Genesis may have lifted the sheets on its new high-performance SUV flagship, but there’s no news on what’s under the bonnet
The Genesis GV80 Coupe concept screams performance with its wide stance and huge wheels and brakes, but right now there’s no news on the powertrain the Korean premium brand will use to deliver the performance to match its looks.
At its unveiling on the eve of the New York International Auto Show this week, Genesis Group Chief Creative Officer Luc Donckerwolke would not comment on what’s under the bonnet, save to say the vehicle’s dynamic performance would more than match its promise.
“It will walk the walk,” Donckerwolke told carsales.
“We will not talk about performance [at this time]. But basically we make sure that when we design a car which has, let’s say a sporty character, that handling and the performance is on par [with that design].”
The most powerful version of the existing Genesis GV80 wagon comes with a 3.5-litre turbo-petrol V6 T-GDi engine outputting 279kW and 530Nm.
To really impress in the performance SUV segment, the top-level production GV80 will need to pack in the region of 350kW/700Nm.
Although key dimensions and details of the GV80 Coupe are yet to be released, it’s very clear the car presented is more production than concept.
The assumption that it is built on the same platform as the existing G80 and GV80 models, rather than a stretched G70 for instance, was confirmed when we quizzed Donckerwolke on plans to electrify the production version. The design boss also seemed to put paid to electric boosting for the performance SUV.
“Electrifying a vehicle depends on the compromises… depending on the platform. If electrifying an existing platform means compromising on the homogeneity of a vehicle, we will certainly not want to do it. We could do it. But again, to basically start with an another powertrain on an existing platform is sometimes a bad idea.
“That [GV70 EV] is a good example of planning this [electrification] from the very beginning. In that case it works.
“We will not go into detail for this one [but] at the moment, we’re not talking about electrifying this platform,” he revealed.
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Keyword: Genesis tight-lipped on GV80 powertrain