Audi Q7

If bystander attention and commentary were Wheels ratings criteria, the Genesis GV80 would hose this comparison. Easily. It remains as relentless now as when the family hauling newcomer first lobbed just under a year ago, but with one crucial difference. There’s little ‘what is it?’, nor, ‘Is that a Bentley?’ aimed my way. Onlookers, by and large, now ask how it goes and if it’s any good.

The fledgling Korean luxury marque now looks to have one leg over one painful initial hurdle in Australia: brand recognition. It’s been a rocky introduction to this new Genesis renaissance, one stymied by a lack of metal on the ground to let local prospective buyers decide what they think of the GV80’s distinctive pitch. Getting any traction demands public reaction, be it fair or foul.

The Audi Q7? Not a peep from onlookers. Even though, as a return to petrol power and the first time in the seven-seater range’s second generation, the 55 TFSI fills an important hole as Aussie tastes continue to steer gently away from oiler passenger vehicles. Familiar, friendly and downright innocuous, nobody confuses the big Audi with a Bentayga, no matter how much incidental irony there is in the shared technical DNA.

Bentayga, Porsche Cayenne, Volkswagen Touareg: what cannot be underestimated is the benefit the Ingolstadt machine enjoys from the combined front of big-family evolution, and luxury focused at that. It’s such company the Genesis’s fledgling competitor wants to almost desperately keep, but the question, seemingly on everyone’s lips, is how the GV80 really measures up.

Despite the privileged ownership experience Genesis touts, the GV80 still plays a value trump card: $108,600 for this flagship 3.5T AWD, with the $10,000 Luxury Package bumping that to $118,600. For all the brand’s bespoke ‘to order’ schtick, your only real option is matte paint ($2000).

Audi’s sole spark-ignition Q7 enters at $122,500, fulsome in kit and refreshingly lean on available options, though our tester still piles on an extra $8K’s worth of cost-optional paint, all-wheel-steering and trailer-towing addenda ($130,500). Either choice offers an identically spec’d diesel twin: parity outlay for the Audi 50 TDI; $5K thriftier for the Genesis 3.0D AWD.

As it stands here, the GV80’s 3.5L twin-turbo V6 outpunches its rival’s 3.0L single-turbo unit, the Korean 279kW and 530Nm superior by 29kW and 30Nm. Downstream, both fit an eight-speed torque convertor auto, with the Audi plying permanent, continuously variable all-paw traction via a self-locking centre differential and monstrous 285mm 21-inch rubber.

The Genesis favours a different format, with rear-biased, on-demand all-wheel drive, an electronically controlled mechanical rear LSD and narrower 265mm tyres on a larger 22-inch diameter.

The differences in format suggest, to a point, that the South Korean leans more toward dynamic alacrity than the German does. And, indeed, the GV80’s four-tenths swifter 5.5-second 0-100km/h suggests a keener performance bent. Audi has other S and RS offerings to stoke enthusiastic interest, but for Genesis, its GV80 is tasked with covering off a sporty base with what’s otherwise unabashedly a luxury proposition.

In reality, it’s the Q7 that comes across with more multi-faceted chops. Its air suspension is ride-height adaptive (by 90mm) and geared more toward terrain flexibility; its electromagnetic anti-roll is decoupling, and there’s more scope in its technical package for off-road adventure. Superior 3500kg braked towing, too, against the GV80’s 2722kg rating, regardless of whether you favour the petrol variants or opt for their alternative diesel doppelgangers.

The Genesis’s steel-sprung suspension isn’t short on smarts, notably the Road Preview camera-based bump detection tied to the adaptive damping. It also offers Multi-Terrain Mode off-road settings for various slippery and broken surfaces depending on how much adventure you’ll wager its modest ride height and Michelin Pilot Sport 4s might bear.

In their natural on-road habitat, it’s almost entirely the Q7’s way. Its air suspension is softly set with a modicum of float, but its bump compliance is superbly pliant while still maintaining enough damping to control t+he formidable body mass and iron out the body wobbles. It’s wholly resolved in Comfort, settling quickly and remaining surefooted, while Sport flexes the handling just so, particularly in containing body roll without succumbing to unruly sharpness in ride.

For its part, the GV80 rolls out plenty of plushness in its ride and handling balance, though isn’t quite so resolved overall. Despite its narrower footprint, it slaps more across sharp road imperfections, jolts more through the cabin and the body control is surprisingly wallow-y in its default Comfort setting, taking two or three vertical movements to settle on the straight, lolling and pitching about across more angular bumps.

