Lexus NX 450h+ Vs. Genesis GV70 3.5T – Korea Takes On Japan! – Redline: Comparison Test

When it comes to luxury brands, Toyota's luxury division, Lexus, has kind of always had it made. I mean, for the past 35 years, Lexus has created a pretty big reputation for themselves for building comfortable, reliable, and well-made luxury cars. However, about eight years ago, Hyundai's luxury division, Genesis, came to market, and they've honestly been killing it at beating Lexus at their own luxury game. So today, as you can see, we've gathered together two of the newest crossover SUVs, a 2024 Genesis GV70, and a Lexus NX 450h Plus. And the big question I want answered, if you guys have roughly $60,000 to spend on a slightly nicer commuter car, which one of these two players is actually the better buy? Stay tuned to find out. So now that we have these two players side by side, I have to say, I couldn't have thought of a better rivalry because the Lexus NX and the Genesis GV70 both play in the ultra-competitive, compact luxury SUV space. The NX was technically all new in 2022. This is now in its second generation, while the GV70 is in its first generation. This was Genesis's first compact luxury SUV, and they both kind of started life completely different because this vehicle, most of you probably have assumed, it's kind of like a guzzied-up version of a Toyota RAV4, but Lexus does a lot to change the car, while this vehicle is based off of a rear-drive platform known as the Genesis G70 sports sedan. So that's kind of where you're gonna see a lot of the differences in the exterior styling. But let me first focus on the Lexus because this right here, what you're looking at, is the best-selling luxury SUV, compact luxury SUV in America. Lexus did almost 75,000 sales here in the US in 2023. That's literally three times the number versus Genesis. And as you can see, this model that we're showing you here is painted in eminent white pearl. It's an extra-charged color, and it does not have the F-Sport package, the F-Sport handling package. It's kind of like a sport package, but without it, you can see the Lexus styling language here is very bold. You have the big spindle grille with this kind of chain-link fence design in the actual grille inserts. You can see there's the big Lexus logo, which houses the radar sensor for the Lexus Safety System 3.0. You have these upgraded LED headlights. This model here that we're showing you has the premium triple-beam LED headlights, which means it has three individual projectors for the LED low and high beams. You also have LED fog lights, and you can also see there's an LED turn signal and LED daytime running light. Overall, let me know in the comment section below what you guys think of the design. I think this is very instantly recognizable as a Lexus. However, the Genesis, I will say, does have a design language that also equally stands out. You can see this model here has their latest design language here with the bold Genesis crest grille. This model also has the Sport Prestige package, so you kind of have some dark chrome accents here on the grille, where this kind of reminds me a little bit of a Bentley. It kind of has like a five-point design. You have the big Genesis logo here, which kind of reminds me of either a Bentley and Aston Martin or a Chrysler, which could be a good or a bad thing if you start referring to it as a Chrysler. You can see Genesis also has their own design language here with the quad beam LED headlights with the dual line theme, where you can see it's an LED daytime running light and turn signal. It kind of functions as both, which can be a little bit difficult to see versus the Lexus having its own actual individual light. There's also no fog lights here on the Genesis. But overall, I do find the Genesis' styling to be a little bit more expensive looking. This car looks kind of like a Bentley meets Mercedes with also some of the Korean design language here, but you can really tell that this car is wider and lower. In fact, in terms of the width, this is two inches wider versus the Lexus. And it's also about an inch lower in terms of the ground clearance and the height. But again, it really gives this car a slightly different proportion versus the Lexus, where it sits up a lot higher. But let's go ahead and move around the side profile of the Lexus because this model is built off of the TNGAK architecture. A lot of Toyota and Lexus products use this architecture. And at 183.5 inches long with a 105.6 inch long wheelbase, the NX is on the smaller side of the compact luxury SUV scale. The Genesis is technically about two inches longer. You can see this model being the plug-in hybrid comes standard with these five spoke or double five spoke 20 inch gray finished alloy wheels on a 235 by 50 R20 Bridgestone all season tire. You have all disc brakes, all independent suspension. And the NX has a little over eight inches of ground clearance with the plug-in hybrid model also coming standard with all wheel drive. Keep in mind, if you guys go for an F Sport package, the F Sport handling package is an extra 1100 bucks. You'll actually paint the wheel arch trim and the side trim there body colored. And you'll also have a slightly different look to the black painted 20 inch wheels. I actually think that I personally would go for the F Sport handling package. It'll also add adaptive sport dampers, which this model doesn't have. But overall, as you can see, somewhat more conventional shape with the NX. You can see it also has these nicely flush integrated roof rails. There is a pano center available on the NX. That's actually new for 2025 for the plug-in hybrid. This model that we're showing you here wasn't available at the time. You can see the door handles, they look very traditional, but they actually are fixed in place. And you push a little button, a pressure pad at the back. That's what opens up the doors. Lexus calls it their digital latch door handle system. And then this area here, you can see Lexus really is showing off their newer design