Kia Stonic 2021 MHEV, wheezing

Staring at the ring around your finger The Police (Synchroniocity, 1983)

Half past eleven at night and I’m walking alone down the street with my hood pulled down. More shadows than light, broken sidewalks where weeds and plants sprout unidentified, dirty water that puddles the asphalt and the sewers do not dare to drain… That is the landscape that I perceive almost all the time looking at where my feet rest so as not to look up and meet someone looking for a fight or signs of weakness. I hear the cries of disconsolate children, unfiltered domestic arguments, loud music, accents from outside that I can’t distinguish speaking with the tone of someone who knows that the street is theirs but if they want to keep it they have to be scary. And of course they do. I’ve studied the itinerary well so I don’t have to ask, not even look up to see which street I’m on. The cars do not respect the traffic lights that still work so I have calculated so that I do not have to cross more than once. I reach the corner, turn it quickly and find the stairs. A light bulb hangs from a precarious wire above the door, barely lighting a peephole like the ones in the movies.

Like in the movies I knock on the door: two long knocks, three short knocks, another long knock. No one peeks through the peephole but they open the door for me. I wonder why they want it then. I cross the threshold and I am hit by the heat and the smoke that waited inside to envelop me. It seems that the one who opened the door for me has vanished. I continue down the hall, approaching the murmurs that await me behind the back door. The atmosphere is charged. Few glances deign to receive me. I lift my hood and immediately recognize the runner. I approach with the tickets. Three months of savings change hands into the hands of a guy jotting something down in a notebook with a pencil so chewed it’s almost ready for digestion. I sit as close as I can to the front row. The murmurs stop. A lamp floats on the smoke. They go up to the platform and I recognize my man. Now I can put a face to my last hope, short, freckled, blond, too young. They sit. A white pawn slides two squares away from the knight that was escorting the queen. I pray to Capablanca.

SUVs have long not only competed in the high-end motor vehicle market in terms of size and price, but have slowly been gaining ground even on the utility battlefield. Manufacturers have repeated the off-road-inspired elevated body formula to design cars that for a reasonable price can handle city agility thanks to their size and have no problem hitting the road while offering good roominess for their size.

Kia has already taken care of presenting its commitment in this sector with its Stonic, a compact SUV with 4.14 meters in length that has been renewed in 2021 to modernize some of its features and part of the design. It is a car designed to offer a good price without giving up a good dose of technology. In this case, within this technological package, we find as a novelty of this generation the range of micro-hybrid engines with different versions depending on the power offered.

Micro Hybrid

In our case, we have been able to test the Kia Stonic 2021 in its 1-liter gasoline version with a turbocharger, which has been associated with a small 48-volt electric motor that produces 120 horsepower. This is worth the DGT ECO label to add versatility and savings to the vehicle as well as good consumption figures on paper. Curiously, the unit we used for the test has the same power as the previous generation Kia Stonic that we had the opportunity to test at the time.

Apparently Kia has not wanted to unmark from the aesthetic point of view the update of this model since externally it bears a very great similarity. At the front, the headlights are practically identical in shape and the air intake that is placed between them also has a very similar shape, although the metal trims inside it have a different shape. Further down there are further differences with the narrow second air intake separated into three parts.

cosmetic touch-ups

Further down, the design changes more clearly with a honeycomb-shaped grille that incorporates the position lights on its sides. In this case, the hollows of the sunken sides in the bumper, which has the same size as in the previous generation, have black plastic moldings and diffusers placed on grilles that have no apparent use. The shape of the hood, on the other hand, is the same as in the Stonic that preceded it.

On the side of the car there is no noticeable change and the lines flow to meet the spoiler placed on the rear window also in the same shape as the previous version. At the rear you also have to make an effort to find the differences: completely identical tailgate, headlights, spoiler. It is from the bumper that the design changes slightly with double exhaust outlet and plastic reinforcement in the lower part in silver as well as a different shape of the reflectors.

The interior of the Stonic of the new generation does not present great differences with the previous one either. Just the configuration of some buttons and small details of the finishes, but in reality, from the seats to the layout of all the controls and the materials are the same. There are changes to the passenger seat adjustments. As in its predecessor, the general impression is good although the finishes and materials are Spartan.

The screen between the indicators has been improved and is now 4.2 inches in color and incorporates all the indicators that were previously displayed with lights outside the screen. The information and entertainment screen has also been improved, which in the new Stonic grows one inch, from seven to eight, and changes the configuration of the buttons to access the menus directly, which are now located at the bottom.

new screen

In addition, the screen is now higher on the dashboard, which makes it easier to consult when we are driving. The functionality and software appear to be the same, although some functions have been added, such as the possibility of connecting with Android Auto wirelessly via bluetooth instead of having to connect the smartphone with a cable to access this function. .

The habitability is the same, we find enough space to be a small SUV especially in the front seats. In the back seats you travel comfortably as long as there are two people since the third one will be somewhat cramped. Good legroom and height if we take into account the size of the car and the possibility of connecting USB devices, although it does not have ventilation outlets for the passengers in the back.

The trunk is also the same as in the previous generation and with its 332 liters it is about average for SUVs of this size. It is not a large capacity but it has fairly regular shapes, although access is somewhat elevated due to the design of the gate. By folding down the seats we can increase the capacity to 1,155 liters to be able to load more and more bulky objects in exchange for giving up carrying passengers in the back.

At the wheel

In the test drive is where we have had the opportunity to test the most notable differences with the previous generation. As we have pointed out, it is a 120-horsepower micro-hybrid engine, unlike the gasoline engine that we tested in the previous generation. The impression is that the car is still a fairly comfortable car, although we have noticed more vibrations than in the 2018 version with the car cold. Once running and with the engine warm, the noise and vibrations are similar.

The help of the electric motor is slightly noticeable at the start, but it leaves us almost immediately. So much so that this model is even somewhat slower than its predecessor in reaching 100 kilometers per hour from a standstill (although it is practically imperceptible). Despite this, it seemed to us slightly more agile in the city and better when recovering in long marches. In general, it seems to us to be a somewhat rounder engine with better response. Surely thanks to a significantly higher torque figure.

a quiet car

It is not a particularly spirited car in any case, but it does operate with ease on the road, enough to be able to face long trips without problems. We are not going to be able to express many emotions but on twisty roads it does not give unpleasant surprises either. In short, it has the classic personality of a car designed for the city but that has no problem getting out on the road even if it is not its territory.

We have recorded good consumption figures, although not drastically better than those of the gasoline engine that we tested from the 2018 version. The differences are more noticeable if we drive without worrying about efficiency. In that case, the electric motor, although small, can make a difference, especially in urban driving. On the road the consumption figures are very similar, although as we have pointed out in recoveries we will notice that this Stonic is more prepared for the route.

Conclusions

With this new generation of Stonic it is evident that Kia has not wanted to make radical experiments. It has applied the aesthetic, habitability and versatility formula that worked for it with the previous generation, modernizing some details such as the interior screens. What has undergone the most evolution is in the engines and not radically in the results, although technologically they are much more advanced than the previous ones.

The result regarding the propellants make this Korean model more efficient in the city, especially for drivers less careful with consumption, and more usable on the road thanks to its higher torque figure that is noticeable when recovering with long marches. In short, it is an evolution that may not seem too significant but that continues to place this Kia model among the most recommended in its category, especially for its very good quality / price ratio.