Sport ups control but directly impacts compliance and, annoyingly, there’s no quick on-the-fly damper adjustment shortcut (unless you’ve preset Custom mode submenus deep in the touchscreen before you set off).

But the Genesis is a luxurious drive. The big six is crisp and quiet at a cruise, rewarding with faint and satisfying rort that becomes pure gusto when you activate Sport. It grabs peak torque from just 1300rpm and the linear undertow contends with 2.3-plus tonnes of upmarket extravagance without toil or hint of stress.

But the GV80 does like to drink, slurping well into the 13s across balanced driving against its 11.7L/100km/h claim, and rather sobering 16.2L ADR urban rating. There is some tarnish to its on-road sheen: some occasional powertrain thump and it’s easy to catch neutral swapping drive directions with its stiff-loaded rotary transmission controller.

Audi advertises a superior 9.4L combined, presumably with wing, prayer and a whole lot of its 48-volt ‘mild-hybrid’ system’s engine shutdown sailing mode in play, which is very picky in activation. In side-by-side assessment, it proved more frugal than the Genesis, at 11.7L.

While less heroic on paper, the Q7 powertrain proves the quieter, more refined and more seamless operator at a leisurely clip, its handy time-honoured tap-for-Sport convenience liberating sharper initial response than its competitor can muster, despite the absence of any performance sheen to the soundtrack. And while it’s splitting hairs between two fine combatants, it’s the Audi that offers the more fittingly dignified progress and little more breadth of flexibility in doing so.

What the German machine lacks, for better or worse, is a sense of Genesis-like lightness. It feels heftier, despite its lighter weighbridge ticket, from the heft of the bank-vault- like doors to the effort required to steering at low speed. On that, the four-wheel steering pays big dividends during tight manoeuvring, the Audi seemingly chopping a couple of metres off the GV80’s broad 12-metre turning arc.

It’s a $2750 premium well spent. But neither machine is particularly tricky to park given each have exceptionally fine forward and reversing camera systems, though the South Korean’s bluff snout and broad hindquarters do make it the trickier of the two to judge and squeeze into tight spaces.

The GV80’s cabin is a more decisive luxury pitch than its polarising exterior and not short on glamour. It’s pleasingly streamlined in theme, the combination of two-spoke wheel, diamond-stitched Nappa leather, knurled switchgear and a litany of fancy and ornate detailing – such as HVAC control ‘rings’ – present a unique character dipped in convincing opulence. Minted in deep petrol blue, there’s a bona-fide first-class ambience to our tester. A tarted-up Hyundai it is not.

Much of its goodness is baked into the broader GV80 range, such as the 14.5-inch touchscreen infotainment, 21-speaker Lexicon audio, content-rich head-up display, 10 airbag fit-out and panoramic glass roof. The $10K Luxury bundle expands the features list to an exhaustive length, adding niceties such as novel three-dimensional 12.3-inch instrumentation, active road-noise cancellation, remote ‘smart’ parking via the key fob and (mostly) electric seat power through all three rows.

The Genesis brings a well-conceived package, with tilt and slide second row and one-touch access to row three, which is fitted out with air vents, audio speakers and even nifty intercom reception from the front row. It’s a tight fit for adults in the rear, but there’s enough middle row adjustment to service as a genuine seven-occupant prospect for long hauls.

The Genesis is not without its niggles. The touchscreen is beyond natural reach and its console controller demands excessive prodding, mirroring the taut transmission selector that annoying finds neutral too readily. And I’ll argue with supporters of the blind-spot camera system about this feature’s ultimate usefulness given the compromised clarity and sense of depth. Every restart, too, is met with some amount of fiddling to return settings to what they were prior to shut-down.

The Q7’s accommodation is fine pillar from a carmaker renowned for its cabin designs and smarts, plainer and more austere than the Genesis if hugely sophisticated and, in many ways, better resolved and more intuitive. For one thing, its glassy touchscreen goodness is simpler to use, easier to navigate and within easier reach than that in the GV80.

However, the downside of drawing so much feature control to the double-stacked touch surface brings a certain sensory overload once you throw the digital instrumentation into the mix. The big-screen effect will be a deal maker or breaker.

Digital display jewellery apart, the Audi’s richness is less about conspicuous trinkets and more about tactility and material variety together with an innate sense of solidity. Up front, at least, the Q7 also feels more substantial against the brighter and lighter ambience of its rival. Not that it lacks party tricks – especially the ambient lighting that’s downright spectacular experienced at night.