language. This is technically the first Lexus model to show off their new light blade LED taillight, where it also spells out Lexus at the rear. You can see the taillight themselves. Complete all LED design, which also looks really good. There's an NX 450H plus badge here, of course. And then on this side of the vehicle, you're also gonna find an extra door because this model is a plug-in hybrid. It comes with a 6.6 kilowatt onboard charger, an 18.1 kilowatt hour battery pack. You'll do about 37 miles of all electric range. That's something that Genesis doesn't even offer on any model at any price. They do offer a fully electric version, but the plug-in hybrid aspect of this car is certainly unique. We'll talk about that when we talk about the underhood scene really quick. Now, in terms of the cargo area, this is another area where people are probably going to be considering heavily in their decision. But the NX's cargo area is on the smaller side, and that's because of the smaller dimensions and the kind of like teardrop shape. You have around 23 cubic feet of storage space with the second row seats up. If you fold them down, it expands it to around 48 cubic feet of space. Now, that number seems usable, but I will say that the Genesis has significantly more space. We'll talk about that when we get over to the side of the Genesis in a moment. You can see a power liftgate, which is hands-free is also included. And then there's also a nice rear window wiper blade, although I would have liked to see Lexus kind of hide it underneath the spoiler. But let's go over to the Genesis over here, and I wanna talk about the exterior styling of this vehicle, because as you can see, dimensionally, the Genesis is around 186 inches long. I'm sorry, it's 186.5 inches long, so it's about three inches longer versus the Lexus. And its wheelbase is also much longer. It's around 113 inches long, so it's around seven inches longer. So you can really see Genesis is kind of pushing the wheel wells a little further out. The vehicle is about a half an inch lower. It also has about an inch less ground clearance. It's two inches wider, like I said. But overall, you can see the Genesis has almost like a long roof wagon design, which I really appreciate. I also really love these wheels. The Sport Prestige model that I'm showing you here has these massive 21-inch wheels with this kind of like medium sputtering wheels, is what Genesis calls it. It kind of has like this gray finish with this really interesting texture in the actual spoke of the wheel. I think that's a really cool design statement. And you also have fatter tires. The 255 by 40 R21 on a Michelin all-season tire. So 20 millimeters fatter. You have bigger brakes, of course, with the Sport Prestige with the four-piston calipers on it. And the Genesis also comes with an all-independent suspension with adaptive dampers. You have to, again, add the F-Sport handling package on the Lexus to get the adaptive dampers. This model has around 7.3 inches of ground clearance, so about an inch less. The mirrors, you can see on the Genesis, they're pretty similar to the Lexus. They're power folding. They have cameras integrated into them. There's four cameras surrounding the vehicles. The roof rails, you can see, are black painted, which I really like. On the F-Sport model, Lexus, you'll get that. And then you can see here a Pano sunroof that's included on this trim. It is available for $500 extra on a 2025 NX plug-in hybrid. That model over there wasn't available at the time because Lexus, again, didn't offer it when it first came out. Now, looking at the rear, you can see the dual-line taillight design theme, or the dual-line theme continues back here. You can see with the twin lines for the LED taillights. They are a full LED design, although I think I actually prefer the rear-end look of the Lexus. I think I prefer the front-end look of this car, but the rear-end look of the Lexus more. You can see the Genesis tries to go with more of that wagon-like look. I also really appreciate the dual exhaust tips, which are exposed. They're kind of integrated into the bumper. The muffler's actually behind it in general. You can see the rear diffuser also looks a little bit more aggressive. That's part of the Sport Prestige package. And then you can see it also spells out Genesis at the back. I think that's kind of a theme here with today's luxury cars is instead of doing an emblem, they kind of spell out the name boldly at the back. Genesis goes with a lot more badging. You can see there's a rear wiper here. And if you want to open up the tailgate, the button is located right there. And this is where the Genesis also is showing its advantages over the Lexus because you have more cargo space. Now, with the second row seats up, you get just under 29 cubic feet of space, which is around six more cubic feet than the Lexus. But if you fold down the seats back here, which just pull that lever, it'll fold it down, it'll expand it out to around 57 cubic feet. So that's 10 cubic feet more versus the Lexus. So if you guys actually need to carry more things, the Genesis is obviously gonna give you a little bit more practicality. So these are luxury vehicles. So I thought you guys would probably want to see more of the interior aspect. Let me first start with the Lexus NX because as you guys know, Lexus pretty much set a pretty high benchmark when they first started producing luxury vehicles. Lexus was known for doing really plush seats, high quality materials, lots of wood grain. Today, Lexus is still part of that general philosophy, but they've also been kind of updating it to make it more modern. Let me first show you guys the key fob. You can see this is the current Lexus fob. It does have like a little sleeve over it to kind of cover up the key, but it has your little buttons here for lock, unlock, or not remote start, the power lift gate, and then the panic feature. You can also use your phone as a key. That's part of a digital key function. And there's also a remote start from the