Welcome to Downshift! My name is Matt, and I'm actually here at Road America for the Mama Spring Rally for 2024, and I'm

spending some time with the newly refreshed Genesis GV80. Today, we're going to show you the best and the rest.

Let's get into it! And before we get into the pros and cons, we're going to hit what's new for

2025. Now, this is the first real refresh that the GV80 has ever gotten, and it's a big

deal since one in every three Genesis vehicles sold is a GV80. Of course, the facelift includes subtle exterior

styling, which we'll talk about; more robust interior styling; and upgraded software and technology, which again we'll get into as we go along. Also,

there's a GV80 coupe body style coming later this year, so stay tuned for that. And that's going to get a

little extra performance bump as well. But let's get into the video. The first place we have to ding this car—and

stay with me, it's kind of a big one—is in terms of the engines. And there's a

lot of detail to cover here, so I'll try to cover it as concisely as possible. Now,

the base engine is a 2.5L turbocharged 4-cylinder. Genesis says it's the most

powerful base engine in the class, but the X5 is packing more power. So, interesting how they classify that claim.

But the base engine here in the Genesis GV80 is going to come in at 300 horsepower and 311 lb-ft of torque. It's

also going to be the most fuel-efficient at about 22 MPG combined. But again, the BMW X5, which I kind of consider to be

the segment benchmark, is 375 horsepower in its base and 25 MPG combined, again at the base powertrain. So, more power and

more efficiency from that base X5 engine, but if you want more power, you can upgrade to a 3.5 twin-turbo V6 here in

the GV80, which will get you 375 horsepower and 391 lb-ft of torque, but you will drop fuel economy to maybe 20

MPG combined. Again, the X5 from BMW is going to pack the same horsepower and significantly better fuel economy, and

then if you want more power in the BMW, you can go up to the 8, but this thing is

quiet, smooth, and it's more luxurious feeling, and it still does 0 to 60 in under 6 seconds. Or if you want the

four-cylinder, it'll be under 6 and 1/2 seconds, so it's not like it's slow, but

it is more focused on luxury and smoothness than performance, and apparently fuel economy. And I'm going to

make a lot of comparisons to the BMW X5 in this video because that's kind of what we do here. It's the pros and cons

but not objectively, more kind of in relation to the rest of the segment and in relation to some of the other luxury

offerings from BMW or Mercedes. This GV80 is just missing a couple little things if we're going to compare it to

the Germans; things like massage seats for your passenger, heated and cooled cup holders. You can't get an air suspension

here; you can't get a V8 here, and you only get tri-zone climate control, whereas you can get quad in something

like an X5 or a GLE. So some of these things probably aren't make-or-break, but just some things to know if you're

wanting that last little tenth of luxury and prestige, you're going to get it in Germany. And this one isn't specced with

the third row, but you can option a GV80 with a third row, but I will say don't do

That this is not unique to the GV80; it's really every SUV that's designed to be like a roomy two-row that we have here.

That tries to stuff a third row in, you just kind of end up eating trunk space and then you kind of squish the second

row, all for a third row that ends up realistically being kind of useless unless you have really small kids that

you only need to transport every now and then. So I would say, to get the max luxury experience and the best

experience from your GV80, stick with the two-row and skip the three-row. There is going to be a three-row Genesis coming

in either months or maybe a year or two, but if you really want the three-row, maybe wait for that. And the last one may

be a little bit of a nitpick, but it has to do with this screen here: you don't

have wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto yet. I will say 'yet.' Genesis says this is coming via an over-the-air

update, but as of now you don't have wireless Apple CarPlay, and I kind of would expect that from something that

looks and feels like this and is truly a luxury product. So this will be a little bit more compelling once that update

comes through and you have wireless Apple CarPlay. But with that being said, let's switch gears and talk about all

the great things going on with this GV80. And one of the nice things that I like is that you get all-wheel drive as

standard here. The chassis is actually built on a rear-wheel-drive-first design, which is great; it's very European,

it's good for driving dynamics, and you do feel that behind the wheel, which we'll talk about later. But every single

