My diary is full of interesting activities. Climb Kilimanjaro, delve into Australia, dance with wolves, or hunt crocodiles with your bare hands.
Of course, I'm just kidding, I've already dug into Australia a long time ago, but I still got a kick out of it when I found out that I was going to be testing the Kia Stonic . I was definitely not jumping for joy. I most often see Stonicy in front of supermarkets, as a carrier for the oldest of us. Maybe that's why I got the impression that it's a terribly ordinary and boring car? Probably yes. And you probably guessed that I was terribly wrong…
What Kia (and its brother Hyundai) is doing today leaves me in no doubt that we Europeans have fallen asleep, maybe not just us. By the way, the name Stonic is supposed to be a combination of fast "speedy" and tonic drink, which is sweet and sour. I rather thought it was an anagram of the English word "astonish" – i.e. surprising and astonishing, of course in the positive sense of the word, that's what he really is.
MODERN EUROPEAN CROSSOVER
I've started a paragraph about the design by saying the car is modern so many times that it feels a bit like a cliché. Well, the KIA small crossover has a very contemporary and European design. If you like it or not, judge for yourself from the attached photos, I definitely like it. If any car company can really tell that it has made huge progress, it is Kia. In the X-Ceed test, I was already gushing over it, and again I can't help it. It is really clear that the design was mainly worked on by experienced European designers.
The foundation of the Stonic is in the second smallest Rio model. If you don't have a trained eye, maybe you won't even notice the similarity apart from the dimensions, the two models are perfectly different from each other. The "fast tonic" is significantly more creative, in addition to the traditional practical plastic armor of crossovers, it adds sharper edges and, in higher equipment, a perfect interplay of two-tone paintwork. The gray metallic with orange A-pillars, roof, mirrors and rear "spoiler" leaves me in no doubt that this is not the car I meet in the early morning at the mall. An important figure is also the ground clearance, which has grown to 183 mm.
Although Stonic has been around for more than three years, which is not a terribly long time, it still feels fresh and youthful. Yes, to teenagers. Perhaps this is also the key to why it is so popular with the older generations, but we also like it for those of us in our thirties, and a sample of teenagers honored it with noble words such as "cool" or "thick".
The way it looks, everyone likes it, except perhaps for fans of classic Mercedes and Ford Granadas.
INTERIOR AT ORANGES
That's right, the tested Kia Stonic has an orange interior. Super cool that someone also realizes how important color plays in human feelings and moods. Unfortunately, this does not mean that everything from the ceiling to the floor is upholstered in orange suede, but even the few distinctly orange details will delight and radically change the feeling on board. There is a happy and playful atmosphere here, if I were 70, I would suddenly look 30 years younger.
Apart from the color details, the interior is identical to the Rio model, which doesn't bother anything at all. It is a little obvious that the car was created in the last decade, but I never confused such feelings with obsolescence, but rather with confidence, habit and tenacity. It looks like a very grown-up car from the inside. An adult, modern and actually quite premium car, a bit like an Audi. The quality of the materials and fit is exemplary, the details are tight, even the rotary controls click with the precision of a Swiss watch.
Before you virtually murder me for blasphemy, think about the fact that it is not 2004 anymore, and not only German car companies have traveled a long way to their own identity, to the top and to quality. The Koreans are moving on and, for example, such Genesis models clearly show who will be the king of premium brands in a few years. Once you prove me right, a lot will change.
In terms of space, we are still talking about a small lower class car. There's plenty of space in the front, a bit of space in the back by class standards, but adults will squeeze a bit here, there's a lack of space, especially for the head. However, the seats are another story, they are not from a small hatchback. Even a mid-class sedan wouldn't be ashamed of them. Although they lack lateral guidance, they are comfortable even for long journeys.
The ergonomics are exemplary, from the driver's seat you can reach all the buttons and the infotainment touch display. I'm glad that the Stonic keeps the conventional controls for most of the elements, they are easier to navigate when driving than on the touch screen. The infotainment itself belongs to the more advanced ones – you can set up the car in detail and it is very easy to navigate, the colorful graphics correspond to the colorful interior. Perhaps there are just too many settings for my taste, luckily you only have to "dig" through it once.
