2025 Genesis GV80 Coupe Review: It’d Be Great If It Picked a Lane

Pull up to the school drop-off line in the morning with a 2025 Genesis GV80 Coupe and, unless you live in Beverly Hills, you’ll feel like a star. Other parents will wonder what you do for a living, and onlookers will want a peek inside. It’s a special-looking car. The Coupe takes the normal GV80’s already handsome design, chops off some of its roof, and gives it a ducktail spoiler. The result is a look that should come with a quarter-million-dollar price tag and performance to back it up. Unfortunately, when you’re the one behind the wheel and not peeping it from afar, its drive fails to live up to the lofty expectations set by its design. 

The GV80 Coupe is supposed to be the sportier, performance version of the stylish and luxurious GV80 SUV. In the normal GV80, you get a base turbocharged four-cylinder or an upgraded 3.5-liter V6. But that V6 is the standard engine in the Coupe, dropping the four-pot. Additionally, the Coupe can be had with a further upgraded engine: the same electrically supercharged V6 that’s found in the G90 sedan. On paper, the “E-Supercharged” GV80 Coupe is the one that should take on cars like the Porsche Cayenne Coupe, BMW X6, Mercedes GLE Coupe, and Audi Q8. Sadly, though, I’m not so sure it can. 

The Basics

Customers seem to like these SUV “coupes.” To buyers, their slanty roofs and sportier styling must be worth the practicality trade-off, otherwise, they wouldn’t sell so well. But they do, and every luxury brand has at least one in its lineup. That’s why Genesis made one. 

I think Genesis may have bested the competition’s looks, though. Aside from the Audi Q8 and maybe the Cayenne Coupe, few of these styling mashups look better than their standard counterparts. But I think the GV80 Coupe does. I don’t love the wheels, they’re just too messy, but the rest of the car looks great. And I love the new taillights, which sit nicely underneath the rear spoiler. 

Unsurprisingly, the GV80 Coupe’s cabin is killer, too. It isn’t much different inside than the standard GV80, save for the sportier-looking steering wheel and carbon fiber trim, but that’s a good thing. Its interior is excellent, with comfy seats, mostly superb materials, and a design that feels different from the sea of German and Japanese SUVs. I can see this interior earning Genesis a bunch of sales on its own. 

The only interior downside is the lack of an optional third row, as the chopped roof eliminates any potential headroom behind the second row. But it’s a sacrifice many customers are willing to pay for. That said, second-row passengers will be every bit as comfortable as they would be in the normal GV80. 

Driving the Genesis GV80 Coupe 3.5T E-Supercharged

There’s a lot to like about the GV80 Coupe from behind the wheel. I’m not sure how much of it is different from the regular GV80, but it’s still a lovely thing to drive around. With 409 horsepower and 405 lb-ft of torque, the GV80 Coupe is able to scoot from zero to 60 mph in 5.2 seconds. That isn’t exactly stellar for the segment—the base six-cylinder BMW X6 only makes 375 hp but scoots to 60 mph in the same claimed time. However, when the Genesis lacks in raw straight-line speed, it makes up for with silken smoothness. There’s a calm but powerful surge as you flex your right foot that feels effortlessly luxurious. It almost feels tidal. It doesn’t pin you in your seat, but its gradual wave of torque is lovely to experience. The eight-speed automatic transmission mostly disappears into the background, swapping cogs unnoticed. It could be a touch quicker when shifting via paddles, but it’s mostly good. 

There’s a calmness to the way the big Genesis drives that’s relaxing most of the time. It’s whisper quiet at any speed, rock-solid stable on the highway, and it has strong, dependable-feeling brakes. The bones of a great performance SUV are there, and you can tell Genesis cares about its driver, but perhaps not as much as it should. The problem is that the GV80 Coupe 3.5T E-Supercharged should probably be a bit more exciting to drive, given its name and punchy powertrain. Genesis wants to brand this as a sporty version, but … it’s just not that sporty.

OK, so it isn’t not sporty, either. The steering has some decent heft to it, and it’s pretty dang quick. However, it lacks the front-end precision and immediacy you get from most of its rivals, like BMW, Acura, and Porsche. It’s decent to hustle around, especially given its size, but it just isn’t sharp enough to hang with the best in the segment. 

This lack of handling prowess would be forgiven if it meant a more buttery ride, but it doesn’t. The GV80 Coupe suffers from the same slightly choppy ride that I experience and complain about in almost every Genesis. It handles large undulations beautifully, but the sharper, higher-frequency bumps aren’t dealt with as well, undoubtedly exacerbated by its massive 22-inch wheels. So it can feel jittery over rough pavement, which is especially worrisome through corners, as it never feels as planted as something like the Audi Q8. 

Quick Verdict

The 2025 Genesis GV80 Coupe is a car that’s so close to being truly special. It looks like a million bucks, has a stellar cabin, and its unique E-Supercharger V6 powertrain makes it an interesting alternative to the usual German suspects. There is a lot to like here, and I wouldn’t blame anyone for buying one. 

Unfortunately, its soft, somewhat vague driving demeanor isn’t excused by its choppy ride. If it were sumptuous and pillowy, I could forgive its lack of ultimate precision. Or, if it were at least as sharp as its competitors, I could forgive the ride. But I feel like Genesis needs to pick a lane here: either go for stylish comfort or sportier performance. But instead, the GV80 Coupe feels like a car that can’t quite decide what it wants to be, and that indecision keeps it from true greatness. 

Quick Take

A stylish SUV with an impressive powertrain and a stunning interior that doesn’t drive as sportily or as comfortably as it could.

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