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Jeremy Bass28 Aug 2013
REVIEW

Ssangyong Stavic 2013: Road Test

An excellent engine and a cavernous, clever interior make the second-gen Stavic a terrific value equation

Ssangyong Stavic
Road Test

Price Guide (driveaway): $29,990
Options fitted to test car (not included in above price): N/A
Crash rating: N/A
Fuel: Diesel
Claimed fuel economy (L/100km): 7.8
CO2 emissions (g/km): 205
Also consider: Fiat Freemont diesel (from $32,600); Hyundai iMax (from $39,990); Kia Grand Carnival (from $44,990); Mahindra XUV500 (from $29,900)

Ssangyong’s second-gen Stavic MPV forgoes the unique exterior lines of its predecessor for something more conservative. Few would lament this. While the new vehicle’s visuals fall short of elegant, it’s a decided step back from the wilful abstraction of the car it replaces.

Ssangyong’s strengths have come in recent times to lie in the quality of its drivetrains and competitive pricing, the latter bolstered by excellent equipment levels for the money. The second-gen Stavic keeps the brand’s promises on all fronts, with a value equation taking in an interior big enough to warrant a strata title.

Ssangyong conceived the Stavic as a four-row 11-seater for some markets. While other seven-seaters around this price -- Fiat’s Freemont and Mahindra’s XUV500 -- lose much of their cargo space with the third row up, the Stavic doesn’t. It’s huge. Not surprising, seeing how, at a little over 5.1 metres long and 1.8 metres high, it’s none too compact on the outside either.

Along with all that space, your $29,990 driveaway price buys you remote keyless entry, dual-zone climate control, auto headlights, acoustic rear parking sensors, front foglights, cruise control, 16-inch alloys, folding heated wing mirrors and audio with a USB and Bluetooth connectivity, and controls on the steering wheel.

Later in the year, incidentally, importer Ateco will extend the line-up with an up spec variant for $34,990 driveaway. It will add full leather upholstery with an electric driver’s seat, headlight levelling, rear foglight, wiper sensors, 17-inch alloys and roof racks. It would be nice if it also got the telescopic tiller adjustment which is so palpably absent here.

The seat layout and design make for exceptional flexibility in packing, with the third row foldable or removable and the second row mounted on runners for fore-aft adjustment. Mid row seats can even be turned to face the rear.

All that versatility takes its toll in seat comfort and limited capacity for little people, though. There are anchors for just two child seats (but they include ISOFIX points), and while the front seats are fine, and rear head- and legroom are good, the second and third row seats are rather flat. They’re also quite short of under thigh support and low in the backrest. But nice big doors and a relatively low step up make them easily accessible. Other nice touches are air vents for every row and fold-up seatback tables for second row passengers.

But other aspects of the interior leave you in no doubt the Stavic is built to a price. A proliferation of hard plastics cheapens the feel, and the central instrument binnacle pulls driver vision away from the road. Storage falls short of family wagon expectations, too, with undersized glove box, door pockets and drink holders.

While it stays a diesel-only proposition, a very effective downsizing exercise replaces the outgoing Stavic’s 2.7-litre five-cylinder engine with Ssangyong’s excellent 2.0-litre four. Good for 115kW and 360Nm, the latter available from a nice low 1500 to 2800rpm, it lopes along quietly, unworried by two tonnes of car, the extra weight of contents or shifts in topography.

It doesn’t get the six-speed auto the lighter Actyon ute gets with a slightly different tune on the same engine, and the five-speed is slower on the upshift under strain, but it does its job without a fuss.

Perhaps surprisingly, given its mass and volume, the Stavic offers an exceptionally generous braked towing capacity of two tonnes.

And there’s no complaining about fuel consumption. With up to five people on board, we managed an average of 9.0L/100km around Sydney -- against an official urban figure of 9.9L/100km and 7.8 on the combined cycle.

Similar to the Actyon, the Stavic’s low price takes its toll in an underdeveloped ride/handling package, especially in the latter. Ride comfort is adequate, even quite soft, but still too overt in the way it dispatches lumps and bumps. Squeaks and shudders around the facia suggest it could do with some stiffening up in the bodywork.

No surprises then, that it handles corners in the manner you’d expect of a shipping container on soft springs. On the winding roads, like that around Church Point, on Sydney’s Pittwater, a mix of body roll, slow steering and a big tiller make for a pretty uncomfortable workout.

Rear vision is a problem, too. While it gets adequate wing mirrors and rear parking sensors, a hefty C-pillars leave you overly dependent on parking aids, and not your vision alone. A rear-view camera would make a big difference.

Nor is safety a strong point. Although it’s on par for chassis and brake electronics, the Stavic offers no airbag protection past the front row; and it hasn’t yet been crash tested by ANCAP.

Like other Ssangyongs, the Stavic has some terrific aspects to it, and not just the price. The engine is a beauty, it’s well equipped and it makes great use of its prodigious space. Shortcomings in materials and nic-nac storage are easy to let through for this kind of money. If they just got it sorted downstairs, they’d be on the way to a winner.

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Written byJeremy Bass
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