Genesis GV70
REPORT 4
£45,635 OTR/£57,995 as tested/£686 pcm
WHY IT’S HERE
Can Hyundai’s posher offshoot stand out on the saturated SUV scene?
DRIVER
Charlie Rose
HAVING SPENT A SOLID FOUR MONTHS BEHIND THE WHEEL OF THE Genesis GV I’ve had ample time to really get to grips with this mid sized luxury SUV My experience? Mostly positive it looks great feels comfortable and performs well But is the veil beginning to lift?
Firstly let’s address the auto parking system There’s a certain irony in a system designed to protect your precious alloys being the very thing that seems hellbent on scraping them against every kerb in sight More than once I’ve braked abruptly and repositioned the car mid manoeuvre This is of course only an issue if the system recognises a space in the first place which half of the time it does not My advice park manually
Moving on to design and build quality areas where the GV should shine Amid the rather breezy Storm Gerrit the GV ’s bonnet was doing a quite unsettling dance in the wind Now we’re not talking about the stuff of viral videos where bonnets flip up and smash windscreens but it was enough to make me uncomfortable This might relate to its peculiar bonnet design which overlaps and features two ‘fangs’ on either side of the grille Presumably it’s not there for aerodynamic performance given the worrying wobble but it does frame the headlights and give a more aggressive look to the front end However closer inspection revealed some worrying panel gaps Setting aside the whopping great big one directly above the grille there is a noticeably larger gap on the driver’s side versus the passenger side This level of inconsistency is surprising in a luxury vehicle unless maybe you’re a Tesla owner
I concede I’m being a bit pernickety the GV still delivers a driving experience that’s hard to fault for the money Genesis is certainly proving its ambition in the luxury SUV market but there are still some refinements needed until it is seen as a serious rival to other established luxury brands