The Hyundai Genesis was a luxury car from Hyundai that aimed to compete with more expensive brands but at a lower price. It has now become its own brand called Genesis, which makes high-end cars. People are talking about the new Genesis models like the GV70 that are coming out.
Highway driving assist is a feature that helps you drive on the highway by steering and controlling speed for you, making it easier to drive long distances.
Turbocharged means the engine has a special device that helps it produce more power by pushing in extra air, making the car faster without needing a bigger engine.
A limited-slip differential helps your car's wheels work better together, especially when one wheel slips. It makes sure both wheels get power, which helps with grip on the road.
ADAS means Advanced Driver Assistance Systems. These are smart technologies in cars that help drivers by making driving safer and easier, like helping with lane changes or braking automatically.
Fuel economy is how well a car uses fuel. It tells you how many miles you can drive on a gallon of gas. The higher the number, the better the car is at saving fuel.
Active suspension is a system in cars that changes how the suspension works while you drive. It helps keep the car stable and comfortable by adjusting to bumps and turns automatically.
Adaptive cruise control is a car feature that helps you maintain a set speed while also keeping a safe distance from the car ahead. It can slow down or speed up automatically based on traffic.
The Mercedes-Benz S-Class is a very fancy and expensive car that is designed to be super comfortable and full of high-tech features. It can adjust its suspension to make the ride smoother based on the type of road it's on. People talk about it because it's one of the best luxury cars you can buy.
The Genesis G70 is a smaller luxury car that offers a nice mix of style and performance without being too expensive. It's known for being fun to drive and having a nice interior. People are excited about a new version called the G70 Magma that might be coming out soon.
Android Auto is a way to connect your Android phone to your car's screen, so you can use apps like maps and music without taking your hands off the wheel. It makes driving safer and more convenient.
Apple CarPlay lets you connect your iPhone to your car's screen, so you can use apps like maps and music easily while driving. It helps you stay focused on the road.
Genesis connected services lets you control some features of your car from your phone, like locking the doors or starting the engine, even when you're not in the car. It usually needs a data plan to work.
This is a safety feature that helps prevent crashes by warning you if you're getting too close to something in front of you. It can even brake the car for you if needed.
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Premium brands are a thing for automakers.
GM has Cadillac, Toyota, that would be Lexus.
For Hyundai, it's this.
As a car guy, it's astonishing to me that some people still don't know about Genesis.
When GV70 hit US streets in 2021, it was widely praised.
Genesis has brought me to Houston, Texas to check out the 2026 mid-cycle refresh.
On these drive programs that always pair us up with somebody, I got the long straw, the
short straw.
How does that work?
It's the good straw.
I'm with Harry Stern.
Who do you write for?
I write for a number of publications, but JD Power is one of them, US News as well.
I've heard of them.
Some people have.
I spent a day with executives and engineers.
It's no secret as a young brand, our biggest challenge is awareness.
Drove some 200 miles.
It works really well.
And found a great vehicle is now more competitive.
We're also trying to find out.
What's wrong with it?
What are the fuss?
Spoiler alert, not much.
This is the brand's best-selling vehicle, so obviously very important to Genesis.
And it competes in a really tough category.
It includes Audi Q5, BMW X3, Lincoln Novelis, Porsche Macan, and the 500-pound gorilla, the
Lexus RX.
The electrified version gets many of the updates.
That's a different video.
In profile, the 2026 GV70 looks awfully familiar.
Chances are only current owners will spot the reworked nose with new micro-lens
array headlights.
A fresh and lower fascia reshapes the dual pipes.
This rear spoiler supposedly improves aerodynamics.
And there's a lot of changes that we'll be able to dive into a lot deeper that come in under
the hood and really provide a much improved and enhanced driving experience.
The tech briefing was more comprehensive than usual.
Emphasizing the update isn't just cosmetics.
Genesis is expanding the application of hydroposchins to improve ride comfort.
Hydroposchins uses fluid inside to absorb energy.
The fluid flows through a small passage to reduce vibrations.
V6-equipped GV70s have road preview.
The front camera and navigation system recognize the road ahead and control the suspension
to give you the best ride.
When the system sees a speed bump or a lot of roads ahead, it prepares the suspension
in advance to reduce the up and down motion and the shock.
GV70 gets standard for piston monoblock calipers up front with vented discs.