MICRO-HYBRID MICRO-CROSSOVER
Under the hood of the tested piece beats a small liter three-cylinder with a turbocharger, strengthened by an electric motor/generator. This mild-hybrid device produces a total of 88 kW and 200 Nm. It works as easily as the previously tested XCeed . The car has two batteries. One classic 12V, like any other post-war car, the other is 48V with a capacity of 9.8 aH.
In practice, it works as follows. If more vigorous acceleration or more power is needed, both engines come into play, even more so if you switch to SPORT mode. So the electric motor is a kind of "pusher" and only helps the combustion engine. He won't let us drive purely on electricity. When braking or recuperation is then recharged by a second 48V battery, which also drives electrical accessories if necessary. You will find out where the energy is flowing from the color display of the on-board computer.
The goal of mild-hybrid technology is to reduce emissions, which may not be of much interest to us as users, but mainly reduces fuel consumption. For 800 km, mostly in congested Prague, I drove 6.3 l/100 km, which is not bad at all for a nimble car IN AUTOMATIC . I finally got around to it; The tested small crossover is in automatic mode. It is a 7DCT double-clutch transmission, how many stages it has is probably clear. With a hybrid system and a turbocharged engine, it is a wonderful symbiosis.
The engine itself has enough power and power to handle the automatic transmission, and the transmission has enough gears to run in optimal mode. So she mostly tries to under-rev the engine, sometimes it is necessary to add a little, however, she is quite smart and does not necessarily under-rev immediately. It is then optimal to drive in SPORT mode. Reactions to the gas pedal are sharper and the transmission shifts at higher speeds. Just be careful at the intersections, the starts are quite sharp! There is also an ECO logic mode available, which, however, properly suffocates the otherwise very agile unit and does not significantly reduce consumption.
More than once, I have heard complaints about the DCT transmission, that it jerks a lot and sometimes takes a long time to think about it. It is and it is not true. We can't really get rid of jerking, but this is a feature of this type of transmission, the DSG does the same thing and if you are more confident with the shifting than the control unit, you can do it yourself – if someone wants to do that, they should go straight for the manual gearbox… If you drive slowly and smoothly, as befits and belongs to an automatic, no problem will arise.
TOLERABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING
I drove the Kia Stonic mainly around town and I have to say that the chassis here works excellently for such a small car. I was really pleasantly surprised how playfully it copes with curbs, cross thresholds, even the potholes of the capital. It's not that you can't feel the surface you're driving on, even 17-inch wheels don't benefit from a small rattle, but it's nothing terrible, let alone disturbing. I have to mention the Xceed again, its driving comfort in the city also exceeded my expectations, they really must have quality engineers in Korea.
The city handles perfectly, what is the Stonic like on the highway? Here it feels like a class bigger car, it is stable and comfortable, perhaps only the aerodynamic noise is a bit unpleasant. He surprised me by far the most in the districts. In corners, the chassis is quite stiff, the steering communicates solidly, but the best thing is the ease with which it moves, not unlike Japanese cars from the nineties.
AGILE AND ADULT MEMBER OF THE FAMILY
The second decade of the twenty-first century may seem like a dark age to many motoring fans. I say: "Don't throw a flint in the rye" – give it a chance. It might seem that the influx of SUVs, crossovers and hybrids will be hell, but the tested hybrid crossover proves above all that new does not always mean bad.
The KIA Stonic is a very good little crossover, exceptional mainly because of how mature it behaves. It's just as capable as the larger XCeed , just a bit smaller. It does not compromise on performance or driving characteristics, it can easily handle long journeys, even "hopping" around the city, while it is very ascetic even with an automatic.
I wouldn't even be afraid of a basic model for 360,000, but I personally would have to have an automatic that costs 450, the tested hybrid would cost 514,000 crowns.
