2026 Genesis GV60 Magma review: Australian first drive

Yes, the Genesis GV60 Magma does have the simulated engine sounds and the gearchanges. There. I've answered the questions that most people have to ask about it.

The next most frequently encountered ones were how much does it cost, and does it feel different to the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N upon which it's based? The answer there is $130,000 plus on-roads and yes. Yes, it does.

This is the first Genesis road car that carries the Magma branding. Think of it as Genesis's version of BMW M, Audi RS or Mercedes-AMG and you're not too far off the mark.

There's a big product rollout in the works, but for now this slightly bulbous medium SUV with a very prominent rear wing is the Magma debutant. But there are a bunch of questions that nobody's thought to ask just yet, which I'll try to cover off here.

For a start, this vehicle is extremely colour-sensitive. I have to say that I'm not a big fan of matte paint finishes on cars, and paying an additional $4000 for Matterhorn White, Ceres Blue or Makalu Grey probably wouldn't be on my bingo card.

The signature Magma Orange colour is... strident. You'll only carry this one off if you've got an extrovert streak that's as wide as the Hawkesbury. Your neighbours will hate you.

That leaves a choice of Uyuni White, Saville Silver, Vik Black or Tromso Green which, to this eye at least, seem to suit the GV60 Magma best.

I incurred a low-grade dose of stink-eye from one of Genesis's product planners when I asked if you could request the conspicuous rear wing to be factory-deleted. Apparently you can't. I don't think it does anything for the styling, or indeed messaging, of a car that's supposed to feel like a more mature, GT-oriented take on the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N.

Otherwise, there are some slick exterior details. The big 21-inch alloy wheels wear quality Pirelli P Zero tyres, the widened wheel arches give the car a mean, hunkered-down stance, and Genesis says the three nose slots will become an ongoing Magma styling cue.

With deeper and more purposeful-looking front and rear valances, you're not going to mistake the Magma for its more affordable GV60 Advanced sibling. It's very different gravy.

Let's jump inside. Because it's magnificent in there. The seats themselves almost feel worth the price of admission. The Alcantara-trimmed bucket seats combine chequered contrast stitching with 10-way driver's adjustment, giving them far more adjustability than most sports seats. The passenger gets eight-way electric motoring.

The cinematic sweep of a 27-inch OLED screen dominates the dashboard. In this updated GV60, it replaces the previous GV60's setup of two 12.3-inch displays housed beneath a single pane of glass. It's all screen. It sounds as if it shouldn't make that much of a difference, but to see a maps image that goes wall-to-wall is really quite something. You can even set the 'dial pack' up with a forward-looking augmented-reality display.

The steering wheel combines a perfectly round rim with perforated leather inserts, an all-black Genesis badge (another Magma detail) at its centre, and Boost and Magma drive mode buttons on the horizontal spokes.

You'll also clock the Bang and Olufsen tweeters in the door right by the mirrors. They're part of a 17-speaker system that offers a wholly appropriate measure of thump. The dash features black brushed aluminium trim garnishes, whereas other rivals might try to get away with the busted flush that is piano black plastic.

Our drive route loops around Canberra's Mount Stromlo via Cotter Road, making it just about perfect for assessing a vehicle like this. Genesis also gives the GV60 Magma the same track warranty as the Ioniq 5 N, although the company describes it as "track capable rather than track optimised".

Perhaps the best description came from Genesis spokesperson Bill Thomas, who recounted a story of a graphic he saw while the company was working on the Magma.

“In the very, very first marketing materials we saw for Magma, there was a diagram toward the end of the document, and it had a map of the Nordschleife, the Nürburgring, and there were two colours on the map,” he explained.

“One was light blue for [Hyundai] N, and one was orange for Magma. And they, the marketing guys had coloured in the twisty bits in N, and then the more sweeping, flowing corners in the straights was Magma, was the orange colour on it.

"I really like that. Immediately looking at what the car's about… as soon as you go to the first mode in Magma, there's GT. I think that says a lot as well,” he said.

Fire the GV60 Magma up and switch the N Active Sound on and it's a very different 'engine' rumble to that of the Ioniq 5 N. It's deeper, with a lot more bass in it. Apparently, Genesis's engineers wanted the sound of a six-cylinder engine for this car rather than the slightly more frenetic four-pot facsimile of the Hyundai.

It is surprisingly loud, but the Magma gives you the choice to switch it into two quieter volume settings or off if you prefer. There's also an external speaker mounted beneath the car, so that others can hear the car revving and shifting.

Roll away and it's clear that this is a meatier-feeling thing. There's a reassuring impression of heft to the GV60 Magma. Blatting up and down the synthesised gear ratios on the paddles is great fun, the engine giving a muted fusillade on the 'overrun' – and I'm not going to keep using inverted commas here for fear of sounding like Dr Evil.