These particular 21-inch wheels have hollow resonators in the rim structure that reduce
tire noise.
Pricing starts at just under $50,000, some $1,700 higher for 2026.
We're driving Top Trim V6 Sport Prestige models that sticker for $72,225 with destination
built in Montgomery, Alabama.
Genesis did not bring the turbocharged four-cylinder or standard trims.
We're pointed towards the wilds of Houston.
GV70 isn't overly large, better when navigating dense city traffic.
I'm notorious for not paying attention, even when you've got enough.
And I'm notorious for you telling me the direction in four seconds later I have
forgotten where you told me earlier.
These wheels and active noise cancellation hush the cabin.
On the freeway, no need to grip the wheel when using highway driving assist.
A finger touch is all that's needed now.
It isn't super cruise good, but it's solid, confident, and automatically changes lanes
when signaling, if it's clear, of course.
Power trains remain the same.
The turbocharged 2.4-liter four-cylinder makes 300 horsepower and 311 pound-feet of torque.
This twin-turbo 3.5-liter V6 we're driving pumps out 375 horses and 391 pound-feet
using specified premium fuel.
Sport prestige weighs 4,740 pounds.
Both engines use an eight-speed.
Owners complained the interface and transmission selectors were easy to mix up.
A gripe I had.
Changes make it a little clearer.
Manual shifts?
Yes.
There are more drive modes now.
In addition to the usual settings that include a custom user setup, there's a new terrain
mode group to better cover slippery surfaces.
All-wheel drive is standard across the board, but this is not a jeep, ground clearance
is 7.3 inches, and electronically controlled mechanical limited slip differential is optional.
The best driving is on rural Texas roads.
Here's our stream of consciousness take, edited for brevity.
We're all used to these new semi-autonomous driving techs and ADAS and all.
This one seems to be especially refined.
It's very smooth, no question.
I was changing lanes, having it change the lanes.
It automatically slowed down before I went into the lane because it sensed that there
was a vehicle ahead, and it did it very smoothly.
There was no slamming on the brakes.
It was about what it would have been like if I had been in control of the gas and
brake.
Sometimes these systems do really jerky moves.
This is especially smooth.
It is.
It's all about the smooth.
It is all about the smooth.
This is a smooth car.
It is.
No question.
The engines are carry over, and if I remember correctly, the turbocharged 4 did 0-60 in
5.6 seconds.
Sounds about right.
And the V6 that we're driving is 4.6.
This 6 sounds great.
And it moves.
Yeah.
You probably can't hear it, but it's a real throaty sound.
It's nice.
Did we mention the fact that the sound is piped in?
Or does it matter?
I guess we just told them that.
I guess it does.
Yeah.
And maybe it doesn't matter.
It still sounds good.
It does.
That's really all that matters.
Yeah.
Noise cancellation.
This is a pretty quiet car.
Until you put your foot in it and you hear the engine.
That's good sounds.
If you don't hear a lot of road noise or wind noise or anything like that.
Yeah.
It's very refined.
Fuel economy.
The EPA rates this at an average of 21 miles per gallon.
We are doing about 24.
That's not bad considering it's a turbocharged V6 with lots of power.
And it moves.
Yeah.
I mean, it doesn't really seem to matter where you are.
It's got plenty of power on tap whenever you want it.
Yeah.
Voice control.
A lot of cars have voice commands these days.
Oftentimes, they send it to the cloud for verification, then it comes back.
So you have to pay for a data plan.
This is all native.
It is.
Which means you don't need a subscription when you get the car.
You get the voice activation as well.
Yeah.
It's supposed to do things like, hey, Genesis, roll down the passenger side front window.
Of course, once it's down, it's too loud to tell it to turn it up.
Quieter.
Yes.
And it gives you a good idea of how much quieter it is with the windows up.
Yeah.
This really is a quiet vehicle.
And when you look at this road service, this is not the smoothest of road services, but
it really, you don't hear any of it.
Yeah.
Here's the other thing.
Genesis is a luxury brand, but there's a big dollop of sport in this vehicle, right?
No question.
I mean, it handles really well.
It does have a sport mode.
It also has a sport plus mode that actually turns off a lot of the stability control so
you can have a little fun if you know what you're doing.
