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By
EWAN KENNEDY
13 February 2006
SsangYong continues on its strong revival in Australia, introducing yet
another new model. This time a mid-size 4WD named Kyron. SsangYong is to
be complimented for sticking to its guns in the styling stakes. In a
world where just about every other marque is going the global route and
producing cars that could come from just about anywhere, Korean
SsangYong is doing its own thing.
Kyron has a central grille that slopes sharply
in towards its lower edge, there it meets up with an interesting
dummy grille that runs the full width of the front of the 4WD just
above the bumper. The bumper itself carries a further central, air
intake. The overall effect is somewhat complex, but once you get
your mind around the theme it all works well enough.
The side profile is relatively sedate, with
front guards that remind us of those on some upmarket German cars
(which can be no bad thing). There's an interesting styling
scallop that begins below the front door handles and continues all
the way to the back, where it continues around into, and across,
most of the rear hatch. This takes some of the visual width out of
the rear, but works well enough and certainly leaves you in no
doubt that you’re looking at a SsangYong.
Those who like to challenge convention in their
day-to-day lives may well be deeply attracted to the design of
this new Kyron from SsangYong.
Kyron's size may prove somewhat confusing, as it
isn’t a lot smaller than the SsangYong Rexton that’s been on
sale here since mid 2003. SsangYong in Australia has decided to
concentrate on importing seven-seat variants of the Rexton to
differentiate it from the new Kyron.
There's good interior space for four adults in
the Kyron and a fifth could be carried without an unpleasant
squeeze.
This is a true 4WD of the old school, with a
ladder-frame chassis and a two-speed transfer case. There's the
choice of two-high, four-high and four-low ranges, but no neutral
position. Shifts between ranges are controlled from a turn-knob on
the dash and indicated by lights within the tacho dial.
Power at this stage comes only from a 2.0-litre
turbo-diesel engine. A 2.7 turbo-diesel and a 3.2-litre petrol
engine are planned to be added to the Kyron range later in the
year.
The 2.0-litre produces 310Nm between 1800rpm and
2750rpm, with peak power of 103kW being pretty good for an engine
in this class.
The Kyron 2.0 engine is of modern common-rail
design. It’s obviously a diesel, with that distinctive rattle if
you’re standing outside the car and listening to it idling, but
from the inside it’s pretty peaceful in the way it sounds. Noise
levels from the engine are about average when accelerating but,
fascinatingly, the SsangYong becomes very quiet when cruising.
Indeed at a steady 100km/h the Kyron is one of the quietest
vehicles in which we have ever travelled.
Transmission is by a five-speed manual or an
automatic with the same number of forward ratios. The auto is
sourced from Mercedes-Benz so uses the side-to-side tiptronic-type
overrides, rather than the fore-and-aft changes seen on most other
sequential automatics. This system continues to impress us in its
ease of use.
We were also impressed with the general handling
of the Kyron. Its steering has a nice feel and there's good road
grip even at above average cornering speeds. The damping from the
shock absorbers was a little slow at times and caused some mild
hassles over hard bumps. Other than that this 4WD is pleasant to
sit in and to drive.
SsangYong Kyron has a recommended retail price
of $34,490. Automatic transmission is more expensive than average
at $3000 and on-road costs have to be figured into your buying
equation.
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Marque Publishing Company
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