fob. You can push the lock button three times and hold it. That'll also start the vehicle up. When I want to turn it on here, you can see power button is located here. And because this is a hybrid, it doesn't have a traditional starter noise. It just kind of whirs to life and it says ready in the instrument panel. Now, this particular model that I'm showing you here has a really nice color combination with the eminent white exterior with the Rioja red leather interior. These seats also adjust in 12 different ways. They are heated and ventilated, which is nice. But as you can see, the seats themselves, these are not the F-Sport specific seats, which are a little bit more aggressively bolstered. But I have to say for them looking kind of plain, the seats are very plush. They're very comfortable. They hold you in place nicely. And on longer trips, I found the seats to just be among the best in the segment. Lexus always does really good seats, and that's still the case here for the NX. You can see the steering wheel is also the newer Lexus steering wheel, where it does have some touch sensitive controls mixed in with some hard buttons. You also have a power tilt telescoping wheel, which is nice. You have paddles to control the CVT with virtual ratios. And then you also have really nice leather with the contrast stitching as well, which looks really good. The horn, it sounds pretty much how I'd expect it to, nondescript, but it also kind of matches the size of the vehicle. You can see on the door panels, this is where I think Lexus got a little complacent here with the door panel materials. We can see there is a slightly soft touch injection molded plastic. I also love the black ash wood trim. But down here, you can see there's some more real stitching and real leather kind of covering over the door panels where I'd rest my elbows. You have two person, I'm sorry, three person memory here on the pass on the driver's side and the window controls. They just have a typical high quality feel and they're one touch for all four, which is basically what I expect from a Lexus vehicle. You also get a heads up display on this particular model. It's part of an option package. And then you can see the dashboard has a nice padded material where it's a soft touch injection molded plastic. Again, it all feels nice and it looks fine, but I have to say there is a lot of piano black plastic in here that does kind of cheapen the overall look. But what does look great, however, is the massive 14 inch touchscreen. So this is part of their new Lexus interface system. It has wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. It also has over the air updates. You can see your climate kind of sits down here at the lower portion. The upper portion here is for everything else where you can kind of cycle through all your different menus. You have dual zone climate as well, where you have these actual physical knobs to adjust the climate, which is also a nice touch. Your air vents are here. You also have a full 360 camera, which will do a perimeter scan around the vehicle if you push that button, which is nice. You also have your drive mode selector here, wireless phone charging pad, a little bit more storage over here. You have two USBs. And then you can see your gear selector. It's kind of similar to what you find in like a Toyota Prius, where you kind of have to slap this joystick up and forward to go to reverse, back down to go to drive, and then push this P button to go to park. Lots of buttons here to control the drive mode and to control whether you're going to be in hybrid or electric only mode. And the one thing I don't really like is more piano black plastic. That just kind of shows fingerprint marks. It shows scratches, which I don't love. I do love, however, this center console, which opens up in two different ways. It offers some pretty good storage in there, which is nice. And then above me here, you can see just a standard sunroof. Although Lexus did offer a panel roof for 2025. It's an extra 500 bucks. The other non-plug-in hybrid versions of the NX did offer it back when this car first came out. But again, there's something about this interior. While it is still very nice, and I think the seats are probably the best aspect along with the infotainment system, there's something about it that just doesn't feel quite as luxurious from Lexus vehicles before. And I think it's the fact that there's not very much leather stitching in here, and there's very minimal in terms of wood grain trim. But let's go ahead and hop into the backseat area. I wanna show you guys what that space is like really quick. Now, you can see, the NX does have a significantly shorter wheelbase versus the Genesis, and this is where the backseat offers around 36 inches of legroom. 36 inches is fine. You can see, if I wanna fold this seat down, it does fold down, although the floor is not completely flat because this is where the battery's kind of raising up the cargo floor a little bit. The seat also doesn't, it does offer a slight recline, which is nice. It doesn't slide forward and back. But the backseat here, as you can see, with around 36 inches of legroom when I shut the door, the space back here is pretty decent. I mean, this is basically where I'd have the seat to drive. The floor here is not completely flat. Lexus does give you rear seat air vents. You also have two USB-C charging ports and actual power outlet here. No heated rear seats, although I think it's available on other versions of the NX, just not the plug-in hybrid. You have some storage pockets here. The same kind of soft-touch injection molded plastic material here with the wood and the padded area over here. And you can see the door handles, it's actually a button that you push. Because of the digital latch system, if the power goes out, you can just pull on this twice and then it also opens up the door manually. There's also a armrest here that folds down and gives you two cup holders. And then in terms of the headroom space, you can see I have a good couple inches