But when you put it in sport mode, it will keep the revs up high and even the downshifts
sound very sporty.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's really nice.
Much more athletic than, say, the main competition, Lexus RX.
I was just thinking the same thing.
It also has kind of a unique style to it as well.
I mean, not just the exterior, but it's got the new display screen, which is new for 2026.
And it's really clear, easy to read, and it just gives it a high-tech look.
Yeah.
I also really like this colorway.
It might look black on your screen, but it's a navy blue with this orange stitching.
It's lovely.
We have law enforcement ahead.
Fortunately, I am not going overly fast.
That's a lot of lights on that guy.
That is a lot.
That's not a sheriff.
It was a constable.
A constable.
Welcome to Texas.
I guess.
There's some other technology on this that has something to do with the active suspension.
Like when you accelerate onto a freeway on-ramp, really hard, it keeps the nose down.
And conversely, if you're slamming on the brakes, or even if you have the adaptive
cruise and another car cuts in front of you, it keeps the front end from diving as well.
So it just keeps the car, basically gives it a much more stable ride.
Yeah.
It feels really planted.
Actually has a suspension system that takes a view out the front and will adjust the
suspension based on road conditions that it sees.
Remember when you could only get that in a Mercedes S-Class, and it was $120,000?
Times have changed.
Yeah.
And that was in like $20, $10.
Cars have become more expensive because inflation and tariffs.
Let's not go there.
It's sporty, but it's comfortable.
I think the only vehicle that I would say drives better than this would be the Porsche
Macan.
Porsche Macan.
I mean, BMW X3 is not bad either.
Right.
I like this better, though.
From driving standpoint, I mean, X3, I guess it depends on which one you're going with
also.
I mean, an X3M is going to be a lot more expensive than this, but it handles better.
But I think this is the better overall package where it's just as comfortable cruising
along on the freeway as it is carving up a mountain road.
Yeah.
We're going to have to wait for the G70 Magma.
They might do it.
That's what they've said is the Magma was going to be their performance brand, which
they don't have yet.
Okay.
What's wrong with it?
What's wrong with it?
What are the flaws?
You know, in these days, cars are getting so good.
It's hard to find flaws with cars like overt flaws.
What do we got?
What's problem with this car?
Yeah.
There's really, it's really hard to find anything wrong with this.
I mean, even the price.
I mean, $72,000 for a car, sure, that's a lot of money.
And that's higher than the average price of a car in America.
But it's still, this is the top of the line with the most powerful engine, the nicest
interior.
I don't think there's really any options you can even get on this.
I think this is it.
This has the extra cost paint.
So fully loaded, you know, five passenger crossover with all the bells and whistles.
I mean, it's really comfortable, really nice inside, really quick, good fuel economy.
Yeah.
It's, and it's hard to find things wrong with it.
The shifter could have been made even more distinct to differentiate it from the interface
knob, but that's all I've got.
Genesis does not shy away from bold interiors.
There are six color ways.
For marine blue is striking.
The hue combination should appeal to Houston Astro fans.
I couldn't resist.
We all know orange seat belts make car just a little faster.
Materials are authentic, modern and unique.
Nearly all humans should enjoy the supportive heated and vented seats.
Prestige trims get Napa leather and quilting to rival Bentley.
Sport models get extra bull string.
Hard to show you the new ambient lighting.
I saw it at 4 a.m. on my way to the airport.
It's both calming and theatrical.
An impressive 27 inch OLED screen replaces two smaller units.
It's easy to read even in direct sunlight.
Hard buttons and dedicated controls remain.
That's good.
The new user interface should be easy to navigate.
Once owners get used to it, there's always some learning curve in a new vehicle between
voice commands and excellent touch response.
This is one of the better setups in the biz.
The user and driver can customize what that display looks like, both from a theme and
color perspective.
Customize a multimedia information display to suit their driving needs while they're
out on the road.
And even customize the cluster modes that they see in front of them on a daily base.
A charge pad is standard on all but the base car.
Available digital key 2 allows owners to send access to the car to others via text.
Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are now wireless.
Genesis connected services relies on a data plan, but it's free for the first owner for
the life of the car.
A quick check of the new 16 speaker Bang and Olufsen system finds it rich and punchy.
The sound quality is adjusted like this.
The big glass roof is standard on all but the entry level four cylinder trim.
