2025 Genesis GV80 vs. 2025 Land Rover Range Rover Sport

2025 Range Rover Sport ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Range Rover is an iconic name in luxury SUVs. The British marque, a sub-brand of Land Rover, could be credited with inventing the entire market segment. But the flagship Range Rover now costs well past $100,000 – even before any options. 

For a slightly more attainable luxury experience, we just tested the 2025 Land Rover Range Rover Sport. The Sport is a smaller, less expensive take on the Range Rover (starting price: $79,700). 

For this review, we’re seeing how the Range Rover Sport stacks up against an even more aggressive value option: the 2025 Genesis GV80. This luxury mid-size SUV comes from Hyundai’s luxury brand, and it follows the Korean automaker’s formula of packing in lots of features for the dollar. The GV80 starts at $58,200, though it takes at least $74,300 to get an engine that rivals the Rover. Keep reading to see how these two SUVs stack up in each of nine categories – and which one is our overall winner. 

Exterior Design

The Range Rover Sport was last redesigned in 2023, but only a Range Rover expert would notice. The clearest clues are slimmer tailights that now connect to a single bar spanning the rear end, along with retractable door handles that slide into the car’s body when it’s locked or driving. Otherwise, it still looks much the same on the outside as it has since 2014. Maybe you see this design as timeless – or maybe you think it has become stale. 

The Genesis GV80 is more distinctive. It hit the market as a 2021 model and is newly updated this year. It’s upright and purposeful, with clean, straight lines yet unique details such as the split-level headlights and taillights. A pinched windowline contrasts nicely with the dead-on-horizontal lines across the rear end: the windshield, a body crease, and then the taillights. New this year is the GV80 Coupe model like our test vehicle, which slopes the roofline down toward the taillights. We won’t pick a winner between the quiet, classic Range Rover and the bolder Genesis. 

Winner: Tie

2025 Genesis GV80 Coupe ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Interior Design

Inside, the Range Rover Sport has a simple, minimalist dashboard. A 13.1-inch touchscreen with sparse graphics stands alone in a sea of rich leather. A separate 13.7-inch screen provides digitally rendered gauges. 

The GV80 is flashier. Newly updated this year, it has a big 27-inch digital panel that includes both the gauge cluster and the infotainment touchscreen. It has flashier graphics and a more aggressively modern look. It also has a separate panel below the touchscreen, which gives more space for the climate controls (still touch-based, but at least not hidden behind a menu) plus a couple of knobs for the radio system. 

Both SUVs are richly finished, and both put style ahead of user-friendly ergonomics. We’ll narrowly award this category to the Range Rover, which felt more expensive to us. But you might prefer the flashier Genesis over the simpler-looking Rover. 

Winner: Range Rover Sport

2025 Range Rover Sport ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Passenger Accommodations

The GV80 does have more space than the Range Rover Sport. While both have big, comfortable front seats, the Genesis has more legroom in the back. It’s also the only one of the two to offer third-row seating. The Range Rover Sport used to have a tiny third-row option, but it’s now limited to five people. The GV80’s third row isn’t comfortable, either, and it’s limited to certain trim levels of the SUV body style (not the coupe like our test vehicle). But for some families, it’s just the flexibility they’ll need.

Subjectively, we liked the Range Rover’s cushier front seats more than the Genesis’s firmer ones. But objectively, the GV80 has more room. 

Winner: Genesis GV80

2025 Genesis GV80 Coupe ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Cargo and Utility

The GV80 also has more room for cargo than the Range Rover Sport. The Rover is just as long as the Genesis, and it’s wider and taller, but its high cargo floor leaves less total space – while also making it harder to load in heavy items. You can lower the Range Rover’s suspension to help out, at least. 

By the numbers, the Range Rover Sport fits 31.9 cubic feet of cargo behind its rear seat and 53.0 cubic feet with the rear seat folded down. The GV80 SUV has 36.5 cubic feet behind the rear seat and 71.7 cubic feet with the rear seat folded. And even the GV80 Coupe fits 30.3 cubic feet behind its rear seat and 62.1 cubic feet with the seat folded. 

The Range Rover can tow more. While GV80 is already above average with a 6,000-pound capacity, the Range Rover Sport can pull up to 7,716 pounds – more than many pickup trucks. But we think more owners will use the Genesis’s extra cargo room. 

Winner: Genesis GV80

2025 Genesis GV80 Coupe ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Ride and Handling

You might assume from the Range Rover Sport’s name that it’s, well, a sporty luxury SUV. Not really. Aside from its big engines (which we’ll come to later), it’s more about relaxed, comfortable composure than driving thrills. It feels big, solid, and heavy. The steering wheel glides smoothly through your hands, rather than encouraging you to quickly whip the Range Rover back and forth. We don’t mean it’s clumsy, just that it wants you to take things easy – and it excels at doing so. 

