2023 Genesis GV80 vs 2024 Porsche Cayenne

What's the difference?

A low six-figure price tag is not to be sneezed at, but in terms of its performance, standard features, safety and cost of ownership, the Genesis GV80 3.5T Lux Matte 6-seat is a hugely impressive luxury SUV bargain.  

Of all the super SUVs I've piloted, the Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT is the best all-rounder in terms of performance, comfort, cabin technology and style.

As a family car it's roomy, practical and easy to use and drive daily.

As a performance car the Turbo GT is stupidly quick, with the agility of a sports car. Sure, a 911 would leave it behind on a twisty race track, but this SUV is close to having that sportscar experience and keeping your family, as well.

As mentioned in previous reviews, Genesis models moving through the CarsGuide garage are most often mistaken for Bentleys. Not a bad misattribution for a relatively new and still low-key brand.

The big chrome-accented grille and winged logo are Bentley-esque, but the distinctive two-tier headlight (and tail-light) treatment stands this substantial SUV apart.

Our test car’s optional ‘Brunswick Green’ matt paint adds an extra air of sophistication and the GV80 3.5T’s huge satin-finish 22-inch alloy wheels dial up the premium presentation and take-no-prisoners attitude.   

Inside, the look and feel is top-shelf thanks to quilted leather upholstery, multiple (large) screens, polished metal trim pieces and genuine wood details on the front and rear centre consoles, as well as the doors.

The test example’s ‘Smokey Green’ leather and reddish brown dash and door trim colour combination isn’t my cup of tea, but that’s a subjective opinion, and you may love it.

This might be a personal thing but to me nearly all Porsches look better from the back than the front.

It's the wide stance and powerful haunches, the hunkered down suction-capped-to-the-road look that does it for me and the Cayenne Turbo GT, despite being an SUV, passes this important Porsche checklist item.

The GT aero kit only serves to make this SUV look more of a beast, and the gold-bronze looking satin Neodyne wheels are a Porsche theme that I've not always been a fan of, but I get the historic connection.

If only the Turbo GT could look a little less like other Cayennes from the front. This is the king of the SUV range and despite the apron and bumper already being exclusive to this model, there should be more.

Vents in the wheel arches, carbon bonnet with nostrils GT3-style perhaps? Or is that going too far? If you do want something more lairy then there's always the Urus.

The Cayenne Turbo GT's cabin is stunning in its plushness and modern surprises such as the passenger display, the hoodless instrument digital cluster, the lashings of Race-Tex upholstery everywhere. It's perfectly Porsche. High-performance meets high-end.

It's also highly practical. Let's talk about that.

At close to 5.0m long, a fraction under 2.0m wide, and just over 1.7m tall the Genesis GV80 is a sizeable machine.

And with a wheelbase (the distance between the axles) edging up towards three metres there’s plenty of space inside, with lots of breathing room for the driver and front seat passenger.

Move to the back, and as they say, space is luxury, and there’s limo-like head and legroom for the two passengers slipping into their individual reclinable, heated and ventilated seats. Handy too that the driver has access to electric controls on the inboard side of the front passenger seat backrest so they can adjust for legroom behind it.

Even the third row is pretty good, although access is a bit of a scramble. Grown ups will be okay for medium to mid-length trips and the kids will be loving it.

As you might expect, boot space is limited with the 50/50 split and electronically folding third row seat upright. But it’s enough for a modest amount of groceries or some school bags, and we were able to sneak in the smallest (36L) suitcase from our three-piece demo set, with room to spare.

Drop that third row and and you have a generous 727 litres at your disposal, which grows to a whopping 2139L with the second row down. 

The Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT only makes one compromise on practicality and that's the removal of the middle seat in the back, which, with just two kids isn't used all the time but on average we might need it once a week for school mates and cousins.

Instead of a middle seat there is a shallow tray, which will fit a phone or in our case leaves and rocks found at the park.

So, yes, the Turbo GT is a four-seater only, but this is a spacious, large SUV with good head and legroom, wide-opening doors for easy entry and exit, and air suspension which can raise and lower the height for easy access.

Storage is excellent with enormous door pockets in the front and back and there are four cupholders.

There's a wireless phone charger in the front and two USB-C ports as well, plus two USB-C sockets in the back.

Four-zone climate control means the kids in the back can set their own temperatures. They also have heated seats.

I was disappointed to see there aren't sunshades for the rear windows - pretty vital in Australia where it feels like we're only about 50 metres away from the sun.

The Turbo GT's 576-litre boot just managed to fit our pram and a week's shopping, which is our minimum standard for living. Any more space is a bonus.

The Turbo GT is the king of Cayennes, so it shouldn't surprise anybody that it's also the most expensive with its list price of $364,700.

Lamborghini's Urus lists for $409,744  and is the Cayenne Turbo GT's not-so-subtle Italian cousin, sharing the same platform and engine.

