Korean firm Ssangyong showing a bit of drive

This content was originally posted in 7DAYS UAE website at: Korean firm Ssangyong showing a bit of drive Italian roads are, frankly, terrible. I know the country has seen its fair share of economic woes, but it seems the government has completely given up on fixing the potholes and, in some locations, the edges of bridges. Luckily, I’m testing the latest SUV to come out of Korea and for once it’s not either Kia or Hyundai. It’s a car from Korea’s third automotive brand, Ssangyong. Now if that rings a bell with you, you’re probably thinking about some of the company’s previous creations, which took car design into uncharted territory. They were both controversial and capable, and although some people loved the quirky designs, on the whole the cars didn’t exactly set the world on fire. But over the last few years things have changed. The car is called the Tivoli (hence the launch in the town of Tivoli just outside Rome), which is intended to make it sound more Euro friendly and which can also be neatly rearranged to read ‘I love it’. Clearly there’s still a drop of quirkiness in Ssangyong, despite the drive towards the mainstream. But more important than the name is the fact that the Tivoli is coping extremely well with the war zone-esque back roads. This is clearly a well bolted together car that so far isn’t fazed by the best a crumbling infrastructure can throw at it. This new model is one of a number of new cars. There are also plans for a longer wheelbase version, which will go down well in the Middle East. This is not Ssangyong’s first foray into the SUV world. The brand is well known for building tough off-roaders, with those that need a rugged SUV already aware of previous model’s capabilities. Sitting inside, everything has a quality feel to it. The plastics feel expensive and the leather stitching on the seats has the quality of a car from a far higher price bracket. There’s good headroom in the rear, so it’ll suit families, and the boot size is class leading. On the outside the trend continues with all-round LED lights, roof bars and a satisfying ‘thunk’ when you close the doors. It’s solid, neat and rattle free. From different angles the car takes on the look of a number of different cars, but there are certainly design cues from both Mini and Skoda hidden in the DNA, and the blown rear haunches will have Nissan’s lawyers in a spin. But these are all great cars, with fabulous design, so nothing to dislike there. Under the hood you get a 1.6l, four-cylinder petrol engine, mated to a six-speed auto box. The engine isn’t particularly powerful, but it copes well with normal driving. The gearbox is a little basic and has a very odd shift control, in the form of a tiny button on the side of the stick. It’s not intuitive and has no feel to it at all. But, buyers of this sort of car will rarely want anything more than the normal D mode. Ssangyong have built a great-looking, well-loaded, small SUV that’s easy to live with. That’s pretty much the segment tick list. Will buyers put their hand in their pocket for a Ssangyong over the likes of Chevy, Nissan, etc.? Why not? Sometimes even people looking for a small family SUV like to be a little quirky. For more visit ssangyonguae.com  Written by Noel Ebdon Read the original story at: Korean firm Ssangyong showing a bit of drive