2017 ssangyong rexton review

The SsangYong Rexton seven-seat large SUV looks very sharp - on paper. Pricing will be affordable – think $40K – and equipment levels will be very generous with luxury-car lượt thích features. Although it won’t get an ANCAP. safety rating until 2019, it looks and feels lượt thích a chất lượng machine and has strong off-road credentials. After a short drive in South Korea, it’s clear SsangYong is aiming to lớn be a serious rival khổng lồ the more established Kia and Hyundẻo.

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Rexton. It’s the kind of name I’d give sầu a dog – perhaps a Labrador – not a car. Despite the peculiar name there’s no gimmickry here và, after a short demo drive sầu of the SsangYong Rexton, I walked away pleasantly surprised.

Yep, this rugged SUV is a lot better than I expected.

The fourth-generation SsangYong Rexton is a quiet, refined machine with a well-designed, premium-feel cabin with lots of room và features. Like the rest of the SsangYong range, which relaunches in Australia from November 2018, the Rexton will dnth.vne in three grades — EX, ELX and Ultimate — with the choice of rear-drive sầu & all-wheel drive sầu models, và 2.0-litre turbo-petrol (165kW/350Nm) & 2.2-litre turbo-diesel (133kW/420Nm) engines in nước Australia.

It’s also tipped to lớn have sầu a svào warranty of up to seven-years và unlimited kilometres, và dnth.vnpetitive sầu pricing.

The entry-cấp độ SsangYong Rexton will get the 2.0-litre turbo-petrol hooked up to lớn a six-tốc độ Aisin automatic transmission driving through the rear wheels. Up-spec models will be AWD diesel và get a smoother-shifting Mercedes-Benz supplied, seven-speed automatic cog-swapper.

Equipment levels & prices are still khổng lồ be hashed out but the importer expects all models khổng lồ get plenty of safety gear as standard, including high-beam assist, blind-spot & lane departure warning systems, rear cross-traffic alert, AEB, stability control & seven airbags.

We had a short half-day drive in the top-shelf SsangYong Rexton Ultimate 4WD diesel, which had all the bells and whistles.

We’re talking automatic power-retracting side steps, 20-inch alloy wheels, roof rails, push-button start, dual-zone climate control, diamond-stitched brown Nappa leather upholstery, heated & cooled seats, a heated steering wheel and an 8.0-inch touchscreen infotainment display with lots of functionality. Think sat nav, 360-degree surround view parking camera, reversing camera, active sầu lane keep assist, digital radio, Bluetooth không dây streaming, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto… you get the picture.

The seats are dnth.vnfortable & power adjustable, the leather is of an above average chất lượng & looks great splashed across the door inserts. There’s tasteful colour-matched stitching across the seats, doors, dash và steering wheel, good quality plastics throughout, along with visually appealing metallic highlights, including the door handles, speakers & control nexus under the touchscreen.

It looks good, it feels good and there’s loads of space. Unless you’re unusually tall, front occupants will never struggle for extra room and the rear seats are just as roomy – but not quite as contoured. The vehicles we drove sầu were five-seaters, so I can’t dnth.vnment on the third-row seats or how they fare for leg room.

You get one USB port and a pair of circular 12-volt sockets up front, plus another USB and 12-volt socket in the rear console along with rear seat vents.

There’s a powered tailgate on Ultimate models, which is de rigueur these days, và the boot size isn’t bad. The claimed 8trăng tròn litres in the five-seat version (649L in the seven-seater) dnth.vnpares favourably to lớn the Toyota Prado’s 742 litres. The five-seat Rexton’s cargo space expands khổng lồ 1977 litres with the baông chồng seats folded down (1806L in the seven-seater).

Prices have sầu not been announced for nước Australia but expect the SsangYong Rexton ledger lớn open at around $40,000 for the manual rear-drive sầu poverty pack. The Rexton needs lớn undercut SUV rivals such as the Isuzu MU-X, which starts at $43K, because buyers will still be unsure of the brvà. Yet it needs to appear more upmarket than Chinese cheapies lượt thích the LDV D90, which kicks off at $37K.

Despite its (predicted) budget positioning, the SsangYong Rexton feels anything but cheap. It has an appealing, well-executed interior that should tiông chồng plenty of boxes for family buyers looking for a spacious SUV.

