That was fast. Almost six months after unveiling a swoopy-roofed concept in New York, Genesis has officially joined the production-spec crossover coupe crew with the GV80 Coupe and given the regular GV80 a round of mid-cycle updates including a huge new screen, genuine usability improvements, and a new high-output engine option. BMW X5 who?
More than 15 years after BMW unveiled the first X6, the coupe crossover phenomenon still feels strange. From an objective standpoint, pairing the fuel economy and handling of an SUV with the interior and cargo room of a car doesn’t feel desirable, but fashion is an unusual industry. After all, the heart wants what the heart wants, and some people just want a little more S in their SUVs.
With that in mind, Genesis has lopped a chunk out of its largest crossover, laid its rear glass back, and created the GV80 Coupe. In profile, you can see that Genesis employed a tapered greenhouse as visual sleight-of-hand to preserve some semblance of rear headroom, although we’ll have to get our hands on the actual car to see how well adults fit in the back. A fast rear glass treatment meets an abrupt kammtail in a reasonably sporting manner, while a stamped-in ducktail balances the car’s plunging swage line. To the consumer looking at a BMW X6 or Mercedes-Benz GLE Coupe, I’m sure this thing will resonate.
However, the new bodystyle option isn’t the only story here, for Genesis has also taken this time to update the styling, cabin, and powertrain selection of the GV80. Revised front bumpers adopt larger corner grilles, bringing the facelifted GV80 in line with Genesis’ more recent offerings. Some SUV models get a double-crosshatch grille and a piece of chrome faux skidplate trim that could be more tasteful, but it seems that the optional sport appearance bits really dial in the family look.
Inside, the first thing you’ll notice is that the gauge cluster and infotainment screen have been replaced with one giant 27-inch screen setup. The re-jigged dashboard to accommodate the new screen setup features a coast-to-coast air vent arrangement, while further down the interior, the center console has been substantially updated. The first console change you’ll notice is an easy-to-grasp rotary knob replacing the weird iPod-like scroll wheel. While it was fun pretending to play DJ in the pre-facelift GV80, owners will likely find this new arrangement more intuitive. Further up the console, more usability tweaks have been made. Sure, the nifty digital temperature displays in each climate knob are gone, but I’ll always celebrate the arrival of conventional volume and tuning knobs. Finishing out the console is a streamlined console cubby that looks easier to access than the partially recessed cover on the previous car.
The other big cabin change in the GV80 is the disappearance of the outgoing model’s chunky two-spoke steering wheel. While the current wheel certainly looks cool, it’s a bit like the Arby’s Meat Mountain — just a little too much to easily hold. A new three-ish-spoke steering wheel seems more suited to nine-and-three hand positions, and it still incorporates a gorgeous scroll-wheel volume control. Who doesn’t love steering wheel audio controls you can actually crank? Speaking of stereo stuff, the Lexicon audio system gets swapped out for a Bang & Olufsen system, but both brands fall under the Harman International umbrella, and the electric GV60 has a Bang & Olufsen system, so this switch shouldn’t be surprising.
Jumping from in the cockpit to under the hood, the updated Genesis GV80 offers everything we love and a little bit more. The 311-horsepower 2.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder and 375-horsepower 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged V6 options return, but a new high-output 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged V6 now sits atop the range. It adds an electric supercharger and cranks output to a stout 409 horsepower and 405 lb.-ft. of torque. Great stuff, and since even the base four-cylinder powertrain in the current car feels stout and punchy, there shouldn’t be any bad options in the updated GV80 engine range. As you’d probably expect, all engines are paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission, and since the GV80 rides on a longitudinal platform, rear- or all-wheel-drive is also in the cards.
Don’t be surprised if the new Genesis GV80 and GV80 Coupe make it to American shores sometime next year, likely as a 2025 model. As the Genesis brand continues to build momentum, a fresh midsize crossover option should keep buyers in the plush world of luxury vehicles satiated.
(Photo credits: Genesis)
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I hear all of the hoopla surrounding Genesis but rarely see them on the road. Am I blind or are they over hyped?
Way back in the day, my buddy had an electric supercharger on his late 90’s Integra. It was activated by a toggle switch on the dash. We could TOTALLY feel the extra power when the switch was activated.
The sameness of these rectangular flatscreen interiors are going to get really boring really fast unless automakers find better ways to design unique elements into and around them.
Time to scream into the wind…
I actually prefer “coupe” SUVs from a visual standpoint to the more traditional 2-box designs (something that has never appealed to me on anything, sorry wagon-centrics), but the only way I’d want to drive one is if someone gave me an infinite amount of money to buy a vehicle but the catch was it had to be an SUV/crossover.
Why couldn’t the Stinger have been a success? We could have proven that yes, there is a market for fastback liftbacks, but no, Kia had to overprice it by 5 grand and not placate the manual snobs.
I prefer almost any vehicle over an SUV, but if I had to choose one, I’d probably choose a fastback crossover over a boxy one. There’s no practical reason the fastback design is better — they have less cargo volume, less visibility, and any efficiency gain is typically obliterated with low profile tires. So my preference is 100% based on aesthetics.
What can I say? I guess I like a soap bar better than a brick.
+1, fastback SUVs look great, even if they’re not super functional. I did a double take and went “I want one” when I saw the first BMWs in that style. And I don’t even particularly like SUVs, I’m a big-sedan person.
Ugh. I am just not down with this whole lifted 4-door “coupe” thing. It just compromises usefulness and you get the worst of all worlds. That said, this actually looks better than the German abominations.
