Genesis GV60 Magma SUVOTY Review: It’s Scalding Hot, but Is It SUV Enough?

Pros

• World-class performer
• Upscale cabin
• Not a one-trick pony

Cons

• Excessive menu diving
• Not the greatest at some EV things
• An SUV in marketing only

There’s much more to the fantastic new Genesis GV60 Magma than just the eye-popping paint of the test car we had in for our SUV of the Year extravaganza. The mean EV machine is the first vehicle to break cover from the Korean luxury brand’s new performance Magma subbrand. Seeing as Magma is billed as having the goods to go wheel to wheel with the AMGs, M’s, and V’s of the world, it had better be legit. Just ask Lexus how well that F thingy worked out. (There are currently zero Lexus Fs on sale.)

Genesis enters the arena with a muscled-up version of its GV60 subcompact electric SUV pushing 641 horsepower and 583 lb-ft of torque. If that horsepower number sounds familiar, that’s because it’s shared with the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, though the Magma’s peak torque number gets a 15-lb-ft boost. Worth noting, those numbers are on overboost, which the Hyundai can sustain for 10-second bursts. The Magma can rock the big numbers for 5 seconds longer.

Let’s get the good news out of the way first. “This isn’t just a good electric sports car or a good sporty SUV,” associate editor Alex Leanse said. “It’s a great sports car, period.” That’s the big takeaway: Genesis absolutely nailed the performance brief.

There’s more to it than that, of course. “You look at an orange car with a big wing and assume it delivers a one-dimensional experience,” buyer’s guide director Zach Gale said. “Nope, that’s not the GV60 Magma’s story.” And he’s right. It’s safe and well-engineered and all that other criteria stuff.

But the GV60 Magma also has that “it” factor. There’s something qualitatively different going on here. The Magma gives off Porsche vibes-the way the car is damped, the way the steering feels, the sure-footedness. There’s even something Bentley-esque about it. Features editor Scott Evans concurred: “The damping on this car is absolutely fantastic. It doesn’t matter how big the bump is, it absorbs every one of them perfectly.”

The praise was universal. “I think all of us in the judging room would happily drive this car all day, every day,” director of editorial operations Mike Floyd said. “Put it in Comfort mode, turn off all the noises, and you could get away with driving it to church on Sunday.”

If you’re familiar with the fake gears from the Ioniq 5 N’s e-Shift system, it’s a near identical experience here. Activate the Virtual Gears, and the computer suddenly pretends like there’s a transmission. Pull the shift paddles, and you’re in control. The slight differences are that instead of the N’s fake 8,000-rpm redline, Magma drivers get 9,000 worth of phony rpm. Also, while the Hyundai is happy to pump Elantra N noises into the cabin (no, really), the Genesis version uses a better-sounding engine.

The complaints were few and mostly centered around the lack of strong one-pedal driving (the least of any Hyundai/Genesis models we’ve tested), too many modes, and the unshakable fact that it’s just not truly, totally, actually an SUV. It just isn’t. For example, there’s the sports-car-like ground clearance, though the GV60 Magma did fine on the off-road portion of our testing. Just avoid the rocks.

Bottom line, the first ever offering from Magma would have had a legit shot at winning our old Performance Vehicle of the Year event, but here at SUV of the Year, it’s giving off exactly zero SUV vibes, which worked against it. But man, do we love it!

This review was conducted as part of our 2027 SUV of the Year (SUVOTY) testing, where each vehicle is evaluated on our six key criteria: efficiency, design, safety, engineering excellence, value, and performance of intended function. Eligible vehicles must be all-new or significantly revised.