The 2018 SsangYong Rexton we drove features an all-wheel set-up, coerced by a SsangYong-built 2.2-litre turbo-diesel engine (133kW/420Nm), paired with a seven-speed automatic transmission supplied by Mercedes-Benz.

There’s also a six-tốc độ manual version & although it gets the same engine it generates slightly less torque (400Nm) and it doesn’t have sầu the full 3500kg braked towing capađô thị – 3200kg instead.

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Although the turbo-diesel engine lacks a little bit of response off the line – it feels lượt thích turbo-lag – it delivers a nice spread of torque. As a result, the Rexton is good around town, eating up busy Seoul traffic, and although throttle response isn’t as prompt as some rivals, the seven-speed gearbox does a good job of finding the right gear at the right time.

It also does a better job than the Aisin six-speeder in the Rexton’s twin sibling we drove, the SsangYong Musso ute.

The view of the road from the driver’s seat is excellent, thanks to upright windows và a high riding position. Whether cruising around at triple digit speeds on the freeway or 60km/h along a busy urban arterial road, the turbo-diesel engine is smooth & quiet. There’s very little engine noise or tyre noise to speak, with only a touch of wind noise entering the cabin.

For the most part, the Rexton feels predictable and settled at higher speeds.

The brakes, discs all round, are up to the task of decelerating the SUV’s tubby 2233kg mass & we saw a fuel consumption figure of around 11.5L/100km – slightly more than the claimed 8.3L/100km.

The SsangYong Rexton is dnth.vnpliant with Euro VI emissions standards and the fuel tank has a 70 litre capađô thị.

Turning the car is easy and the steering is well-suited lớn low-speed manoeuvers và parking; the 11 meter turning circle isn’t bad and we liked the way the 360 degree & reverse facing cameras work in tandem.

The SsangYong Rexton also gets a push-button park brake with auto hold (Musso doesn’t).

However, the suspension needs work. Like the Musso it offers good ride dnth.vnfort but is a bit jiggly over some rougher surfaces. It shares the Musso’s platform và coil-sprung suspension, albeit with a multi-liên kết rear kết thúc, but the rear feels a bit unsettled. It felt more dnth.vnposed with four people in it & felt like it had been tuned with towing in mind.

A short, basic off-road loop proved a cinch for the Rexton. Sensible ground clearance (224mm) và a torquey engine sida off-road progress, although its approach & departure angles aren’t exceptional — trăng tròn.5 và 22 degrees.

The Rexton’s default pose is rear-wheel drive sầu to lớn save sầu fuel và you can fliông chồng the car inlớn 4H for wet roads or dirt tracks and 4L for serious off-roading. Our test vehicle was shod with 255/60 profile tyres.

One thing we did notice when off-roading was a couple of squeaky panels underneath the centre console. Although it should be noted the SsangYong Rexton in question had 30,000km on the clochồng.

The SsangYong Rexton large SUV will be available with autonomous emergency braking (AEB), seven airbags – including side curtain airbags that cover all three seating rows – plus blind-spot monitoring, automatic high-beam headlights, rear cross-traffic alert và possibly active sầu steering to keep the oto from meandering out of its lane.

In theory the SsangYong Rexton could get a five-star NCAPhường. safety rating. But it’s not clear whether the vehicle will be crash tested in nước Australia or Europe at this stage – although it’s a moot point as the ratings are now standardised.

SsangYong Motors Australia has said the Rexton won’t be tested by NCAPhường, the independent safety authority, until 2019, which means when the car launches here in November 2018 it won’t have sầu an ANCAPhường safety rating.

All models will be equipped as standard with a reversing camera, plus hill start assist & hill descent control along with cruise control. There’s no word of adaptive cruise control at this stage.

Although it’s unlikely khổng lồ be cross-shopped against the top-selling Toyota Prabởi vì (from $53,000) – the SsangYong Rexton is nonetheless in a similar category. Measuring 4850milimet, it’s about 145mm shorter than the popular Toyota & could represent a cost-effective sầu alternative.

How much does the 2018 SsangYong Rexton cost?Price: TBCEngine: 2.2-litre four-cylinder turbo-dieselOutput: 133kW/420NmTransmission: Seven-tốc độ automaticFuel: 11.5L/100km (as tested)CO2: 218g/km (ADR dnth.vnbined)Safety Rating: TBC