here at five foot seven. This roof also kind of goes up a little bit and gives you a little bit more space. The sunroof here does take up space right here in the middle. But overall, the backseat of the NX is still perfectly acceptable for average-sized adults and perhaps even a car seat as well. But let's go ahead and hop into the Genesis because that's where Genesis really is kind of beating Lexus at their own game in terms of material quality. So hopping into the Genesis interior after just stepping out of the Lexus, this is where Genesis really will shock you because you kind of expected Lexus to do an interior like this, but Genesis is kind of doing all the luxury materials here that kind of remind me that I'm sitting in like a Bentley or a Mercedes-Benz. Before we turn everything on, I'll show you guys the key fob. You can see I definitely like the look of the Genesis key fob a little bit more. I also like the smooth material that they put on it. It has more buttons on the outside. You can see there's a dedicated remote start button, lock, unlock, power liftgate, panic, and then this button here will actually move the vehicle forward and back from the key fob while you're standing outside. I think Lexus also offers that feature, but that particular one that we were showing you doesn't have that, at least not on the key fob itself. But starting the vehicle up, remember this is not a hybrid, so when you start it up, it has a traditional engine starter noise. Now that might be nice for some people because they prefer that familiarity, but again, that's one of the reasons why this car gets significantly worse MPG versus the Lexus. But looking at the interior, let's talk about the seats really quick. Now, this model that we're showing you has the ultramarine dark blue premium Nappa leather seats. You can see the seats themselves. They adjust in 14 different ways. They're heated and ventilated just like in the Lexus, but unlike the Lexus, I actually have a driver's side massage feature. So you can see I pushed a button there. It'll show what type of massage that I want, and it's only included on the driver's side of this vehicle, which is kind of a nice touch. You don't typically find a massaging seat in this class of compact luxury SUV space, but it's great that Genesis is kind of including that. I will say, however, for a premium Nappa leather seats, the padding under the seat or under the leather is very hard. So try the seats out yourselves before you decide because I found the seats to be really just stiff. It was almost like I was sitting on a park bench. I never really sat in the seat. I just felt like I was sitting on the seat. So seat comfort is a very personal thing. So that's why I always recommend just try it out before you decide. But in terms of the rest of the materials, let's talk about the door panel because I mentioned the Lexus had slightly, you know, padded materials there, but Genesis goes a step further. On this particular trim here, you actually have leatherette stitching on the actual door panel with real stitching. You have more leather stitching over the lower part of the door panel. You also have an aluminum accented door handle here. It's a traditional door handle as opposed to the latch system in the Lexus. You have two person memory seats. You also have metal speaker covers because this model here has the 17 speaker Lexicon premium sound system. Lexus also offers a Mark Levinson system, but not on that NX plug-in hybrid. It is new for 2025, however. And then you can see window controls have a metal finish to them. They are one touch for all four, just like in the Lexus, which is nice. And then moving over here to the steering wheel, you can see the Genesis steering wheel, I actually think looks nice as well. I also love how the airbag cover is stitched leather. On the Genesis, you have contrast red stitching here with some aluminum accents. You also have paddles. You have controls that are more traditional. Instead of touch buttons, you just have traditional buttons, the horn. It sounds a little higher pitch versus the Lexus, but it also sounds appropriate given the size of the vehicle. And then unlike the Lexus, you also have better tech in this car in terms of screen real estate. So in the instrument panel, you have a 12.3 inch fully digital cluster, which is customizable. You can also slightly change the way that looks. It also has a 3D effect to it, which is part of the sport prestige package. That definitely looks a lot more modern. You also have a heads up display included on this trim. And then over here in the center, you can see there's a 14.5 inch touchscreen. Now, as you can see, it is a touchscreen, but I will say that the Lexus's screen is positioned much closer. So I don't have to do such a far reach like in this car. The downside with this Genesis system is the software includes Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, but I have to connect it via a wired connection on my phone through a USB-A. Genesis still does not do wireless CarPlay or Android Auto. I heard that was coming for 2025, but this is a 2024 model. So we have to go with what we're reviewing. I think that is a little inexcusable given this is a luxury brand and doesn't have wireless CarPlay. What is really nice, however, is the actual leatherette stitching here that's going across the dash. So you can see real stitching, real leather on the upper and on the lower portion. I love the way the vents look as well. It just looks very elegant and seamless. This little area here controls the climate control. You have three zone automatic temperature control. So that's an extra zone versus in the Lexus where it had dual. You can see you have your cooled and ventilated seats or your heated and cooled seats over here where it's actually touched via this button right here. And you also have a two level heated steering wheel. It's kind of the same thing with the Lexus. Love the heart controls over here. And then you can see on the center console area, this also has the rotary