Kia have launched its new B-segment crossover to the Irish market, welcome the Kia Stonic. The Stonic has serious competition from the likes of the Nissan Juke, Toyota C-HR, Peugeot 2008 and Mazda CX-3.
At launch, there are three petrol and one diesel engines. A 1.0 turbo (120hp), 1.2MPI (84hp), 1.4MPI (100hp) and a 1.6CRDi (110hp), respectively. Kia expects the 1.4MPI to be its biggest seller although I hope that the 1.0 turbo will give it a run for its money.
I drove both the 1.4 and 1.0 back-to-back and the 1.0 is a far superior engine, based off my limited time with it. The 1.4 feels quite gutless from the get go. It’s naturally aspirated, unlike the 1.0, so there is very little grunt from the start. Once out on the open road, it feels very normal. Overall, it’s a quiet engine. However, the cabin is intruded with some wind noise but mostly road noise.
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As for the driving feel, the gear change feels notchy and dull. The 1.0 3-cylinder turbo is a characterful little number. Lots of car manufacturers are going down the route of small displacement, turbo petrols, like Ford and Volkswagen to name but a few. It is good to see Kia have kept its ear to the ground in terms of customer demand.
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Inside the Kia Stonic, the interior is of good quality and nicely laid out. The infotainment system is a simple layout with the respective buttons located each side of the 7-inch touchscreen. There are some scratchy plastics on the bottom half of the interior, but that is to be expected for the price you pay. The seats are comfortable and adjustable so easy to get comfy for longer journeys.
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Now for the price, the Kia Stonic range starts at €18,599 for the K1 1.2 petrol. If you are looking at getting into a 1.0 turbo, it starts at €24,599. To put this into perspective, the Nissan Juke starts at €19,995, the Peugeot 2008 at €19,600 and Toyota C-HR coming in at €26,895.
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We will have a full review on the site when we’ve done a thorough test but until then, you can see what we thought of it at the International launch in Berlin.
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