A beautiful seven-seat luxury family SUV filled with practical features
By Tace Clifford
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The Genesis GV80 is a luxury seven-seater SUV that looks just as good on the inside as it looks on the outside! Lots of people have stopped me to ask about this car while I have been out and about with it and Iām not surprised because it is striking! Owned by Hyundai, Genesis is their luxury brand, BUT, is it all style and no substance? And will it be any good for families? We'd better find out…
I can tell you the Genesis GV80 definitely does not disappointā¦ It is so packed full of features that made our family life enjoyable and easier that itās hard to know where to start!
Well, Iāll start with my favourite! In the back, the rear window blinds are electronically controlled, which has to be one of the best things in any car I've tested! When youāre driving along you can control the blinds from the front because they are controlled using the electric window buttons AND you can lock them as well as the rear doors using the child lock button on the driver's door control panel. So the kids canāt fiddle with either of them! Itās a great new feature that we will hopefully see filter down into more mainstream cars in the future.
Staying with the second-row seats, there are lit vanity mirrors in the ceiling. Iām sure these are designed to be used by adult rear passengers, however, they are gold for kids in forward-facing child seats and my five-year-old spent entire journeys looking at and singing to herself in the mirror! I can imagine these being a hit with children of all ages, especially teenagers doing their hair or make-up on the way to school!
Another backseat win are the handles to slide the second-row seats forward and backwards. They feel really nice in your hand and make adjusting the seating much easier than in most other SUVās and the seats slide really smoothly too.
The second-row seats are very comfortable and I could sit in the middle between two child seats. In the model I tested these seats are heated and cooled, which you can control in the back of the central console or through the front media screen.
I found three child seats fit across the second-row seats, I installed two rear-facing and a forward-facing child seat using the top tether anchorages on the back of all three seatbacks and the ISOfix in the outer two seats.
There are no top tether anchorages in the third-row seats so you canāt install any child seats in there.
Third-row access in the Genesis GV80 could be better. There is a press button on the shoulder of the second-row outer-seat backs. Without child seats installed this will bring the seat forward with plenty of room to climb through to the third row.
There are grab handles moulded into the inside of the car to make it easier.
However, with child seats installed the mechanism will only work if you are using the ISOFix NOT the seatbelt to fasten the child seats in. Also the seat will not come all the way forwards so the gap you have to climb through is only enough for a child.
So the Genesis GV80, like the Santa Fe and Sorento, is more of a five-seat SUV with a large boot, rather than an everyday seven-seat SUV if you need to have three child seats installed in the second row. You can read more detailed car seat and third-row access information in the āseatsā section at the end of this review.
Legroom throughout the Genesis GV80 isnāt enormous. I could sit in the third row and Iām 162cm (5ft 2ā) and there wasnāt much legroom or headroom for anyone taller.
With a rear-facing child seat on the passenger side, a 184cm passenger could just sit in front of it or with a forward-facing child seat on the driver's side then a 184cm driver could sit in front of it. Or we could fit a rear-facing child seat behind a 170cm driver.
Now letās talk about the super massage I had in the driver's seat!Ā The front seats are very comfortable with electronic adjustment on the side of the bases, which senses your hand when you put it down there and brings up the functions in the media screen. They are heated and cooled too and the driver's seat has a massage function! Which was so needed after hauling my baby around in her carrier!
You can also adjust the front passenger seat from the driver's seat position, using the buttons on the side. I find this useful for school pickups so you don't have to get out to adjust the seats and to help elderly relatives in and out of the car. Some say that big kids in the back play with them while driving along to annoy the front passenger and I can completely imagine those family japes! Hopefully, my cherubs won't work that out for a few more years!
The Genesis GV80 that I tested has soft close doors which are fantastic for families, especially with little ones. As I find most luxury SUVās have heavy doors that often donāt close first time and as a result, you have to slam the door shut which is obviously disturbing for sleepy little passengers but with the soft close doors they automatically pull to gently and silently when not closed properly eliminating this problem.
While weāre talking about the doors, the GV80 also has an auto-opening boot which is a real lifesaver when you have kids. Every morning and afternoon I go out to the car, which is parked boot out so itās ready to load, with baby in one arm and school bag, scooter and/or coffee in the other and the auto-opening boot makes life easier because I can just stand behind the car and it automatically opens so I can put everything straight into the boot without having to juggle keys as well! The side doors will also auto-unlock too, but they don't open themselves up for you (you need a Kia Carnival for that)!