dial to where you can control the upper screen there. And you can also use this as a track pad. So there's two different ways or you can also use it as a touchscreen. I also love these little knobs, rotary knobs for the volume and the tuning control. Your drive mode selector is over here as well. And then your transmission selector is this little glass rotary dial, which definitely looks more upscale versus in the Lexus. When I twist it to the left, it goes into reverse. There's your full 360 camera. I will say Genesis also has a better screen resolution here where you can kind of scroll around the vehicle. That's very much like a German car. The graphics also are slightly better versus the Lexus, which I appreciate. Down here, you can see there's some genuine carbon fiber trim, some genuine aluminum trim. The ambient lighting in this car is also more intricate where you can change the color. Same thing in the Lexus, but it's not quite as nice looking. And then you can see padded over here. Open this up. There's a pretty decent size center console storage. It's pretty similar in size to the Lexus, to be honest. And then above me here, you can see the headliner has this beautiful ultra suede material, which feels a lot more expensive along with this big Pano sunroof, which also opens up to vent air. So if you guys want to open up the sunroof, which is nice, it actually opens up over the two front doors or the front seats. But again, it lets in a lot more light and Lexus does offer a Pano roof. However, it's part of a $500 option package on the plug-in hybrid, which I mentioned is new for 2025. Let's go ahead and hop into the backseat area of the Genesis because I want to show you how this car does have a much longer wheelbase and it does give you about an inch more rear seat legroom. So around 37 inches, again, is not that much more versus the Lexus considering the wheelbase is seven inches longer. The rear seats back here, they do give you the ability to recline it a little bit more and you can also fold it down and it creates a slightly more flat load floor. And this is where, again, you're going to get the extra cargo space in the Genesis versus the Lexus. But let me go ahead and get back here and show you guys what the space is like. You can see, shutting the door, you can see there's plenty of space back here for somebody my height. This is pretty much where I'd have the seat to drive. The legroom definitely feels a little bit better. You do have a larger hump here that intrudes on the middle passengers, but you can see you have rear seat air vents here. You have your own climate control system here where you have three zones. You also have three level heated seats, which is nice. You have an actual household power outlet here. You have two USB charging ports, although again, they are the older USB-A as opposed to the newer USB-Cs. You have two storage cubbies here. And then unlike the Lexus, Genesis also gives you this really nice manual sunshade, which is part of the Sport Prestige package. That's an extra three grand over the Advanced package. And you can see here, the armrest folds down, gives you two cupholders. And above me here, you can see very nice view in terms of the sunroof and in terms of headroom space. I definitely wanna say the Lexus has a little bit more, and that's because the roofline in the Genesis is about an inch lower versus the Lexus. Now, under the hood of these vehicles, they both couldn't be any more different, but let's go ahead and start with the Genesis because what I've brought here, basically, are the two top powertrains in the GV70 family and the Lexus NX family. In the Genesis, you can see you have a twin turbocharged three and a half liter gasoline direct injection V6. That's right, this is one of the last vehicles in this segment that still offers a V6. You're gonna find a six-cylinder in other European rivals, but all the Japanese offerings only come with four-cylinder turbo engines or electrified options. The numbers here in the Genesis are 375 horsepower, 391 pound-feet of torque. It all goes out through an eight-speed automatic transmission. And then the company's eight-track all-wheel drive system is standard on this powertrain. This model here being the Sport Prestige version comes with an electronic limited-slip differential. So it's got some specs in here to kind of make you think that you're driving like a taller sports sedan. The downside with all this power and the six-cylinders to feed is the fuel efficiency. This car is only rated at 18 in the city, 24 on the highway, that's on premium gas. It has roughly a 17 and a half gallon fuel tank. You're looking at around 340 miles of range on a full tank. Remember, that's on premium fuel. When we zero to 60 tested this vehicle, we got it to be in just under five seconds, which is honestly very quick. It should have a top speed of around 150 miles an hour. This vehicle can tow a maximum of 3,500 pounds. And as this car sits, it weighs in just shy of 4,600 pounds. So again, very impressive specs for this car. And if you guys want a boosted six-cylinder, you really are looking at this or looking at some of its European rivals. Now in contrast, Lexus fights back with something a little bit more modern and a lot more fuel efficient. Because when you lift the hood of the NX, this model that we're showing you here is the NX 450H Plus. With the plus meaning this is a plug-in hybrid. I was talking about that earlier during the walk around. And what that means is you combine basically a two and a half liter gasoline direct injection four-cylinder that runs on the Atkinson cycle for efficiency. It has three electric motors. So there's two electric motors at the front, a separate electric motor at the rear, giving it electronic all-wheel drive. The gas engine on its own makes just shy of 180 horsepower. But when you combine the output of the three electric motors, you get a maximum of 304 horsepower. Lexus does not quote a combined torque figure, but it's an EV or it's got three electric motors with an 18.1 