When I get a new test vehicle, I try to get out of the city as fast as humanly possible. Driving in Seattle is miserable; driving near the holiday season when it’s always dark and raining is genuinely worse than the worst snarls Los Angeles has to offer. The paved ring of Dante’s Inferno is a hellish test loop.

Unfortunately, I needed to run Christmas errands. There would be no escaping the orbit of the urban core of Cascadia. The only test this Genesis GV80 would get was in the grinding misery of the second-most congested city in America. Luckily, it just so happens that it’s one of the most relaxing SUVs on the market, even chock-full of people. If comfort is your goal (and forgoing a hybrid is acceptable), I can’t think of an SUV I’d recommend over this one. The first reason to love the GV80 is apparent upon opening the door: It is gorgeous inside. Genesis struck a perfect blend between clean minimalism and human-friendly touchpoints. This top-of-the-line Prestige model has quilted Nappa leather on nearly every surface, complemented with matte-finished wood trim. The driver’s seat boasts full-body massaging; every seat in the house has extremely effective heating and cooling. The second-row passengers I took along shopping found the backseats roomy and comfortable as well, although this test car didn’t have the optional third row.
The massive 27.0-inch-wide screen is new for 2025 and comprises both the instrument cluster and the infotainment system. It is gorgeous, easy to read, and dead simple to navigate, with minimal complexity. Among automotive software systems currently on the market, it’s one of the best in both presentation and usability.
The touchscreen itself is complemented by a row of physical shortcut buttons, and a rotating knob offers an alternative interaction. The stereo gets a dedicated volume knob, and for good reason—the 18-speaker, 1400-watt Bang & Olufsen sound system is one of the best I’ve ever heard. The climate control panel consists of capacitive-touch buttons that vibrate when pressed—no more blindly sliding your fingers over smooth plastic and hoping the seat heaters turn on. They are some of the only haptic-feedback buttons that I’ve actually liked in a modern car.
This is all vastly more impressive when you consider that the GV80 starts at a base price of just $59,550—thousands less than German competitors like the BMW X5 and Mercedes-Benz GLE. The cheapest V-6 model is $75,150; as-tested, my fully loaded, 3.5-liter V-6-equipped GV80 Prestige clocked in at $81,300, and interior quality alone meant it still felt like a bargain before I’d even pressed the start button.
The V-6 provides more reasons to feel like you’re getting a steal. Its 375 horsepower comes on strong and makes quick merges a cinch. Sixty miles per hour arrives in six-ish seconds, with a nice engine note to boot. More importantly for the Genesis’s luxury chops, the eight-speed automatic transfers that power to all four wheels with placid shifts, whether at full throttle or crawling along nearly stopped interstate traffic.

The sole downside of the V-6 is fuel economy. The EPA estimates a combined city/highway of just 19 miles per gallon. In my grinding stop-and-go testing through Seattle, I did not crack 16 MPG. Unlike competitors such as the Lexus RX and Lincoln Nautilus, there’s no powerful hybrid variant of the GV80 to boost those numbers, either.
Even if you were concerned with fuel economy, I’d argue the GV80 is good enough to justify the investment in gasoline. The ride is absolutely stellar. It never floats like a novocaine-infused 1970s Cadillac, but it also doesn’t crash over pavement gaps and potholes like many modern crossovers, and there is absolutely no aftershock reverberation in the cabin on even the hardest impacts. This solid chassis means that despite lighter steering, it feels direct and immediate.

Visibility is about as good as a mid-size SUV can get. The beltline is low, giving the GV80 an airy greenhouse, and the A and B pillar placement was unobtrusive enough I didn’t find the car stressful to drive on tight streets with high pedestrian traffic. The driver-assistance features are much better-tuned than some competitors, as well, though with few false positives. Cruise control allows some hands-free operation, although it is not a true hands-free system like GM’s Super Cruise. The fact it let me let go for as long as it did without touching the steering wheel—over a minute, at times—was a bit unsettling.

I solved this problem by keeping my hands on the wheel, and then I genuinely ran out of things to complain about. The cabin is one of the quietest this side of a Rolls-Royce. I-5 paving through Seattle usually produces some of the loudest freeway drone, and yet, I could converse at whisper volumes inside of the GV80 at 75 MPH. Every detail is considered: The HVAC system automatically switches to recirculate when the GPS system notices you’re approaching a tunnel. The front armrests are heated. There are scents you can pump in, and they do actually smell much better—and more subtle—than a Little Tree strung from the rear-view.
This is indisputably one of the most relaxing mid-size SUVs to drive at any price point. It manages to accomplish this while undercutting its German competition by thousands.

It’s virtually trivial in an era of sticky tires, big brakes, and magnetic suspension to clench up a 5,000-pound SUV and make it turn a respectable ‘Ring time. It’s vastly more difficult to build something that takes the grinding misery of American roads and makes driving tolerable, much less relaxing. The Genesis GV80 accomplishes this goal better than virtually anything I’ve ever driven. I was enamored with it even as I headed onward through the paved rings of Dante’s Inferno, and I suspect anyone who drives one will understand why.