Storage is good throughout the Genesis GV80, with ample cup holders in all three rows of seats though the door bins are small in both rows, which makes storing water bottles a bit tricky. My favourite storage is the space underneath the central console, perfect for your handbag so it is not in the passenger seat or footwell.Ā
With there only being top tether anchorages for the second-row seats of the GV80, perhaps most are going to use the Genesis GV80 as a five-seater with a boot large enough for a couple of large dogs.
This way you will fit any size stroller or twin or double pram in the boot with plenty of space for shopping and kids' bikes etc. Or it will fit seventeen shopping bags. This is comparable to other luxury family SUVs like the Audi Q7 that also holds seventeen shopping bags and the BMW X7 that holds eighteen and BMW X5 that holds sixteen shopping bags.
However, when you are using all three rows of seats the boot space is much more minimal and I could only fit a compact stroller in the boot.
Or five shopping bags, which is smaller than the boot of other luxury seven-seat family SUV's like the Audi Q7 and BMW X7 which both hold seven bags.
The GV80, like top-spec versions of the Hyundai Palisade, Santa Fe and Kia Sorento has remote parking. You can start the engine and drive the car backwards and forwards just using the buttons on the key fob.
I found I used this a few times during our week when parking the GV80 in the tight parking space at the office and supermarket, it was easier to get the kids in and out of the back without bumping the cars parked on either side with the doors.
The media system in the Genesis GV80 is fabulous. It has a nice big screen and a modern and easy to use system with a lot of the great features you find in the Hyundai Santa Fe and Kia CarnivalĀ too.
A particular favourite of mine is Sounds of Nature, which is a selection of white noise at your fingertips and my baby loves the Calm Sea Waves setting. There are also other noises that help to get babies to sleep too and I quite enjoy the Lively Forest one when I'm driving on my own after a frantic school drop off!
There is also Passenger Talk and Quiet Mode, which I love for family life too. Passenger Talk amplifies your voice through to the third-row seats so you don't have to shout to be heard and Quiet Mode which brings the sound into the front so you don't disturb passengers who are asleep or on devices in the back.
The Genesis GV80 has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and you can control the rear climate and seats from the media screen also.
There are aircon vents in all three rows of seats to keep all the rear passengers cool and you can control the climate from the front whilst driving.
The second-row seats are heated and cooled as well as the front seats and there are USB ports in all three rows.
Overall the Genesis GV80 is a fantastic BabyDrive, it is crammed full of luxury family-friendly features that make everyday journeys with children so much easier. We found it a great car to drive, although the kids did complain a little of sickness in the back as it was a little head-wobbly for rear passengers but we found it improved when the suspension was in Sport mode.
The new 2021 Genesis GV80 comes with ten airbags including a central front airbag to prevent heads knocking together in the event of an accident and it has third-row airbags. The Genesis GV80 has a five star ANCAP safety rating.
BabyDrive Indepth
BabyDrive Indepth - Storage
So… How big is the boot of the new 2021 Genesis GV80?Ā How good is storage in theĀ 2021 Genesis GV80?
When using only the first two rows of seats in the Genesis GV80, the boot will fit seventeen shopping bags. This is comparable to other luxury seven seat SUVs like the Audi Q7 thatalso holds seventeen shopping bags, the BMW X7 that holds eighteen and BMW X5, which holds sixteen shopping bags.
The boot space and its functionality are really important. I like to have a big boot space and little side wells or areas I can divide things into. So something I donāt want to move around while Iām driving such as kidās lunch bag or her wet swimming gear can be sectioned off in a little well where itās not going to spill or get squashed by the rest of the things in the boot.
Hooks for securing shopping bags to are also favourites of mine, I like being able to secure the bag containing more fragile things like eggs so they donāt move around on the journey.
I measure the boot space in freezer shopping bags, prams and dogs. Not because I think all there is to a mumās life is food shopping, prams and dogs. (Although it can feel like it sometimes!!) But because these are visually mesurable items we can all associate with. For me, the car company boot measurement of litres is not an amount I can easily visualise and 400L in one car may differ in usability to that in another due to the configuration or shape of the space.