kilowatt hour battery pack. This probably has lots of torque. It does give up about 71 horsepower compared to the Genesis back there. And it all goes out through an electronic CVT transmission. So it's continuously variable as opposed to the stepped automatic in that vehicle. The upside with this being a hybrid is the efficiency because this car, Lexus says if you don't plug it in, it'll get about 36 MPG combined. Compare that to the 20 MPG combined of that model. So that's a pretty significant difference. This is almost twice the MPG and it really doesn't have that much less horsepower if you look at the grand scheme of things. Now I mentioned earlier an 18.1 kilowatt hour battery pack, 37 miles of electric only range. Lexus claims this model should get to 60 in around 5.9 seconds. We actually got a quicker time, which we'll talk about when we go into the driving scene. This has a top speed around 124 miles an hour. And if you guys do want to tow with this vehicle, the NX can tow a maximum of 2000 pounds. And here's the thing that really surprised me. Considering this car has three electric motors and a big battery pack, it actually weighs a hundred pounds less than the Genesis. As this car sits, it weighs in at around 4,400 pounds. So clearly once you look past the exterior design and interior materials and overall look, Genesis clearly has an edge over the Lexus, but of course looks can be subjective. But I have to say, I am relatively impressed with what Genesis is offering here with the GV70. I was when this car first came out and then two years later, it still impresses me. So for the driving scene, we're starting off driving the GV70 because looks and material quality, that's one thing. But what about the driving dynamics? That's what's going to, again, obviously sell a lot of people on purchasing another vehicle over another. But we're starting off, of course, in the Genesis. This is the top engine in this vehicle. Essentially, we're testing out the top engine in both vehicles, which means we have a 3.5 liter twin turbocharged V6. You can't even get a V6 in the Lexus. Lexus's answer to that, to a top powertrain is going to be a plug-in hybrid with three electric motors. It is again going to give you the power and the efficiency. This car primarily gives you the power. I mean, it's rated at 20 MPG combined, which is not wonderful, but it should also be enough for most people. As long as you're okay with paying a little bit extra at the pump, this car does around 340 miles of range on a full tank. And Genesis claims the zero to 60 time should be in the low five second range, which we'll test out in just a moment. But the one thing I'm noticing, this car has the adaptive suspension, which is not available, sadly, on the Lexus. Not the trim level that we're showing you guys. If you guys go for the F Sport model, you'll get the adaptive suspension. But it's still a pretty nice ride. This thing has these big 21 inch wheels, which obviously are going to, you know, eat into the ride quality a little bit, but it still does a good job of soaking up the bumps. And I think most people are going to be quite satisfied with the overall feel. Let's go ahead and test out the zero to 60 really quick. We're in sport mode. Everything is turned off. It has launch control. 4.94 seconds. So clearly the Genesis is going to be the speed king. If you guys, you know, are looking for that. I mean, this powertrain kind of comparably compares up with something like an Audi SQ5, a BMW X3 M40i, the Mercedes AMG GLC 43. All of those vehicles are going to be significantly more expensive and also more powerful, except for the Audi. This actually does have more horsepower than the Audi, but with the sport package, it also includes a limited slip differential at the rear, even though this vehicle is all wheel drive. And you just get a sense that this car feels like the driver's SUV. That's what I love about the GV70 is the steering is quick, sharp, and direct. It doesn't transmit much in terms of feedback, but the suspension in this car, you put it into sport or you put it into sport plus, and it really just becomes alive. The suspension gets stiffer. It leans a little bit less. The car just reminds you that it's built off of a rear drive platform, and it just feels like a driver's SUV. The engine also gets a little bit louder. You hear the pleasing sounds from its, you know, V6. It's also amplified through the speakers. And you just get a sense that, you know, you want to attack your favorite back road in this car. You want to use the paddle shifters, which it actually does a pretty good job of responding to, you know, the paddles as well. Like this. As an enthusiast, this definitely appeals to me, but you know, most people don't drive their luxury SUV like this. So we'll switch it back into comfort mode and we'll see how it feels in this mode, because I definitely noticed the dampers get a little bit softer. The steering gets a lot lighter. The steering quickness also slows down a bit. And you still get a sense that you're driving a luxury SUV, because the, you know, ride gets a little bit, you know, cushier. It gets a little quiet in here. In terms of quietness, this is really quiet. Both vehicles are, you know, really, you know, excellent in terms of their isolation from all the harshness of the environments. But I will say the one thing that gives me pause about this vehicle is the seats. I don't like the front seats in this car. They feel really hard and just, I feel like I'm sitting on top of like a park bench. They don't really, you know, feel like I'm sinking into them to where I can get comfortable. On a longer trip, I took this car on, I really wasn't happy with the seats. You know, for a premium Nappa leather, I think Genesis could have done a better job with the padding. The padding just needs to be softer. I mean, I am sitting here getting a massage, which is nice. That's, you know, part of a feature that, you know, included with the Sport Prestige package that you typically can't find in this