The GV80 drives well, too. But its ride is less serene than the Range Rover Sport’s. You jiggle around more as you cruise down the highway, and you feel bumps punch through more sharply. And yet, we didn’t find the handling any livelier than the Range Rover Sport’s to compensate. It’s another heavy mid-size SUV that can change direction when it needs to, but which doesn’t really want to. 

Winner: Range Rover Sport

2025 Range Rover Sport ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Acceleration

The GV80 and Range Rover Sport each come with a range of engines. We’ll start with a focus on the most comparable engines between the two SUVs – gasoline-powered six-cylinders. The Range Rover Sport comes standard with a 355-horsepower turbocharged and supercharged inline six, which it calls the P360, while an optional upgrade bumps output to 395 hp (the P400, like our test vehicle). The GV80 sports a 3.5-liter turbocharged V6 with 375 hp, while adding a supercharger (exclusive to the Coupe and included on our test vehicle) brings 409 hp. Both the Rover and GV80 are quick and sound great with their six-cylinder engines, but the Genesis is quicker still. 

The Range Rover Sport also has four other engine options that are quicker than the GV80: two plug-in hybrids and two gasoline-fueled V8s. But the cheapest of those, the P460 PHEV, starts at nearly $100,000. And the top P635 V8 costs $180,700. Meanwhile, the GV80’s other engine is a 300-horsepower four-cylinder that’s powerful and affordable but not silky-smooth. 

You can pay big bucks to get a super-fast Range Rover Sport, but we’ll award this category to the V6 GV80.

Winner: Genesis GV80

2025 Genesis GV80 Coupe ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Fuel Economy

The Range Rover Sport does win at the gas pump – and not only if you opt for the plug-in hybrid. Both the B360 and the P400 get an EPA-estimated 20 mpg in the city, 25 mpg on the highway, and 22 mpg combined. And we averaged 27 mpg during our weeklong test of the P400, which was incredible even considering that we skewed toward highway driving. 

The V6 GV80 gets just 16 mpg in the city, 22 mpg on the highway, and 19 mpg combined. The electrically driven supercharged model, like our test vehicle, improves to 18 mpg city, 22 mpg highway, and 20 mpg combined. We matched that 20 mpg estimate during our test. Even the four-cylinder GV80 gets a mere 21 mpg in mixed driving. 

The Range Rover Sport’s plug-in hybrid versions can travel an EPA-estimated 51 miles using only electricity, followed by 21 mpg on gasoline when you’ve used up their batteries’ charge. But even the Rover’s standard engines use less fuel than the GV80. 

Winner: Range Rover Sport  

2025 Range Rover Sport ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Off-Road Capability

Both the GV80 and the Range Rover Sport come standard with all-wheel drive. They’ll both have enough traction to muscle through some snow or mud. But that’s where the similarities end.

The Range Rover Sport is part of the Land Rover brand that has always taken off-roading seriously. Even if most owners won’t risk scratching their paint, these SUVs can handle serious conditions. The adjustable-height suspension raises the ground clearance to 11.1 inches. It can ford nearly 3 feet of standing water. And its all-wheel-drive system includes a center locking differential and a choice of off-road-focused driving modes. The iconic Land Rover Defender can tackle even more challenging terrain than the Range Rover Sport, but the Genesis won’t try to keep up with either of them. 

Winner: Range Rover Sport

2025 Range Rover Sport ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Pricing

Whether you use the Range Rover Sport’s off-road chops or not, you’ll still pay for them. It's one reason the base SE P360 model starts at $79,700. That compares with $74,300 for a GV80 Advanced V6. Both are packed with features at those prices, but a fully optioned GV80 tops out at $87,200 – while the Range Rover Sport easily soars into the six figures even with the gasoline V6. 

Meanwhile, as we mentioned, bargain hunters (to the extent that anyone buying a powerful, opulent mid-size SUV is a bargain hunter) can pay as little as $58,200 for a four-cylinder GV80.

Winner: Genesis GV80

2025 Genesis GV80 Coupe ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Final Thoughts

The 2025 Genesis GV80 is a compelling mid-size luxury SUV. It looks the part of luxury, and backs up its expressive design with potent V6 engines, a spacious and richly finished interior, and tons of features. 

But our pick is the 2025 Land Rover Range Rover Sport. It has the smoother ride and the even more opulent interior. And it has the genuine capability of a truck, ready to go off road or tow a huge trailer. its timeless appeal is more compelling than ever. Its better gas mileage helps offset the higher price. And for some folks, the Range Rover’s timeless styling is more appealing than the more distinctive GV80. 

In choosing between these SUVs, think about your own style preferences. Consider whose seats you find more comfortable. Decide whether you’d benefit from the Range Rover’s towing capacity or the Genesis’s extra cargo space and optional (small) third-row seat. Then, if you haven’t already picked the GV80 at this point, decide how much extra the Range Rover Sport is worth to you. Our pick is to choose the Rover’s options carefully and spend a little extra for one. But if your tastes differ, the GV80 is another excellent SUV. 

Winner: Range Rover Sport

2025 Range Rover Sport ・ Photo by Brady Holt