This week I was immediately love at first sight with the 2025 Genesis GV70 Prestige. I have always found Genesis vehicles attractive as attainable extravagance, and with the matte black paint of the GV70, this was even more so.
My eyes lit up seeing it and everyone else who saw the same agreed. It was a stylish ride inside and out, with a fairly spacious interior for a smaller vehicle.
I felt the pale grey interior was synonymous with luxury. It gave the vehicle a very clean, sterile feel; close to, but more practical than white. And in consideration of this cleanliness, this pale grey faux leather detailing stopped at calf length, transitioning into a dark chocolatey brown instead. This was both unique and functional, hiding day to day dirt and any debris.
The dashboard and infotainment system in one was smaller and compact than I have seen in other models. A little hard to view past the wheel, depending on where your seat is set at. Fairly comfortable with ample lumbar and detailed adjustments. Plus heating and cooling that were hotter and icier than I have experienced. I found the former especially powerful. At the highest setting I found it too hot, so appreciated having the option to tone in down and take on more heat as needed.
Everything on the dash board is sleek and uniform. The screen curving complementary to the climate control panel and seamless air vents. It all blends into the neon light piping that accented the cabin with your choice of colour.
I really liked the thumb dimples on the wheel, it was ergonomic and lovely to feel, despite the heavy and stocky wheel itself. I found the wheel stiff and required more effort to turn, but this also provided a stronger sensation of manoeuvring and control.
I liked the less aggravating sounding proximity alarms. It offered a mellow baritone hum, and a more hollow sounding and longer held clicks. It is already pretty anxiety ridden having to park in some of Vancouver’s narrow stalls, driver’s don’t need the additional stressors
A minor inconvenience was the almost minute long wait for your device to sync up with the car. However, when it does, it immediately starts to play your music, which always startled me when it did.
I also would have liked the side door bin wider. It was too narrow to fit my usual water bottle, but there was plenty of binning to store everything else.
I did find the traction pad on the wheel a nice convenience. This was less than a centimetre by a centimetre small square, a short cut that allows you to scroll through all the widgets. And basically offered the same functions that were on the infotainment screen, but condensed and with the ability to swipe right or left.
And in order to keep things fresh there was an automatic air conditioning to dry cool the cabin, once the car was turned off.
As for the way it drives, it is easy to handle and quick to familiarize with. It glides on turns, hugging the pavement to minimize body rolling. Most importantly the brakes were incredibly responsive, stopping steady. The latter well proven with a close call from a driver who decided that he had enough time to turn left on my green light.