Its Valcona leather pews aren’t as opulent as the GV80’s seating but arguably balance support and comfort more naturally, complemented by gen-two Q7’s extremely flexible seating and a neat ‘tumble’ design for the row-two bench for easy third-row access. The middle pew also splits 40:20:40 and each section can be tilted and slid independently, whereas the Genesis adopts a 60:40 format. The big Audi’s brilliant packaging smarts is its strong suite, undoubtedly a benchmark for which newcomers, such as present company, surely must measure against.

That said, as a complete package, the German stalwart doesn’t really steal the march on the Genesis for roominess and space in any area. It just feels that way. Its more liberal use of glass, including its long panoramic roof, gives the Q7 an airier ambience in rows two and three than its rival, letting more light in and offering rear passengers a superior view of the outside world, particularly for youngsters.

The 55 TFSI grade is lavishly loaded with features, eschewing the need for cost-optional packaged bundles rife in some of Audi’s humbler stock that can excessively balloon the outlay bottom line. Four-zone climate control with separate dedicated controls, 19-speaker Bang & Olufsen sound, a head-up display and a gesture-controllable tailgate are in for the price of admission, and the marques’ rather excellent Matrix LED headlights are standard issue.

The Q7 also offers wireless Apple CarPlay – the GV80’s is wired – and the latest MMI navigation plus infotainment format is slick, quick in response and highly intuitive in its interface, rebooting mirrored smartphone apps such as Spotify quickly, effortlessly and without the stuffing about demanded by its newcomer opponent.

Both SUVs offer neat power folding 50:50-split third-row seatbacks, but as five-seaters the Audi takes the boot space victory with 770 litres against the Genesis’s 727 litres, though tailor-fit slide/tilt seat functionality in both makes any difference largely academic. Converted into surrogate two-seater vans for the Ikea run, the GV80 quotes a larger 2144-litre load area than the Q7’s 2050.

Each wears a five-star ANCAP rating and both brim with active safety and assistance systems, but in ownership it’s really Audi’s three-year warranty that appears shaky against the five years of surety offered by Genesis, complete with the dangling carrot of five years of no-cost servicing to entice buyers away from the usual European premium-SUV suspects.

The Genesis GV80 deserves attention and needs more consideration than mere onlooker curiosity. Acceptance will possibly come if the distinctive family hauler lures bums into seats and plants its rubber on hot-mix more often.

It’s highly impressive and likeable, piling on the x-factor in its own inimitable spin, conspicuously flaunting its upmarket vibe and measuring up nicely, in a good many crucial areas, against as seasoned and proven a prospect in Audi’s Q7. Its trick bag is deep and for sheer quantity of bells and whistles it looks compelling value, too.

Thing is, the newcomer falls a little short in execution: in powertrain, in ride and body control, in the friendliness of its user interface. Sporty leanings, it seems, have diminished some refinement, leaving the GV80 a little unpolished in areas that, for luxury motoring, really matter.

The Audi is more well-rounded, more comfortable and offers a shinier sheen with fewer chinks in its armour. Back to back, the Q7 clearly benefits from its longer evolution and owns the luxury SUV format more convincingly. And the range’s impressive return to petrol motivation comes without compromise or shortcomings.

Lean Burn

If you’re put off by the thought of burning through bulk ULP, both luxury SUVs can be had in similar high-spec trim with alternative diesel power. The Genesis D3.0 FR VGT fits an impressively silky 3.0-litre inline six outputting 204kW and 588Nm, featuring a single variable-geometry turbocharger and water-to-air intercooling.

Audi offers two versions of its single-turbo oiler V6 in the Q7; the 45 TDI tune bringing 170kW and 500Nm, or the higher-spec 50 TDI offering a superior 210kW and 600Nm, each paired with the company’s 48-volt mild-hybrid application.

Back to basics

High Street luxury a bit rich for you? The thriftiest choice in Audi’s large-SUV fold is the 45 TDI at $103,672, with the five-strong mainline Q7 range topping out with V8 oiler-powered SQ7 at $162,377.

More choice? Audi’s electric E-Tron fold offers both 50 and 55 variants in wagon and Sportback body styles. The more stylised Q8 range, from $128,972, brings four versions, including a diesel SQ8 and the mighty petrol Q8 RS at $208,377.

Genesis, for its part, offers a simpler four-variant stable, starting from $90,600. It comprises 2.5L petrols in two- or all-wheel-drive, 3.0L AWD diesel and 3.5L AWD petrol V6, any of which can be had with or without a $10K Luxury Package accoutrement.

SCORING

Audi Q7: 8.5/10

Genesis GV80: 8.0/10

Audi Q7 and Genesis GV80 specifications