As far as back seat space goes, it remains exactly the same.
I am five foot nine sitting behind myself.
I have good solid headroom.
Knee, leg and footroom are fine.
It's not overly spacious.
But these cushions are high and long enough for excellent thigh support.
Door pockets, yes.
Sunshades, also yes.
Also, pockets on both seat backs kind of a pet peeve of mine when they eliminate those.
This being the top trim, it has a separate climate zone back here plus heated seats.
Nice, easy to charge stuff up, including computers.
If you want cupholders, you're going to have to drop this down.
There's no two ways about that.
Anybody sitting on the passenger side can move the front passenger up against their
will.
The spine running down the middle is fairly sizable.
That cuts into footroom for anybody sitting in the middle.
There are belts for three.
I love the orange.
For maximum comfort, obviously keep it to two.
But three average sized adults will be okay for short trips.
The 2026 GV70 is absolutely stuffed with ADAS features.
An example.
Forward collision avoidance assist two is being added as an available option, which adds
junction crossing, direct and lane change oncoming capabilities along with others.
And then we're enhancing our remote smart parking assist to a higher level which includes
now diagonal and perpendicular parking capabilities in addition to parallel.
Like every event I've been on, I am miles and miles away from a Costco.
So I'm not doing the TP trunk test, but I have done it with the GV70 and it scores
an eight.
So it's pretty useful.
Our camera bags will be taking the place of the two-ply.
Like the back seats, the trunk volume remains the same.
It's 29 cubic feet, very useful.
There's a little extra storage under here and a space saver spare.
A luxury few cars offer these days.
No molded in bag hooks is a miss though.
Seats can be dropped from here or here.
Sorry skiers, no 40-20-40 split.
But the cargo hold will take on a lot of kit, 57 cubic feet is not bad, and the floor
is fairly flat.
All right, let's wrap this up.
I would suggest that people look at the GV70 if they're even considering the competition.
It's nice.
This is a really good vehicle.
And different, right?
It is different.
I mean, it's not only, you know, when you look at it, it's got the double running
lights.
What do they call those?
Two-line design.
Two-line design.
Basically, it stands out from anything else, especially at night.
It looks really good.
Inside, you know, they have their own infotainment system, which is really good.
And all of the controls are really nicely laid out.
It's a really good car.
While the 2026 GV70 doesn't look significantly different on the outside, it's better and
smarter now.
Improvements that should make Genesis more of a household name.
In the past, buyers had to hit up a Hyundai showroom to get a GV70.
Approaching its 10th birthday, Genesis has 68 dedicated stores now.
For comparison, Lexus has some 250, 39 in California alone.
And most GV70s for North America are built in Alabama.
That said, the volume on GV70 is so large that we can't build enough in Alabama.
So we do dual source out of Korea as well.
So thanks to Perry Stern, he put up with my tech glitches.
So you're a Bucky's Virgin, huh?
I have never been to Bucky's.
Chances are, you've read his wise words.
And if you're a Bucky's Virgin, make the trip because it really is a trip.
There's never a wait for a gas pump.
It's famous for food like barbecue, nuts, and whatever these things are.
The jerky variety is endless.
Perry and I stocked up and since I'm in Texas, best to wash it down with a Dr. Pepper.
Before I go, just need to make sure that you understand that Genesis brought me to Houston,
put me up in a nice hotel, fed me good food.
But what I'm here for is not all that.
It's the information talking to engineers and product planners so you can get accurate
information.
Okay?
Great.
Thanks for watching.
Hey, remember, subscribe to the channel.
You're here at the end, so I'm assuming you liked it.
Follow me on social media.
I'm on all the major platforms.
And if you have a question, leave it in the comments.
I'm pretty good about getting back to people.
That's Driven.
I'm Tom Volk.
About this episode
The 2026 Genesis GV70 receives a mid-cycle refresh that enhances its competitive edge in the luxury SUV market. With updates to its design, technology, and driving dynamics, the GV70 aims to challenge rivals like the Audi Q5 and BMW X3. Notable features include advanced suspension systems that adapt to road conditions, a new 27-inch OLED display, and improved sound insulation. The hosts discuss their driving experience, highlighting the smoothness of the ride and the vehicle's sporty character. Overall, the GV70 is positioned as a strong contender in its class, with a focus on comfort and performance.
