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By IAN CRAWFORD
24 September 2007
The little brother of the three Korean brands, SsangYong, has
freshened up its Kyron SUV’s styling, improved its performance and
made the car more affordable.
Launched early last year with petrol and diesel engines, the
outgoing model had some unusual front-and-rear styling quirks but
the brand’s in-house designers have made these disappear in the
new model.
The major styling criticisms levelled at the earlier model were
its odd-looking grille and tail-lights that looked as though they
were designed to be small medieval shields. They are now gone,
replaced by new headlight and taillight arrangements, a different
bonnet and grille and a bigger air-intake with a mesh guard.
The new-look interior’s improvements include a more-stylish
dash that houses a redesigned instrument cluster, better
night-time illumination, a leather-wrapped steering wheel and
revised cloth seat trim.
While the steering wheel has height adjustment, there is no
reach adjustment and the handbrake is positioned on the left of
the centre console – just perfect for the front-seat passenger
but a silly, uncomfortable reach for the driver.
The petrol engine has been dropped from the line-up.
SsangYong Australia’s sales and marketing boss, Brad Larkham,
says the new Kyron is an evolution of the model and it delivers a
better design and styling as well as a swag of performance and
safety benefits.
"Euro IV Kyron is a more focussed and sharper vehicle all
round and I am sure will have a wider appeal to mid-range SUV
customers, particularly when you consider the added value it
offers while retaining its already strong pricing levels," he
said.
To help achieve the Euro-IV emission standard and reduce in
particular the engine’s NOx output, SsangYong engineers have
revised the engine mapping and the result is a much more
driver-friendly vehicle.
Kyron still uses the outgoing model’s independent
front-suspension set-up and five-link rear layout. An
electronically controlled part-time four-wheel-drive system that,
unlike most of its competitors, runs the rear wheels, not the
front, in normal conditions.
Peak power from the 2.0-litre is 104 kW at 4000 rpm and maximum
torque of 310 Nm is on tap from 1800rpm. SsangYong claims a
combined fuel-consumption figure for the manual of 7.7 litres per
100km and with its 75-litre tank fully topped up, owners can
expect a range of around 970 km.
The 2.7-litre engine is an in-line, five-cylinder unit. It
produces 121 kW of maximum power at 4000rpm and a not-overly
impressive 340 Nm of peak torque arrives at 1800 rpm.
Both the new Kyron models give buyers the choice of a
five-speed manual transmission or an intelligent five-speed T-tronic
automatic transmission. Drivers can change gears manually with the
T-tronic automatic by using steering-wheel-mounted buttons. They
are not however ideally placed and paddles would be a better
solution.
With the excellent part-time 4WD system, high and low range
four-wheel-drive can be selected from the driver’s seat and
on-the-fly switching to high range 4WD is possible up to 70 km/h.
In the safety department, the Kyron boasts four-channel ABS
brakes, dual front airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners and load
limiters.
At this stage, electronic stability program is not available on
the new Kyrons but SsangYong Australia is negotiating with the
factory on pricing and it could be added to the menu before too
long.
Both the 2.0-litre and 2.7-litre versions come with air
conditioning, power windows and mirrors with power folding and
heating. Entertainment is provided by a six-speaker CD/AM/FM audio
system and there are steering-wheel controls.
The Kyron is a solidly built vehicle and its fit and finish are
another confirmation of just how far the Korean brands have come
in recent years.
The new Euro-IV Kyron is priced from $32,990 for the 2.0-litre
manual, $35,990 for the 2.0-litre turbo diesel automatic, and
$39,990 will put the top of the line 2.7-litre turbo-diesel
automatic in your garage. The 2.7-litre manual is $3000 cheaper
than the automatic.
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Marque Publishing Company
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