by Anthony Fongaro - Photos via Genesis - 12/07/2021
Trying to nudge into the luxury compact SUV segment can be very difficult. Almost every semi-luxury to luxury brand has at least one compact SUV. It makes perfect sense and is understandable. These SUVs usually sell the best and are an introduction to the brand and future bragging. When you look at the at least 13 vehicles in this segment, you can go from a Buick at the low-end to Porsche at the highest echelon. What does a new brand do? Build an SUV that is better than almost all of its competition.
Enter Genesis. This plucky luxury brand under Hyundai started with three sedans but figured out quite quickly that SUVs are the gems of sales. Since Genesis is going against basically everyone from Buick to Porsche, they had to make sure their GV70 was competitive. Genesis’ GV70 had a large task of kicking and shoving into the compact luxury market. For it to be competitive, the GV70 would need great styling, lots of tech, powerful engines, and an upscale interior. Was Genesis able to do this? Let’s take a look.
I really have to give Genesis’ styling department a tip of the hat. For you youngins, I’m saying that Genesis has created such an expressive design for all of their vehicles, including the GV70. When I first saw the GV70, I thought it had a slight Porsche Macan look for the body, which isn’t a bad thing. The GV70’s profile is sleek with creases going from the driver window to the rear window and the rear wheel arch. Genesis is displayed proudly on the electric tailgate along with the Genesis two-line lights. The Melbourne Gray paint and 21-inch wheels make the GV70 look more sleek and sporty. Don’t forget the front end with Genesis’ massive grill and their two-light bar design!
Jump inside and you’ll see a beautiful cabin with plenty of plush materials. The interior is basically the same as every other Genesis minus the G70, so the layout isn’t too difficult to learn. The steering wheel uses a combination of knurled switches and capacitive buttons for infotainment and safety features. These capacitive buttons weren’t too bad to use compared to the climate control I’ll talk about later. This model is the top-of-the-line 3.5T Sport Prestige, so there’s a head-up display with speed, navigation, and safety features like blind-spot monitoring which is brilliant to have. The GV70 3.5T Sport Prestige also includes Nappa seats with heating, ventilation, and a driver massaging feature. The cabin was wrapped in Seville red which gave the GV70 a more sporting feel.
Before we get to the 3.5T, let’s take a look at Sport Prestige. This gets you everything in other packages, which include upgraded seats, 3-zone climate control, surround-view camera, and some other goodies. The GV70 can park itself thanks to Smart Park, has an upgraded Lexicon sound system which has some great Treble, and an electronic limited-slip differential. That last one seems odd, but this is supposed to be a sports SUV. Under the hood of this 3.5T is a 3.5-liter V6 which produces 375-horsepower and 391 lb-ft. Along with an eight-speed automatic and all-wheel drive, the GV70 gets from 0-60 MPH in 4.9 seconds. Even in Eco mode, there’s a lovely little growl from the engine.
Speaking of drive modes, the GV70 has Eco, Comfort, Sport, Sport +, Snow, and Individual. Thankfully, I didn’t have to try Snow mode, but I did use every one of them. Sport + isn’t really recommended on public roads because the GV70 turns into a squat G70 and has some good acceleration but will slide if you’re not paying attention. Out of all the drive modes I used, I switched between Eco and Comfort since the engine was returning 18 MPG. Sport mode felt the best since it doesn’t turn off any of the safety systems. This is a quick SUV and that electronic limited-slip differential makes the GV70 corner better than some sedans. This all-wheel-drive system is rear-wheel biased, so the GV70 can get a little tail-happy and playful.
When you look at the competition, $65,000 for a loaded performance SUV is pretty good. I can’t say that the GV70 is without flaws. I’m not the biggest fan of the fake tailpipes in the rear and the rear window is pretty small and not cohesive with the rest of the design. While the interior is lovely, there are a few ergonomic issues. First, the infotainment system is a touch screen, but it’s too far back. The rotary knobs for the navigation and gear selectors should be swapped; I did use the wrong knob by accident a few times. The climate controls are capacitive but you get used to how hard you have to press them. Finally, the knurled metal and carbon fiber trim get very cold in winter.
This was a very easy verdict to come to. I’ve tested Genesis’ in the past and have come to like them. The GV70 3.5T AWD Sport Prestige is no exception. In fact, I think it’s the best vehicle that Genesis currently makes. There’s just so much class from its design along with a muscular engine and transmission. I really couldn’t find too many negatives other than basic Genesis ergonomic faux pas. Other than those, I think that the Genesis is better than basically every SUV in its class. It’s definitely the best SUV I’ve driven and tested in 2021.
The numbers
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