Both are in my mind the best performance SUVs on the planet. It just depends how conspicuous you want to be.

Then there's Bentley's V8 Bentayga which isn't blessed with the Porsche's good looks but would still be all over the Cayenne if the two happened to meet at a race track.

So, why is the GT Turbo the king of the Cayennes? What makes it better? For all the reasons you'd think - it's the fastest, most powerful, most luxurious and most equipped Cayenne in the range.

We'll get into mind-bending engine and performance specs soon, but first let me take you through the standard features on a car that's anything but standard.

Coming standard and exclusively to the Turbo GT are 22-inch 'GT Design' wheels in satin 'Neodyne' with full-colour Porsche centre caps, an active rear spoiler, Turbo GT front apron, dual titanium exhaust, rear apron with diffuser, 'SportDesign' side skirts, wheel arch extensions, a lightweight carbon roof and tinted LED HD-matrix headlights.

Inside, and also exclusive to this grade, is the 'GT Interior Package' with 'Race-Tex' upholstery throughout with 'Deep Sea Blue' stitching on the front seats and centre console and the armrests and dashboard.

There's also the 'Carbon Interior Package' which includes dashboard and door trim elements.

Race-Tex trim is applied to the 'GT Sports' steering wheel, roof lining and gearshift, too.

The adaptive active air suspension, which can lower the car by 15mm, is standard and only available on the Turbo GT, too.

The soft-close doors are standard (a cost option on lower grades), as are the stainless steel pedal covers.

The rest of the features are also found on lower grades and include the 12.65-inch digital instrument cluster, head-up display, proximity unlocking, 12.3-inch multimedia touchscreen with sat nav, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, digital radio, a 10-speaker Bose sound system, heated front seats, rear privacy glass and an auto tailgate.

Four-zone climate control is standard on the GT Turbo, too, and so are heated rear seats.

Our car had several options fitted such as the front passenger display ($2860) and the Deep Sea Blue Accent Package.

The passenger display is a crowd pleaser, but as a family car my kids felt like they were missing screens in the back seats, too. Well, in my day...

Despite its substantial (2258kg) kerb weight the GV80 3.3T is claimed to accelerate from 0-100km/h in 5.5 seconds, and that’s quick.

Pulling power is immense, the twin-turbo V6 engine surging off the line with heaps of mid-range power once up and running for safe overtaking and relaxed freeway cruising.

But it’s never raucous, thanks in part to an acoustic laminated windscreen and front door glass, as well as active ‘anti-phase’ noise-cancelling tech minimising road rumble and mechanical noise in the cabin.

The eight-speed auto transmission is super-smooth, and there are paddle shifters on the wheel for when you want to call the shots.

The ride is plush but this big SUV feels well buttoned down thanks in no small part to an adaptive suspension with a preview function that’s able to read the road ahead and rapidly change settings accordingly.

It remains balanced and stable on twisting sections with fat Michelin high-performance SUV tyres wrapped around the car’s big 22-inch rims and a limited-slip differential ensuring drive goes to the wheels that can make best use of it. 

The steering is agreeably light for parking, but weights up nicely as speed increases. Road feel is good, too. Bear in mind, though, a 12.0m turning circle means you’ll have to pick your spots for U- or three-point turns. 

Braking is professional grade thanks to big ventilated discs all around, with tricky four-piston calipers at the front. They feel progressive and powerful, which is no bad thing when you consider the GV80 3.5T is rated to tow a braked trailer up to 2.7 tonnes.  

Never have I met a car this powerful and superbly athletic that is as pleasurable to drive alone on great, fast roads as it is to pilot at 50km/h in the suburbs with a family on board.

It exceeds my understanding of engineering that something this large can move so quickly. That in an instant can turn and tip into a corner with such precision and effortlessness.

Yet it can switch seamlessly and happily to coping with speed bumps and potholes, delivering a ride so comfortable it'll send babies off to sleep. And it did.

The only issue, and this is such a tiny thing, is the dash-mounted gearshift, which means having to reach up and select Drive or Reverse or Park, which, when executing a three-point turn, is necessarily frustrating.

Still, I'm giving the Turbo GT a 10 out of 10 for driving under all conditions, and we didn't even go off-road, which of course you can do, as long as it's not too wild.

The Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT hasn't been locally crash tested and so doesn't have an ANCAP rating.

That's quite normal for super high-end cars. But, when this third-generation model first arrived in 2017 it was tested by ANCAP's European equivalent, Euro NCAP, and was awarded the maximum five stars.

There's AEB which operates at city, urban and highway speeds, and lane keeping assistance, and lane change assistance which is a form of blind-spot warning, and adaptive cruise control. You can option rear cross-traffic alert, as well.

A space saver spare wheel is under the boot floor.