by hand.
That level of luxury continues into the second row, where occupants enjoy plush heated seats and their own climate controls along with big-luxury-sedan levels of legroom. The third row, available only in Advanced Plus models like our test vehicle, lacks the comfort, luxury, and space of the rest of the cabin. There's a USB charging outlet and enough room for two smallish children, but it's better to think of the third row as a jump seat, pulled out when you simply refuse to take two cars to dinner or to the kids' soccer game.
The GV80's powertrain is masterfully executed and refined to the point of being unexciting. Base versions come with a turbocharged 2.5-liter inline-four making 300 horsepower, but we haven't driven that one yet. Our test vehicle arrived with the 375-hp twin-turbo 3.5-liter V-6 that is standard in the top two trims, Advanced Plus and Prestige. Both engines pair with an eight-speed automatic transmission. With the V-6, our 5009-pound example made a 5.3-second run to 60.
The GV80 shares its rear-wheel-drive platform with the newest incarnation of the G80. That the two drive similarly is more of a compliment to the SUV than a denunciation of the sedan, though we'd gladly accept a bit sportier handling in both.
Even though the GV80 is a largish mid-size crossover—roughly the size of the X5 or Mercedes-Benz GLE-class—it's never sloppy or unwieldy, and its 0.82-g grip on the skidpad is more than enough to make you feel secure. The ride is comfortable on the Advanced Plus trim's 20-inch wheels, and the steering finds a middle ground between responsive and numb.