segment. But overall, you know, from the driver's seat, this definitely feels more like a driver's car. It has a little bit less in terms of comfort and in terms of efficiency. It's not great. In my week's worth of testing, I was averaging around 17 MPG in mostly city driving. On the highway, the best it could do was 24. So not great MPG. You're gonna be paying for it at the pump, obviously. But I think what Genesis offers here is still one of the best driving luxury SUVs and also one of the quickest, considering the price. So after just hopping out of the Genesis GV70 and into the Lexus NX, the first thing I'm noticing immediately is just how much higher this car sits up and how much softer the seats are. I actually love these seats because I feel like I'm actually sitting in the seats where they're kind of conforming to my actual body. They just feel so much more plush, so much more comfortable, even though these seats aren't like the premium Nappa leather. These are actually, I believe, the Nulux seats or they're the leather seats. I can't remember entirely whether or not you can get that on the F Sport or on the plug-in hybrid or not. But regardless, these seats are just so much better. So that kind of gives me a better first impression right away. The other thing I'm noticing is the plug-in hybrid powertrain of this car definitely doesn't have that kind of sporty, sports sedan feel that the Genesis had. I mean, that V6 had a really nice noise to it. This powertrain, I have it in its hybrid mode now. It's in sport mode. I'm gonna do a quick zero to 60 test because I wanna show you guys the difference in the timing compared to the Genesis. But regardless, I mean, this thing still feels very much like it belongs in the same league. I know some of you are questioning the fact that, oh, it's just a guzzy up version of the RAV4. No, Lexus does a really good job with just making this car feel special, feel different. The ride quality is also excellent. We're on 20 inch wheels with the non-adaptive F Sport dampers. I really should have an F Sport to kind of give a fair apples to apples comparison, but this is what is available to me. And I figured I may as well take advantage of that. But let's go ahead and test out the zero to 60 time. We're in hybrid mode now. We're in sport mode. And let's just see what we can get here. Feels really quick off the line from that electric motors. 5.5 seconds there. That's actually not bad. It's again, a half a second slower versus what I got in the Genesis GV70. Of course, that has a twin turbo V6. So it's pretty impressive considering this car is down about 71 horsepower compared to the Genesis. The other great thing about the NX is the fact that it is an electrified plug-in hybrid. So I've switched the drive mode into its hybrid or electric setting right now, and there's no noise. Even if I put my foot down, there's no noise. I can floor the accelerator pedal and it drives like an electric vehicle. Yet when it runs out of charge, it'll switch back to hybrid mode and it drives like a traditional hybrid. So this is where the coarseness of the engine, I didn't love the sound earlier. Toyota and Lexus four-cylinder engines with their hybrids just don't sound great. But you can bypass that by just putting it into EV mode and driving this thing off of the battery charge, which by the way, this thing is rated at 37 MP, or 37 miles of all electric range. However, in these warmer temperatures where you can actually fully charge it and you drive it more economically, this thing was showing around 45 miles of electric only range, which is insanely good. And in terms of the fuel efficiency, you can easily get 36 MPG combined. In my actual testing, I was showing around 34 in mixed driving. So that's again, around a 14, or actually more than that, it's a 16 MPG improvement over the Genesis GV70 with its V6. Now, obviously you could compare it to the turbocharged four-cylinder of the Genesis. That would compare very favorable to a Lexus NX350 with its 2.4 liter turbo four-cylinder. But again, we are testing out the top engines. Genesis goes with a twin turbo V6, Lexus goes with a plug-in hybrid four-cylinder with three electric motors and a gas two and a half liter engine, which again, it doesn't sound like the enthusiast's choice, but you guys saw 5.5 seconds, zero to 60 is nothing to sneeze at. That's pretty fast. And then the other great thing is when it's in electric only mode, watch this guys, I'll just floor it. It feels quick to be honest, like electric motors produce all their power right from the moment your foot goes down to the floor. And this thing is just satisfying. It's satisfyingly quick around town. On the highway, that's where the electric motor doesn't have enough juice to get this thing up to highway speeds, but put it into hybrid mode and the gas engine kicks in and delivers all 304 horsepower. The handling of the Lexus, I will say, is definitely not as sporty. I mean, I really need to be driving the S sport model to give me a fair apples to apples comparison test. I definitely noticed I'm sitting up higher. The body feels a lot softer. The suspension wallows a little bit more, but what you do get is a slightly better ride quality. Even though this car doesn't have the adaptive dampers, the Genesis definitely felt firmer and you could feel the bumps kind of transmit back into the cabin more so than the Lexus. Especially when you have it in EV mode now, this is just serenity. That's what I'm getting a sense of. Comfortable ride, even though we're on 20s. Softer suspension's obviously not the enthusiast's choice, but still, it's not dangerous to drive or horrible to drive. It just feels like it's tailored back for comfort, which is probably what more luxury buyers are looking for, to be honest. And visibility in this car is also really good. I can see out of the front, the side, or the back. It's kind of similar to the Genesis, although the Genesis's view out of the rear isn't quite as good as this car's view out of the back. So obviously, there's so many