The twin side-by-side stroller fits in the boot of the 2021 Genesis GV80 with six shopping bags beside it.
The tandem stroller fits in the boot of the 2021 Genesis GV80, with eight shopping bags beside it.
The single stroller fits in the boot of the 2021 Genesis GV80 with seven shopping bags beside it.
The compact stroller fits in the boot of theĀ 2021 Genesis GV80 with eleven shopping bags around it.
Or an extra-large dog fits in the boot easily.
It comes with a carpet/mat for the boot floor which makes it nice and flat for dogs, boot suppers and for emergency nappy changes! You can just fold this away to put the third-row seats up.
There are controls on the left of the boot to raise and lower all the rear seats electronically.
When you are using all seven seats in the new 2021 Genesis GV80 the boot isn't very practical for a family of seven and it will only hold five shopping bags, which is comparable to the Audi Q7 and BMW X7 that both hold seven shopping bags.
The compact stroller is the only pram that fits in the boot of the 2021 Genesis GV80 when using all three rows of seats with three shopping bags beside it.
A single stroller would fit in the boot with the wheels taken off and no space for any bags.
The boot floor is nice and flat which makes a good ledge for emergency nappy changes but not really big enough for a dog to travel.
Storage in the cabin of the new 2021 Genesis GV80 is really good in all three rows. In the third row, there are cup holders on both sides that are good sizes for a reusable coffee cup or water bottle.
Also on the right side is a storage box.
In the second row, there are two cup holders in a fold-down armrest in the central seatback. We found these a good size for reusable and disposable coffee cups and for a refillable water bottle.
There are map pockets on the back of both front seats that will hold but not conceal an iPad.
The door bins are the only disappointment in the Genesis GV80. Neither the front nor rear door bins will hold anything larger than a 600ml water bottle. There are also storage wells in the door handles too.
In the front of the new 2021 Genesis GV80, there is my favourite storage shelf underneath the central console, just like in the New 2021 Hyundai Palisade. I loved this for storing my handbag so it's not in the passenger footwell (it's perfect for those convenience store runs too).
There is a 12V socket there too.
The central console box is a good size and has a little shelf in the top, it is fully felt-lined so things don't rattle around.
There is a wireless phone charging well in front of the cup holders with two USB sockets.
The cup holders are the right size for reusable and disposable coffee cups and a refillable water bottle fits in them too.
The glovebox will hold my wallet with the manual but the iPad would not fit in there too.
The door bins in the front are tiny too and are only just large enough to hold a 600ml water bottle and there are storage handle wells too.
There is a glasses case in the ceiling and there are lit vanity mirrors for both front passengers
BabyDrive Indepth - Noise
How noisy is the new 2021 Genesis GV80? How good is the media system in the 2021 Genesis GV80?
You control it with a dial down in the central console however a few times while driving and trying to use it I accidentally changed gears instead because my hand went to the wrong rotary dial… oops!
The Genesis GV80 has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, connecting your phone is easy and there is a wireless phone charging dock in the central console.
The media system has some of the same great family-friendly features within it including ‘Sounds of Nature', which is basically white noise at your fingertips! There are a few different sounds to choose from such as Lively Forest and Calm Sea Waves in the GV80 or even Open-air Cafe. I found these great with calming my littlest one (and even getting her to sleep) when driving.
There is also Quiet Mode, which is great if rear passengers fall asleep or are on devices because it allows you to quieten the sound from the rear speakers and bring it into the front.
Passenger Talk amplifies your voice from the front of the car through to the third-row passengers so you don't have to shout to be heard back there. Also good for in-car karaoke and japes!
You can also control the aircon through the media screen for all three rows of seating…
…which is really helpful when you have children in the back that are either too young to change it for themselves or are old enough to squabble over it!
You can also control the seats through the media screen too.
When you put your hand down the side of the driver's seat then the seat controls come up on the media screen, making it really easy for you to adjust it.
The front seats have a fantastic massage function that comes up in the same way, when you put your hand down the side of your seat near the massage button, then you make your selection through the media screen.
The reversing camera image is crystal clear, you have a birds-eye-view too, as well as 360-degree camera views.
You can turn the parking sensors off with a button down in the central console.
The button above this will turn on the rear view camera while you are driving, which fills the media screen and helps when visibility from the mirror is blocked by child seats or a full boot packed to the ceiling.
