Genesis GV80 review

This is a big, luxurious crossover, and it certainly looks and feels the part in here. The biggest compliment we can give is that it feels on par with any of its premium rivals, and arguably more than its £58k starting price would suggest.

Almost every surface that can be is skinned in stitched leather, or a good imitation. The wood is real wood, although apparently Genesis buyers don't want anything that looks too real. Some of the knurled 'metals' are plastic too, but it's all assembled with accuracy and conviction. And there’s plenty of common sense in here too.

Tick the right boxes and you get quilted leather, a monster hi-fi, plus electrically reclining rear seats with their own seat-back entertainment screens. A word of warning, though: that £58k starting price can quickly become £70k.

IS THE TECHNOLOGY UP TO SCRATCH?

You get three screens in total. The first is the instrument cluster, which is eight inches as standard, or 12.3 inches if you spec the £3,900 Innovation Pack, which also brings with it 3D-effect dials and a head-up display. Well worth it, we reckon.

In the centre of the dash you get a 14.5-inch touchscreen, which can also be controlled using the glass-topped rotary knob on the centre console. It certainly looks the part without taking over the entire cabin, and works as well as anything we’ve tried. Let that be a lesson to others.

The third and final screen is the climate panel with haptic response, though it does also feature a couple of big temperature knobs. Works just as well as the Audi equivalent. Other things you need to find fast have their own switches, too.

WILL MY PASSENGERS BE AS COMFY AS ME?

Well, you can spec the GV80 in five-, six- or seven-seat configurations. We were quite taken by the 2+2+2 formation of the six-seater, with the second row of seats getting a fancy centre console. It’s undoubtedly a great way to impress passengers.

In the five-seater you get 735/2,152 litres of space seats up/down, which falls slightly to 727/2,144 litres in the six and seven seaters. That's more than the BMW X5, Volvo XC90 and Mercedes-Benz GLE, and only just shy of the Audi Q7. Any four-legged friends surely won’t be complaining.