While I agree with you… I was talking to someone who owns an x4. They said they wanted a mustang, but needed 4 doors and space for their kid and dog. So that’s why these sell, in spite of the short comings.
And well, people buy trikes, and this is 100% less of a compromise than anyone makes there.
My mother drove an escort coupe when I and my 3 siblings were in highschool. Once kids can buckle themselves in, the back 2 doors become redundant.
I can’t be the only one who thinks slapping a giant widescreen on a dash that looks like it was designed with a ruler and exactly zero other tools looks incredibly cheap, can I?
I suppose eventually the “whole dash is a screen” thing from the EQS will trickle down and there won’t be a dashboard anymore, just a screen. All those silly people wanting soft-touch dashes. Nope, have a vast expanse of hard glass.
Before you ask, no, I will not stop beating this horse, even if all that’s left is a reddish-brown stain on the pavement. Modern interior design for cars sucks.
Oof…that rear is rough to look at.
I’ve seen worse…
This is rather attractive for what it is.I particularly like the little ducktail spoiler. I’m less crazy about the ginormous Omni-Screen that spans the width of the dash, but welcome to 2023 I guess.
Jesus Christ. The Aztek lives on yet again in another form from another manufacturer.
The Aztek was truly ahead of its time.
Was the Aztek accidentally the most forward thinking car of all time?
….accidentally?
I care. Words have meanings.
So much this. A coupe is a coupe. This is not a coupe.
While I think this would look way better if it hadn’t been inflated to SUV proportions (like a 2″ lower roof, and 4″ sectioned out of the door area), what I REALLY want to hear more about is an engineering deep dive into the electric supercharged engine.
This really blows.
Im a card carrying hater of the coupe SUV nonsense. They’re just rolling compromises. You get all the handling, engagement, size, and fuel economy issues of an SUV without as much of what SUVs are amazing at…space. I’m of the opinion that if you want something swoop-ey you should just get a damn coupe or sedan.
With that out of the way, I do think this is the best looking one out there. The bar is pretty low, because the German ones are all visual war crimes, but this shape works well with the Genesis design language and honestly to me it just kind of looks like a big hot hatch…not to mention the current GV80 is just not a very attractive car to me.
It’s too angular and too busy. There are a few in my neighborhood and I just don’t think it’s a very cohesive design. Genesis has taken a major step forward since the GV80 initially launched and it shows. I’m glad they’ve brought some of what makes the G70 and GV70 such attractive cars to their hauler. The updated versions are a huge improvement.
The powertrains are still well behind the Germans but I’m glad that they’re introducing a new performance engine. I think that it’ll go a long way, but I also imagine that adding an electric supercharger to that old turbo V6 is going to tank its already bad fuel economy and make the reliability a bigger question mark than it already is.
Anyway, I’ll maybe look into a GV80 coupe as my next car after someone else eats the ball punch of Korean car initial depreciation for me. Hopefully the new super 6 finds its way into the G70 and/or GV70 as well. It would make them legitimate alternatives to the Germans and would kind of sit between the M lite/fake AMG/S type cars and the full bore M/AMG/RS monsters.
Hyundai has had a lot of success with the Ns by having them sit between the normal hot compacts (GTI, SI, etc) and the nuclear ones (CTR, Golf R, GRC, etc) and making them a “you’re getting 90% of the full fat ones for cheaper” proposition. I think they could do something similar with the crazier Genesis engine.
overall I’ve always been a fan of Genesis’ (the brand) design language, BUT I cannot stand the angles at the top of the grilles. I don’t know what it is, I have zero problem with the shield shape, but the very acute angles at the top cheapen it soooo much. If they’d have squared it off just a bit more (and made it about 10% smaller) I think it would look so much better.
If two turbos, why not two superchargers? I’m not sure my induction is being forced enough at 3 fancy fan. At four spinning bois, I will know that my Genesis crossover can properly hit Skyactiv Technology, yo!
Serious if perhaps not fully informed answer to your question: because superchargers are powered directly off the engine they should come up to speed and provide full available boost immediately. Unlike in turbos where having a small one spin up quickly and then having the large one kick in later to provide better boost across more of the rev range I believe superchargers provide boost from go. The reason they are less popular is because they are parasitic on the engine in providing the power to the supercharger as opposed to using waste energy in a turbo.
I don’t think I will ever understand the coupe SUV craze. You’re paying more money for less space, and a far less attractive car for essentially no benefit other than a status symbol that shows you’re “different” than the standard backed version of the same car. I can understand it in EVs like the Mach-E and C40 Recharge which use if to reduce drag, but on a pure ICE SUV, the difference in drag is negligible
I LOVE TWINCHARGING*
*maybe not from a company known for making terrible engines
I don’t hate this nearly as much as the MB and BMW offerings. The X6 is especially god-awful. This at least on the web, looks much slimmer and proportional.
The only thing uglier than an X6 is an X4. The Cayenne coupe, Q8 and this at least still look decent for what they are. Still not a fan of the body style at all.
Twin charging for the win!
While I will be the first to admit that the exterior design is not to my liking, I have to be fair and say that the uniqueness and freshness of this design language is something to actively applaude. It’s not just another egg-shaped CUV. So cudos all around.
However, I reserve my largest accolades for the interior. It’s an absolutely stunning interior space. I especially like the fact that they have finally figured out the right way to use a single display in a low-profile and visually inoffensive, holistic structure.
Thank you, Genesis. You are a light in the darkness.
Now please, go talk to somebody at BMW. They are a lost child in the woods.
So it’s twin turbo’d and supercharged? Put this in the G70!
Seconded