GV80 that comes off the line is going to get all-wheel drive as standard. If we're going to compare it to the X5, which we

have been all video the X5 starts as rear-wheel drive; they base out as rear-wheel

drive, and you have to add in xDrive for an extra cost. So that's a win here for

the GV80. And of course, the rest of the power then goes from your engine to an 8-speed automatic. Here you do have

adaptive suspension, though not air suspension. And if you go for the more powerful, smoother, and quieter V6s, you

will get an LSD on the back to help with that handling. The upcoming coupe body styles for the GV80 can be had with

the e-supercharger that we saw on the G90. So a lot of stuff to cover here, but

should be pretty good on the road. So a lot to cover in our driving scene later on, and of course we have to talk about

styling, because this is a refresh, and that's one of the things that's a main focus for this year, for 2025. And some of

the changes are as such: your grill is a little bit more shapely, and now you have the double weave design for your grill

versus the single weave that you had before. And also, now your running lights are a little bit different; they're now

made up of your headlights—I should say—they're now made up of nine diodes for each one. So 9 x 4... I believe that's 36. Math

is hard; it always has been. And you also have this more chromed-out lower, almost skid plate-looking thing, but it just

looks a little bit more chrome, a little bit more luxury, and a little bit more elegant. And I have to talk about this

because I called it out on the Redline Reviews Instagram post, but the wheels are definitely Audi RS6 wheels, and I

can't unsee it, and I'm betting now you can't unsee it as well. They look cool. I

Love the look, but they do look pretty familiar to the Audi RS6. Typical Genesis stuff. You've got your dual, uh, bar here

for your turn signal and lights. You've got a more chrome style for your lower skid, or excuse me, skirt, and then some chrome

accenting for your window treatments. But the shape is great. I love this green paint; it's almost black or dark gray

depending on the lighting, but you get close and you really start to see some of the green come through. Looks fabulous.

But then, looking at the rear design, it does look pretty familiar from last year, but with one notable difference: it's

down here in your lower diffuser. You see, you don't have traditional exhaust ports, but you do have this chrome banding,

which looks very familiar to the Genesis logo down here. And, of course, your exhaust is underneath, but it does look

pretty cool, very Genesis, and pretty clean and modern and luxurious. But sizing in general—we'll talk about for a

second—because as we've been comparing it to the rest of the vehicles that it competes against, this is about the same

size as a BMW X5 or a Mercedes GLE. It's got a little bit lower roofline than those

two, so your headroom will be a little bit less, but it's a price that you pay for this sleek look. But this is notably

bigger than a Lexus RX, so bigger than some of the Japanese rivals, and just about on par with the Germans. So I think

it fits a nice little sweet spot right in there. And then we'll talk trunk, but before we do, look, you've got a little

camera here for your digital rearview mirror. And then, where is the trunk release? Is it down here? No, it is hidden

here in your rear wiper. That's very Porsche-esque. I don't know who did it.

First, but I do like that it's very thoughtful. Keeps the design nice and clean. Good move from Genesis, but...

Looking into the trunk here, you're looking at about 35 cubic feet of space. Again, this is without the third-row seats.

And with the seats folded, as you can see they each fold individually, you're looking at about 84 cubic feet of space.

Now, if we're going to compare it to the BMW, which, again, we have the X5, only does

34 cubic feet of space, so this is one better. And then with the seats down, the BMW is only doing about 72 cubic feet of

space versus the 84. So this is a huge win for the Genesis here. You don't have a spare tire, but you do have a load

of storage underneath your floor here, and your privacy cover tucks in nicely. I'm not going to totally undo it, but you

do have some storage cubbies back there, which is pretty good. And I mean, just look at this: you've got some Alcantara,

some suede, you've got Bang & Olufsen speakers back here. Huge, practical opening, very wide, and you can even power

fold and unfold your rear seats from back here. Very nice. Big win in the trunk department for the GV80. And then we're going to check out

the rear seats because they're pretty nice. Now we'll talk on materials and stuff here. This is kind of a darker gray

or green, rather. I'm not sure it's really coming through truly, but it does look green, and I think it looks

fabulous with this exterior paint. Then you've got this nice, like really genuinely nice leather down here, some aluminum

banding. Bang & Olufsen, and you do have lock and unlock, as well as your window shades, which is powered. Got powered

window shades here, which is very nice. And of course, your window controls there. But nice little detailing here, I believe

Some of this is recycled, little detailing down here on your kick plate and here as well; knurling for your

electric seat controls. But look at this beautiful interior; very nice. I love the quilting. Genesis does some of the best

interiors, maybe not quite Lexus level, but very, very close. Very nice, genuinely. I'm going to hop in; I'm 6'1" for reference.

Sitting more or less behind myself, I've got several inches of room. So you can see what I'm talking about. If you added a

third row, this would push this a little bit closer, and then I'd be a little bit less comfortable. But you do have split

panel roof. We've got some mirrors back here; very S-Class, very classic luxury stuff. And then back here, you do have a

third climate zone; so one up front for the driver and passenger, and your rear seats. And you do have heated and cooled rear

seats back here, which is fabulous. You do have a normal household-style outlet and two USBs. You can control the passenger

seat, so if you want to send them all the way forward, you can totally relax. And these seats slide and recline for max

comfort. Very, very good rear seat in the GV80. And then something you may not expect from a luxury SUV like this, but

4 WORST And 8 BEST Things About The 2025 Genesis GV80

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