About that headline. Saying the name of the car "2022 Genesis G80 AWD 3.5T Sport Prestige" is the most effort that you'll ever associate with this car. Okay, maybe working to make the payments, but still.
And effortlessness is the biggest impression I have of the car. It describes what it's like to drive, how easily it generates a remarkable amount of speed and power and how quickly Genesis itself (the luxury arm of Hyundai) has pulled up alongside Lexus on the list of Asian luxury cars worth serious consideration.
Under the hood, it's a 375-horsepower 3.5-liter turbo V6 with 391 pounds per foot of torque. An eight-speed automatic handles the gear changes. There's an electronically controlled suspension and selectable drive modes. Sixty miles an hour happens from a standing start in 4.9 seconds, and the EPA's fuel economy average is 17 miles per gallon city, 26 highway.
The base price of the 2022 Genesis G80 AWD 3.5T Sport Prestige is $63,700. That's not a shockingly low number in and of itself, but this is that level of power, all-wheel drive and the top trim level, so...not bad at all. And the standard equipment list is exhaustive. Just some highlights: a full suite of active safety features, 19-inch sport wheels, LED quad headlights, LED rear combination lamps, a panoramic sunroof, leather seating surfaces, 12-way power front seats that are heated and ventilated (the rears are heated), sport aluminum trim, a leatherette wrapped and stitched upper instrument panel, adjustable ambient lighting, three-zone climate control, premium navigation with a 14.5-inch HD screen, and a 21-speaker Lexicon premium audio system.
In fact, the only option on our test car, apart from the $575 Cavendish Red paint, was the Prestige Package. For $6,800, you get summer performance tires, 20-inch sport wheels, Nappa leather seating surfaces, microfiber suede headliner and pillars, rear parking collision avoidance assist, a head-up display, a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, forward attention warning, electronically controlled suspension with sport tuning, rear wheel steering, active noise control and carbon fiber trim.
Fold in $1,095 for inland freight and handling and the as-tested price of the 2022 Genesis G80 AWD 3.5T Sport Prestige is $72,170---which would be very difficult to match or beat with a comparable vehicle---although the G80 2.5T I reviewed almost a year ago gets pretty close to the performance numbers, makes do with a little less luxe and comes in 20 grand less. Consider the two bookends of a range of impressive ways you can have the Genesis G80.