things that's different about the two vehicles, but there's also so many things that are similar as well. But really, the biggest shocking difference is the fact that you can drive this thing on electric only. It's not that much slower than the GV70. It has a softer, more comfortable ride quality. And the interior quietness, they're pretty similar in terms of road and wind noise. But overall, I think what gives the Lexus, for me, an edge in the driving dynamics is the fact that you can get it as a plug-in hybrid. And I think this aspect of the vehicle with the all-electric range may actually sell some buyers who are cross-shopping the two. So I have to admit, if you guys are in the market for a compact, luxury SUV space, there are really no bad choices out there. I mean, between the well-known German brands like BMW, Audi, and Mercedes, which tend to be a little bit more expensive, the Japanese players have always been the strong offering. Because like I said earlier, the Lexus NX is the best-selling vehicle in the segment with nearly 75,000 units sold. Genesis sold about 25,000 GV70s in that same time period. So the Lexus outsells it three to one. Now, that doesn't always necessarily mean that the better-selling vehicle is actually the better vehicle. But I have to say, after spending some time with both of these two cars, it really kind of opened my perspective on what buyers in this segment, I think, are personally looking for. I mean, obviously, as a driving enthusiast, I much prefer the Genesis in terms of its handling dynamics, in terms of the acceleration and the noises that you guys get from the twin-turbo V6. As you guys saw, zero to 60 in this model here in 4.9 seconds makes it among the quicker offerings. It's gonna be able to keep pace with a lot of those really speedy European offerings that are also significantly more expensive. The interior of this car is also far more luxurious-looking and feeling. And that's where I think Lexus got a little complacent. I would like to see them bring back more stitching on the dash, more wood trim, which you do find on their more expensive Lexus models. But again, the NX is kind of on the lower end of the totem pole. So you kind of see a little bit of cost-cutting there. Although it's not a bad interior, it's just the interior of this car makes the Lexus look a little bit lazy in terms of luxury. However, in terms of technology, that's where the Lexus kind of comes back into the favor because Genesis doesn't offer wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. You get that on the Lexus. You also have a touchscreen that's easier to interact with because the screen is much closer to you. I also much prefer the seats in this vehicle. And the plug-in hybrid aspect of the Lexus is very, very appealing. Because as you guys saw, zero to 60 in this model was 5.5 seconds in hybrid mode. That's only about a half a second slower than this, and it's down around 71 horsepower, and you also get double the MPG. So I think for most people, they're gonna be willing to sacrifice that half a second in terms of performance to get almost twice the MPG. And you also get all that all-electric range, which is also very appealing. And even though the Lexus isn't quite as sporty as the Genesis in terms of handling, Toyota's platform here, their TNGA architecture has just gotten so much better in terms of handling dynamics in terms of refinement, in terms of ride quality. And even though this car doesn't look quite as sexy as the Genesis, personally, for me, I think that the Lexus is actually the better buy because it actually offers the hybrid aspect, the plug-in hybrid aspect, the better infotainment system, the better seats. And even though the interior is not quite as luxurious, they're both kind of still on the small side. Go buy a midsize vehicle if you want more space. Now, this is also where things get interesting because the pricing of these two vehicles, they start out in kind of similar ranges. Basically, a base GV70 starts at $45,150 for the 2.5 turbo with rear-wheel drive. If you guys want the V6 version of the GV70, it'll cost you at least $57,000, so 12 grand more for the six-cylinder. I'm not entirely sure it's worth it to go for the six. The Lexus, on the other hand, starts at around $42,000, so it's actually cheaper, but that comes with an Asterix. I would skip the NX250 because it has the powertrain from the Toyota RAV4. Skip that entirely. I would at least go for an NX350H or NX350 that has the turbo powertrain or the hybrid powertrain minus the plug-in. That starts at around $45,500 or $46,000, so it's right in line with the Genesis. This plug-in hybrid model that I'm showing you here starts at around $62,000. With Destination and some of the options it has, you're looking at just under $64,000 for this vehicle versus the Genesis behind me. That car starts at around $57,000. Add $10,000 for the Prestige package that that model has, you're looking at a total price of around $69,350. That's right, we live in a world where a luxury version of a Hyundai costs almost $70,000. Now, I don't say that in a bad way because that price still undercuts its German rivals by about $5,000, but for the Lexus, what they give you here and it's $5,000 cheaper, I personally would go for this model and that's precisely why I think a lot of other people who are looking in this space tend to choose the Lexus as that hybrid option, the better infotainment system, that reputation for reliability and build quality. So for me personally, the winner of this comparison test happens to be the Lexus NX450H Plus. With all that said, hope you guys have enjoyed my full overview and this detailed comparison between the Genesis GV70 and the Lexus NX. If you're also looking to see the latest cars I'm testing, be sure to follow me on Instagram at Redline underscore reviews, like us on Facebook, and as always guys, please keep subscribing to the Redline Reviews YouTube channel for all the latest reviews. Thank you so much for watching. I'll catch you all in the next video.