SUV Review: 2022 Genesis GV80 Prestige AWD

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“Stop for the wheels, stay for the colour.”

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That’s how one friend described the presence of the Genesis GV80 as it rolls along the road. The glitzy combination of a deep mirror-chrome stripe and gorgeously-detailed 22-inch rims turns heads and stirs pointed fingers from passers by. The deep green paint and dramatic exterior lighting signature keeps eyeballs glued to the machine. 

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This is the largest of two crossovers currently on offer from the Korean luxury brand, and my loaded-as-she-goes tester clocked in with an $85,000 ask. That’s just a few bucks more than a zero-option BMW X5, but for a fully-loaded, flagship-level package with all the toys and several very exclusive features. Pricing includes delivery to your door and concierge servicing with loaner vehicle for the first few years of ownership. There’s no need to step foot in a dealership at all.

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If you’re after something more modest, the GV80 starts with a 300 horsepower four-cylinder engine with pricing from the mid-sixties. My top-dog tester ran the up-level V6, good for 375 hp.

Drivers can expect an authentically high-end driving experience that strongly supports the GV80’s price-tag. The cabin is rich, nicely-finished, and seems as detailed as can be. The designers missed few opportunities to apply lustrous metal trim and texture galore, and drivers will find leather on the door panels, inboard centre console surface, and the entire dash. The instrument cluster features a fully-digital readout with multi-layer 3D effect that adds an exclusive touch, thanks to multiple layers of information that seem to hover transparently over one another within the screen. Though this effect doesn’t show up on camera, it’s not unlike a subtle version of putting on your 3D glasses at a movie — but all contained within that flat panel screen.

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The instrument cluster is home to the GV80’s blind-spot camera mirror system, which displays a real-time, side-view camera feed to match corresponding turn signal activation. This additional, wide-angle blind-spot check for drivers, right in the instrument cluster screen — it’s a rarely-seen-anywhere feature that helps make it easier to gather quality information about your motoring environment. 

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Another exclusive touch is the remote parking system, which allows drivers to move their GV80 for a short distance, forwards or backwards, without being inside of the vehicle. Using the remote key fob, you could (for instance) summon your vehicle from a tightly-cramped garage before trying to open the door.

Ah, but those 22-inch wheels and their thin, sporty tires. In sixteen years of testing luxury SUV’s in this part of Canada, I’ve found this combination to be problematic for ride comfort on many occasions and so I headed to two specific surfaces to see what I could tell shoppers considering a GV80 for frequent use on rougher road and trail surfaces. These include a mogul testing surface designed to exercise the suspension system, and a crumbling backroad surface I use to coax every noise and rattle possible from just about every utility vehicle I test-drive.

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Here’s what I discovered. 

The GV80’s shock absorbers are intelligent, alive, and controlled automatically to fight the motions of the vehicle body, helping stabilize the drive and smooth things out dramatically for those on board. Where standard springs bounce and rebound, the GV80’s suspension aims to reduce body motions caused by uneven road surfaces as much as possible. 

This doesn’t guarantee a stellar ride, but it does help to keep a big, long SUV like the GV80 from riding like an inflatable bouncy-castle as it drives down an uneven road. As bouncing and rebounding are actively counteracted, the GV80’s body comes to rest much sooner after being jostled by one or more bumps.  In turn, the body is at rest over its wheels more of the time, giving occupants a more consistently smooth ride. The driver is more easily able to control the vehicle, as well. 

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But even an intelligent suspension system like this can’t necessarily make up for road surface harshness levels caused by the use of giant wheels and low-profile tires. With the GV80? Another pleasant surprise: it takes a much rougher surface than I was expecting to cause the GV80’s ride comfort to degrade. On my roughest-pavement-possible surface, my tester’s  ride stays nicely composed with less need to reduce your speed and crawl along. The suspension and (especially) body structure both exhibit drama-free performances as they take a beating from the road’s surface. The suspension? It stays quieter than average while taking a pounding. The body structure? It feels as tough and rigid as a pickup truck, and its ultra-strong design all but eliminates structural flexing on very rough roads, as well as the noise and rattles that come with it.

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So, as far as luxury SUV’s on 22-inch wheels go, the GV80 rides better than the norm when the going gets rough.

With backroads ride quality covered, let’s talk headlights — the one GV80 feature you probably won’t get to try until after you’ve made your purchase. Unsurprisingly for the money, the lighting system is excellent. On unlit highways, I noted a clean beam cutoff, clean white light, and even saturation of the foreground with potent illumination from one side to the other. High-beams deliver particularly impressive engagement of reflective surfaces far up the road, too.

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In all, the GV80’s lighting system is at least as impressive as I expect for the money, with strong high-beam performance being the characteristic I appreciated most during a 300-kilometre nighttime drive. If the GV80 happens to be your first experience with a high-performing lighting system, you’re sure to be impressed.

A few things also stood out from hundreds of kilometres of travel on highways 400, 401 and 69, which connect central Ontario to areas further North. Comfort and quiet are key among them, and much of the GV80’s highway driving experience seems honed carefully around allowing drivers to relax and decompress. 

And remember that trick suspension system from above? There’s more good news if you’ll use your GV80 primarily in an on-road setting: the same technological toolkit that helps smooth out the drive on the backroads gives this machine a nearly hovercraft-like highway ride, too.

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As you float along in the GV80, the cabin remains sufficiently hushed even at a good clip, eliminating any need to raise your voice for a conversation with a nearby passenger or Bluetooth phone call. The sound deadening, and the way it contributes to a solid, dense and quiet driving character, work very nicely for the long-distance driver. The seats can even be programmed to slightly readjust their position on occasion, to help prevent back-aches on longer drives.

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If you prefer some tunes at maximum volume, the mighty Lexicon stereo system is happy to help. Whether you want to chill out or rock out, the GV80 provides a great place to do it while you take in the scenery.

One gripe stood out consistently during my highway miles however: the steering system. When engaged, the GV80’s Lane Assist function tries to magnetize the vehicle to the centre of its lane by applying slight steering corrections. I found the system too intrusive at times, and noted a slight wobbling sensation as the system and I argued over the vehicle’s placement between the lines. Pay attention to the operation of this system on your test-drive, as your writer eventually turned it off for a smoother drive. 

The sticky? Other than a sometimes-frustrating Lane Keep system, shoppers considering a top-dog GV80 like my tester can expect a driving experience that adds value by stretching its comfort and confidence across a wide range of driving conditions — whether day or night, highway, or backroads.