The new 2021 Genesis GV80 is not a noisy car to drive. Being a luxury SUV you are cocooned from a lot of the outside road and wind noise that you get in less expensive vehicles. This makes your drive more relaxing and less tiring.
There are few technology beeps and chimes that disturb the peace too. There is a good seatbelt removal visual on the driver display which alerts you if any of the rear passengers remove their seatbelt.
Becoming a parent I soon realised there are some noises and sounds I feel are unnecessary and I could happily live without if it meant my baby stayed asleep!!
That often the distraction of my screaming, distressed baby is more dangerous when driving than not having a lane departure warning for example.
If it is the lane departure warning beeping that creates distress with my baby then which is safest?
Itās where I think we need to be able to strike a balance and choose when we can mute the warnings or swap them to a vibration in the steering wheel or flashing light perhaps?
A lot of these noises come with the increase in technology and especially linked to safety features and alerts. For me these all have their place.
Another thing I have realised is I spend my time in a lot more places where small children roam, parks, beaches, play gyms, swimming lessons, daycare centre etc. I have become more aware that when Iām reversing or manouvering in the car parks I have to tripple check for small children running around behind me or being in my blind spot when reversing. For this I LOVE reversing cameras, I just donāt like their beeping sounds!!
I have become so much more aware of safety and potential accidents or hazards since having a child and so I love the peace of mind that I get from the cameras and sensors combined with my own vision from windows and mirrors as I donāt trust cameras alone.
The indicators are not too loud in the Genesis GV80 and the rear doors and windows can be locked using the child lock button in the driver's door control panel, as well as locking the doors separately.
I found the doors and windows of the Genesis GV80 were not too loud to open and close and the doors have a soft close option on this model which meant they close nice and gently and quietly.
There are controls on the side of the front passenger seat so the driver can control its position without having to get out. I love this feature because it is especially useful when you have a rear-facing child seat installed behind the front passenger seat, for school pick-ups and when helping elderly relatives in and out of the car.
BabyDrive Indepth - Car Seats
How many child seats fit in the new 2021 Genesis GV80?
The 2021 Genesis GV80 has ISOFix in the two outer second-row seats, they are not within plastic guides and relatively easy to connect to.
There are top tether anchorages on the back of all three second-row seats, clearly labelled and within plastic guides and easy to connect to through the boot.
I found three child seats would just fit across this second row. I installed two rear-facing child seats and a forward-facing but three slim forward-facing child seats will fit across.
We found that with two child seats installed in the outer second-row seats I can sit comfortably between them and I'm 162cm.
Unfortunately, the third-row seats do not have any top tether anchorages or ISOFix points so I couldn't install any child seats back there.
I could sit in the third-row comfortably and I'm 162cm tall. We found that legroom was good in the GV80, with a 162cm passenger in the third-row we could put the second-row seats in their furthest back position and have a rear-facing child seat behind a 170cm driver. Or if we put the rear-facing child seat on the passenger side then a 184cm passenger can fit in front of it.
To access the third-row seats you do have to uninstall a child seat from the second-row and fold a seat forward to get through if you have used the seatbelt to instal the child seats. Or if you have used the ISOfix you can bring one of the outer seats forward far enough that a child would be able to fit through the gap to the third-row seats.
There are access buttons on the side of the front passenger seat, which make it easy for the driver to move that seat electronically without having to get out of the car. We find this helpful when we have child seats installed in the back when doing school pick-ups and helping elderly relatives in and out of the car.
Posting bub into their child seats in the second-row from inside and outside the car is nice and easy in the Genesis GV80. Being a large seven-seat SUV, the ceiling is nice and high and there is plenty of interior space.
Australia being a country of weather extremes; blazing sun and torrential rain, mean you may find it easier to put Bub into their seat from inside the car sometimes. If itās hot you can get the air-con going, cool the car down and not stand out in the sun while you fasten them in or shelter from the rain and not get soaked yourself whilst youāre doing it. So it is important to test whether Bub can be easily installed from either direction!
I found there is room to feed bub in the back with a child seat installed.
BabyDrive Indepth - Drive & Comfort
How comfortable is the new 2021 Genesis GV80? And How good is the new 2021 Genesis GV80 to drive?
The front seats of the new 2021 Genesis GV80 are beautifully quilted bottle green leather in the model I tested.