The gearshifts do help in terms of involvement, giving you auditory cues as to your speed into a corner or on the brakes. I understand that some of you can't see the point, and it is indeed the case that Karl Benz didn't see fit to add a pair of coconut shells to his first car to replicate the sound of a horse, but you always have the option to switch out of it if you prefer.

The ride is firmish but well controlled. It's never crashy and there's enough suppleness in its damping to take the lumps and bumps of Cotter Road in its stride. Genesis has fitted adaptive dampers (Stroke-Sensing Type Electronic Control Suspension) and these have a lot of bandwidth between the most comfortable and the most focused setting.

Even GT mode, which backs things off a bit, still feels pretty taut in terms of ride quality. Thankfully, you can set the car up into an individual mode whereby you can separate functions like power, damping and steering settings.

I'd keep the car in the individual 'MY Mode', with the dampers in Comfort for added grip and amp up the urgency in other areas.

Genesis has clearly put a lot of work into the chassis dynamics, introducing clever bump-stop control and recalibrating the roll centre. There's also a set of hydraulic bushings at the front and dual-layer bushes on the rear crossmember to help reduce noise, vibration and harshness into the cabin.

Turn-in is crisp, but there is certainly a little more body roll than with the Ioniq 5 N, lacking that car's ability to shrug off its weight. The Magma subjectively feels weightier and a little more deliberate, but it's never cumbersome.

Come barrelling into a corner and try to get the car to trip itself up, and you'll feel the car gets happier when you give it some power to work with. The drive system shuttles torque back and forth and the clever electronic e-diff sniffs out grip. It's huge fun, although I'm glad I'm not footing the tyre bill for today. If you feel that Bob Jane's offspring are doing it overly tough, there's a drift mode you can play with too.

You'll feel some of that 2240kg (kerb) heft when you try to scrub off speed. The brakes are impressive in and of themselves, with 400mm front discs and even the 360mm rear discs are the same size as the front discs on a Mercedes-AMG C63. The stopping distance of 33.8m from 100km/h is also presentable, but you can feel the amount of work you're asking of the braking setup.

It's properly quick too, as you might expect with 478kW and 790kW available once you've prodded the boost button. Even without the boost, you've still got a searing 448kW and 760Nm at your disposal. Both of those numbers are more than a Ferrari 458 Speciale can cough up.

Genesis claims the GV60 Magma can punch from 0–100km/h in 3.4 seconds using its standard Launch Control function. It'll carry on through 200km/h in 10.9 seconds and only run into an impenetrable wall of physics at 264km/h.

How quick, in the greater scheme of things, is 0–200km/h in 10.9 seconds? Well, it'd be exactly neck and neck with a current Porsche 911 GT3, which is a $449,100 car, has a far worse stereo, and can fit neither your mates nor your shopping in the back.

On a more practical note, the GV60 Magma will charge at a very punchy peak rate of 265kW on a public DC fast charge, thanks in no small part to its 800V system architecture. That means 18 minutes to charge the 84kWh battery pack from 10 to 80 per cent.

Genesis supplies a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, with five years or 75,000km of complimentary scheduled servicing, five years of roadside assistance, and up to 10 years of roadside assistance if you choose to get your Magma serviced at a Genesis authorised dealer.

Its range is WLTP-rated at 425km with the quoted energy consumption being 21.5 kilowatt-hours per 100 kilometres. On test, we were routinely seeing over 30kWh/100km, which brings range down to around 280km.

And therein lies the difficulty with this sort of vehicle. If you wan to really exploit it, you'll find that your range of operations can be quite limited. Best to plan your excursions wisely.

Most casual observers will direct their gaze towards the Zeekr 7X Performance and the Tesla Model Y Performance as putative rivals and not without justification. Both are nigh-on as quick as the Genesis in a straight line, but start digging beneath the surface and you'll come to the conclusion that the Korean car is a far more focused driver's proposition.

The Genesis GV60 Magma has a lot of admirable attributes. It's great fun to drive, it feels special inside and out, and it offers the sort of punch that measures up close to a $184,000 Porsche Macan Turbo, if you're looking for a truer all-electric rival.

Couched in those terms, it more than makes a case for itself. I struggle a little with the market positioning of it. The styling feels a little outré to carry off any sophisticated GT pretensions, and while I can see the value in its premium over the Ioniq 5 N, the constituency of buyers who'll agree there could well be minuscule.

That's a shame, because it'd be unfortunate if Magma's first step into the market was a sales flop. It deserves better because true fun cars are at a premium right now. Here's your opportunity to help save the species.