Car Tech Blog - 2021 Genesis GV80
It was an interesting combination of analog and digital technology. The
Speedometer and the fuel gauge were analog but the RPM and engine temp gauge
were digital. Then in the center was a digital screen as is typical in newer vehicles.
To view our in-depth video of the Driver's Information Screen and the Infotainment System click HERE
This particular SUV did not have the large fully digital 3D dash, which I would have
loved to see. The center part of the drivers information screen, where we can see loads of
information typically was of a simpler design, showing only 3 different menus, and within
those menus only two had multiple pages of info contained within. There was a menu
for Turn-by-Turn Navigation, a menu to turn on/off the HUD display and access Driver
assistance items, and a 3rd menu that had multiple screens containing pertinent driving
info such as tire pressure page, a Trip A and B page, and so on.
The fact that the info contained in the drivers information screen was limited was
not a surprise. There are a few manufactures that are moving this way. The surprises
for me at least came when I tried to access the Driver Assistance page. It told me me to
click “OK” which I did, but nothing happened, except that it exited back to the previous
screen. Turns out that the Driver Assistance that you click on in the Drivers Information
Screen only shows on the Infotainment screen, not only that but you then have to switch
over to the infotainment controls to change anything.
I don’t know about you, but to me, if your going to put something in the Drivers
Information Screen that you can click on ie. Driver Assistance, it should then show up in
the Drivers Information Screen for you to control. So I was disappointed that you had to
not only switch screens but also controls. That being said, it did offer a lot of
customization, I just did not like how the interface worked.
The steering wheel was also not as intuitive as I had hoped. There were two buttons on
each side ( four total) that although they were one solid button, had two different
functions depending on if you clicked on the top or the bottom of the button. I wish they
would have simply created two separate buttons, one for each function, then it is more
intuitive for the user (in my humble opinion).
The buttons for the cruise control were very different from anything else I had
seen before. Basically to turn cruise control on, you needed to click on a button labeled
“Mode” with a little tiny picture of a speedometer on it. Then to set the cruise, increase
or decrease speed there was a toggle that you would push in to set the cruise, and push
up or down to increase or decrease the cruise control speed. I would have just liked a
simple ‘ON-OFF” label next to the diagram, I think it would be more intuitive to users.
But thats just me perhaps.
That brings me to the cruise control. In terms of adaptive cruise control this SUV
really went all out. You not only have regular adaptive cruise control that operates as
expected, it also had two other tricks up its sleeve.
One was to make in fully adaptive with stop-and-go technology, but also able to read not
only speed limit signs and adjust your speed accordingly but also able to read upcoming
events in the road. For example it knows to slow down for round-about, and to
accelerate on an on ramp to a highway or free way. It knows to accelerate when you
signal to change lanes and pass a car, then after you signal and pull back into your
original lane, knows to slow down again.
Secondly as if that was not quite enough, this also has SMART Cruise control where the
vehicle, over time, learns how you drive (hard acceleration or soft acceleration, hard
braking, soft braking, and then mimics them when SMART cruise control is activated.
Got to love that!
Infotainment System
The infotainment system has an impressive 1050 Watt, 21 Speaker Lexicon
Premium sound system. It has Apple Car Play, Android Auto, Bluetooth, AM, FM, HD
Radio and SXM (Sirius XM) Radio. The screen is 14.5” wide, but is only about 4” tall. It
is a touch screen but also has physical controllers in the center column just up from the
rotary shifter.
I found it easier to use the physical controls because to touch the screen
especially on the right hand side of the screen seemed to be a stretch. The physical
controller takes a bit to get used to. It’s quite intuitive while your going forward clicking
on various items in a menu. It was not quite so intuitive going backwards. Now it seem
a bit silly of me to say that, because to go backwards in a menu, all you have to do is
use the “Back” button located just above the dial, but intuition told me to just press the
left arrow in the center of the dial (Because the right arrow was moving me forward
through the menu, and the up and down arrows would toggle me through the various
items in the screen) which did not work at all. After learning to go backwards properly
using the “Back” button I was surprised to see that when I went all the way back, it
would, on the last step, skip the menu screen I had started with originally and jump back
to the screen icon I had clicked on to get into the menu in the first place. The solution
was to click on the touch screen itself to get back to the first menu that had shown up
after I clicked on the screen icon. Either that or use the “Back” button to go all the way
back to the screen icon, and then use the physical rotary dial to click on the icon again.