They are REALLY comfortable and easily adjustable using the buttons down the side of the seats.
When you put your hand down there it brings up the adjustment on the media screen.
You can also select your massage this way too!
For a mum travelling in the back with bub, the second-row seats are very comfortable too. In the central seat, you can feel the firmness of the fold-down central armrest.
There is a small hump in the central aisle footwell that you can easily straddle.
For the first year of my first daughters life when we would go out as a family, if I wasnāt driving, I would travel in the back with her so itās important to check the back seat comfort as you may be spending a lot of time in them! They were never something I gave any thought to before but I definitely notice a good or bad back seat now!
The third-row seats are comfortable too, with good head room and kick room for a 164cm passenger and easy to fold up and down using buttons on the inside of the boot.
The steering wheel has electronic full adjustment in/out and up/down. The cruise controls are on the right of the steering wheel and they are easy to use. I found the cruise control in the 2021 Genesis GV80 to be very accurate on both motorways and at lower speeds on undulating roads, which is great to be able to rely on.
Although it looks like one continuous air vent there are four air-conditioning vents on the front dashboard of the Genesis GV80; two below the media screen and one at either end of the dash…
… and two more air-conditioning vents in the back of the central console box for the second-row passengers and controls there too…
…plus two more in the walls above the cup holders for the third-row passengers.
There are air-con controls in the central dashboard…
…or within the climate function in the main screen, you can control all three rows of vents.
There are handles above both rear doors that are well-positioned to hold a baby toy for rear-facing passengers.
There are the best built-in window blinds in the rear-door windows I've ever seen!
They are electronically raised and lowered using the window opening buttons. This means you can lock them with the child lock button and kids can't fiddle with them and you can raise and lower them while you are driving along from the driver's door control panel.
There is a glasses case in the ceiling and there are lit vanity mirrors in both front visors…
…as well as second-row lit vanity mirrors in the ceiling. These are fantastic for keeping kids of all ages entertained on long journeys from toddlers to teenagers!
Also, the model I tested had rear coat hooks on the side pillars.
Visibility in the new 2021 Genesis GV80 is affected out of the back when you have three child seats installed. I found the rearview camera really helped with this as well as the remote parking, which allowed us to easily get in and out of the car when parked in narrow spaces.
One thing I have noticed since being a mum is I hate it when I reach a destination or get home from being out and my daughter has either done really well in the car or she is screaming her head off and I have done really well to keep it together for the entire journey (usually the latter!!) and it takes 10 minutes to park the car! It can be really stressful. Usually I dread parking new cars as they take longer in our tight apartment block carpark, but the Genesis GV80 was okay to park as the visibility with the cameras is very good and the remote parking helped!
BabyDrive Indepth - Safety
How safe is the 2021 Genesis GV80?
The 2021 Genesis GV80 has been given a five-star ANCAP safety rating. Scoring was 91% for Adult Occupancy testing and 88% for Child Occupancy testing.
ANCAP said of the Child Occupancy testing:
In both the frontal offset and side impact tests, protection was GOOD for all critical body areas for both the 6 year and 10 year child dummies.
The Genesis GV80 is fitted with lower ISOFix anchorages on the second row outboard seats and top tether anchorages for all second row seating positions. Top tethers are not available in the third row. Installation of child restraints in the third row is therefore not recommended.
Installation of typical child restraints available in Australia and New Zealand showed most child restraints could be accommodated in most second-row seating positions, though one of the selected Type A convertible seats could not be correctly installed in rearward facing mode using the ISOfix anchorages. In addition, care is required when installing a Type E booster in the second row centre position.
The Genesis GV80 comes with ten airbags, including frontal airbags for driver and passenger, driver knee, central airbag between the driver and front passenger, side head and chest curtain airbags for the first and second row outer seats and third row head protection airbags.
The 2021 Genesis GV80 has a seatbelt removal warning for both rear rows of seats, which is clearly visible in the drivers display screen.
Some of these safety features are also features that drive me crazy as a mum! Like the lane departure and forward collision alert or the parking sensor beeping sound. I want all the safety technology AND to be able to mute the sound when my daughters are asleep!
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About Tace Clifford
Tace Clifford founded BabyDrive in 2017 after discovering a huge information gap in mainstream car reviews that left new parents and expanding families in the dark when it came to one of the biggest purchasing decisions of their lives.
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