Video: 2026 Genesis GV70 Review: Big Sales, Small Updates

But considering that this accounted for over 1/3 of all Genesis sales in 2024, it makes sense that they wouldn't update the GV70 too drastically. The result though are subtle changes that improve on an already winning formula. So let's get into what's new and what we like about it. There are a lot of styling changes to the 2026 GV70, but they're all very subtle. Up front you get things like a new badge design. The grill design is different from the outgoing model. The headlights are new. Still look very similar to the previous generation. There are larger air intakes down here, and then you even get a revised skid plate design as well. Along the side, you'll be able to tell the GV70 is the new one with new wheel designs, including this very cool 21-inch five-spoke design. And in back you get a revised taillight design as well as a revised exhaust design. Under the skin of the new GV70 there are a variety of improvements that make the driving experience just a little bit better. Those vary from physical changes to the suspension, to a new feature called Highway Body Control that adjusts suspension damping during acceleration and deceleration to keep the SUV level. There are also improvements to reduce noise to make this a more luxurious driving experience. That includes things like in these 21-inch sport wheels, hollow resonators that reduce impact noise. And the GV70 still comes with Genesis's active noise control feature that basically uses its own sounds to cancel out road and wind noise. What Genesis didn't update were the power trains, which is a good thing because you had some great ones already. The base engine is still a 2.5 liter turbocharged four cylinder that gets you 300 horsepower, which is more than enough. But this has the twin turbocharged 3.5 liter V-6, so you get 375 horsepower and 391 pounds feet of torque. And it goes. Regardless of trim level, all wheel drive is standard, and you get an excellent eight-speed automatic as well. Inside the 2026 GV70 you get a very lovely interior, especially in this new ultramarine blue. You get blue on the seats, blue on the dash, contrasting orange stitching, and orange seat belts. It looks great. Normally when we praise an interior for visual flare, it's a way to paper over lower quality materials, just give you something that looks good even if once you get up close, it's not that good. Here it's both. This is a lot of fun and everything feels very nice and high quality with a few little exceptions that I'll get to. But the most notable way you'll be able to tell the new GV70 from the old one is this 27-inch display that comprises both your instrument panel and your touchscreen. It looks great. The graphics are very sharp. It's very responsive. The menus are very intuitive. Everything really works well. It doesn't work so well visually. There are a lot of rounded shapes in the cabin here, and then you have this sort of tacked on rectangular screen. It just doesn't really fit. And the steering wheel, as we've seen with a lot of screens like this, can block some of the screen real estate. So there's a clock here that, from my driving position, I can't see. Fortunately it's just a clock. It's not really essential information, but it is kind of annoying. Another clue that you're in a new GV70 will be this D-shaped steering wheel, but you're really gonna have to be in the driver's seat to notice that one. So the things I don't like about the cabin are pretty much relegated to right here. These are touch-sensitive climate controls. It's better than we've seen in other applications of screens like this where this portion of the screen is the climate menu, but it's all haptic feedback, and it's not physical controls, and it just feels a little bit cheaper than it could, and not as nice, though visually it does look quite nice. The other problem is this new terrain mode selector that Genesis has added. It's fine that it has terrain modes. That's not really a problem. Your choices are snow, which makes sense, especially if you live somewhere where snow happens. There's also mud and sand. That feels like you've made a wrong turn. You're probably never really gonna need those modes. But the issue for me is that this drive selector, it's pretty easy to switch between drive and terrain. So you switch when you're trying to adjust drive mode, you accidentally switch to terrain mode, or the reverse. Could be a little bit better functionality there, maybe separate them entirely. But really that's it for complaints up front. It's a very driver-oriented cockpit. Things are very focused on the driver. It's very comfortable up front, but that's bad news for people in the backseat. The problems with the backseat are pretty obvious. This is a compact SUV. There's not a lot of backseat room. That's not unusual for the class. But in the GV70, what I'm left with are my knees at a very high angle, and with my driving position in front of me, my knees are right into the back of the front seat, which wouldn't be the worst thing, except (knuckle knocking) it's hard plastic so I don't really have a lot of give here, and it's just not very comfortable. I'd much rather be up front. Genesis says it's improved the driving experience in the 2026 GV70 relative to its predecessor. It's really hard to tell unless you have a chance to drive them back-to-back, or if you are an owner of the current generation GV70 and you're looking to upgrade into the newest version, you might be more capable of noticing a difference, but the changes are so subtle that it's really hard to tell. That's not to say it's bad. The driving experience is still excellent. The one complaint I have that's most noticeable is there's a little bit of accelerator lag as the turbos spool up. If you keep the revs higher, you'll get less of that. It also sharpens up a little bit as you cycle through the modes, so obviously Sport is more responsive than Eco or Comfort, and Sport Plus is even more responsive. You've got the GV70 now in Sport Plus, which is the most aggressive driving mode. Sharpens everything up. Accelerator lag decreases noticeably. Instead of more traditional looking dials, you get lightsabers across the gauge cluster, although I'm sure Genesis doesn't call them that. It also turns off traction control. Just makes it a lot of fun to drive. This is about as close as you can get to the G70 sedan driving experience in something else from Genesis. This is sort of like the G70 wagon that we don't get in North America. Steering is very communicative. There's very good body control as well. And the things Genesis says it has done to reduce noise, vibration, that sort of thing, seem to be here for sure. I'm not gonna dispute and say that they're not. But given that those were already not terrible in the previous generation, again, it's hard to say that these are truly improved. Although one of the things that Genesis claims to have improved is impact harshness. Impacts over things like potholes, speed bumps, that sort of thing are definitely softer than they were in the previous generation. Still pretty firm as far as suspension tuning goes, especially right now when we're in Sport Plus. But I don't think it's that bad. I'm not uncomfortable. This isn't punishing me for choosing sportiness over comfort. One of the nice things about the GV70, it's just like in a lot of Genesis and Hyundai products, you get the blind spot camera view monitor. Big fan. So because I have the left turn signal on right now, I can see what's to the left of the vehicle. If I turn the right turn signal on, it would do the same. Really, one of my favorite safety features of any vehicle out there on the market today. The 2026 Genesis GV70 improves on an already winning formula and compares favorably in terms of price, performance, and luxury with similar offerings from Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and even Porsche. Where the GV70 falls short for now is in the lack of a true high performance version that some of those competitors offer. But Genesis has hinted in the past that that could be somewhere they're looking to add a model in the future. So, stay tuned for that. For now though, if you're shopping for a luxury compact SUV, the 2026 Genesis GV70 is definitely worth a look. For my full review head to cars.com/news. (energetic music)