I wish that they would have allowed the left arrow on the rotary dial to double as
a “Back” Button. To me that would have been much more intuitive. Also I wish that you
could go backwards in a menu all the way to the original first menu that appeared when
you first clicked on the screen icon, instead of the system skipping that last step and
taking you back to the screen icon instead.
The Navigation screen was impressive and responsive however because the
screen was only about 4” tall, you could not see upcoming roads, turns, etc, like you
could have if they screen was taller. Short of that, the system worked flawlessly and
again, had a good response time.
The media apps like AM, FM, and Sirius XM all worked well but because of the
arrangement of items on the screen, will take a bit of learning to get to a point were you
can quickly access things like tuning the radio, or selecting a Sirius XM station or
adjusting the sound. So overall, while I liked the Infotainment System, and it was packed with the
usual fine features you would expect to find on an expensive vehicle, it just was not the
most intuitive to use. Hopefully we’ll see improvements in the next generation in terms
of the infotainment system.
Other Interesting Tech Items
The seat controls, especially on the drivers seat, were awesome. The drivers
seat has a total of 21 different ways it can be moved, and that is not counting the active
motion settings (kind of like a mild massaging seat) or the comfort stretch features built
into the seat. Needless to say, but it was completely awesome, worked like you thought
it would, and plus that it was heated and cooled. The passengers seat was not a last minute thought either
with having 12 way power including a 4 position lumbar.
The rear seats were able to tilt and slide which was a very nice touch, and
although our model was manual, it can be configured to be powered, depending on the
options you add. The climate control system is a Tri-Zone Auto climate system, with the rear
passengers able to completely control their own climate. Access to control the rear
climate is available through the infotainment screen, including the ability to lock out
control from the rear, which can be a nice feature, especially if you have children who
like to play with buttons and dials. The climate control had a unique touch screen which allowed you to
touch to set the modes (defroster, blow on feet, upper air vents etc). But the rest of the control were
physical, including the sync button.
The remote parking capabilities were awesome! This vehicle can parallel or
perpendicular park itself and the only thing you need to do is press and hold the
Camera button in the center console until the Park Assist comes up on the screen.
When I say it does everything, I mean it. It will steer, accelerate, brake and shift gears
all on its own. To top that off, it will do it with you in the car, or out of the car (with you
running it by remote)! Now if that isn’t cool I don’t know what is.
As if that was not quite enough, the vehicle can also be moved straight forward
or backward using only the remote. To do this, turn off the car, exit (with all key fobs),
lock the car using the remote, press the remote start button, then simply press and hold
the “move forward” or “move backward” buttons on the remote key fob and presto, it will
creep forward or backwards until you let go of the button, then it comes to a complete
stop. You might say well, thats a nice “Trick” but seriously, when would I ever use that
feature? Well…Lets say you go the the store, park and go shopping. While you are
shopping there’s some heavy rain that comes down. When you go to get in your car,
you realize your drivers door now has a 1”-2” puddle under it….This would be a good
time to use that feature to remotely back the car out, and let you step in without taking
your shoes swimming!
Cameras. Yes, and plenty of them. This vehicle had a 360 Birds Eye camera
system with the ability to manually activate the rear or front camera (depending on
wether you were in Drive or Reverse at the time. This makes it very handy when pulling
into a parking spot where you are bumper to bumper with another car. The only system
I’ve seen that I like better is the on Mercedes vehicles, where the front camera
automatically comes on at certain very low speeds. But short of that this had a terrific
system of cameras on board, along with dynamic swivel guidelines front and rear
Closing Thoughts
Overall the Genesis GV80 was a serious luxury SUV, beautifully designed in and
out, with a very quite, comfortable ride. It is packed full of some very good safety and
comfort features and comes with a great warranty. I only wish they could have made
the steering wheel controls more intuitive, the drivers information screen self contained,
along with improving the rotary controller functionality for the infotainment system.
Hopefully this will happen in the next generation of the Genesis GV80.
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