Kia Stonic drive by Steve Rogers
You get the feeling the Stonic designers had a clear goal: Make it simple.
Well, they smashed it. What a joy to get into a car and not suffer 10 minutes of confusion working out how everything works.
Stonic has a touchscreen, often a source of bewilderment, but this takes no time to master with a bank of quick keys to take you into the menus. Lots of information, no trouble finding it. Better still the heating controls are separate with chunky knobs and clearly marked switches, no faffing about in the touchscreen here.
Then there is lane assist, the safety aid many drivers disable unless on a motorway. Finding how to turn it off is often akin to cracking a safe, yet Stonic has a button on the steering wheel. Simple, so why doesn’t everyone do the same?
Stonic has taken over from the discontinued Rio as Kia’s small family car and falls into the category of affordable now that 20 grand seems to be the benchmark. It was launched in 2017 as a compact SUV to take on the likes of Renault Captur, Nissan Juke and Peugeot 2008, all bloated superminis with a little extra ride height.
That tap has stopped running as the switch to electric power gathers pace. The car isn’t offered as a full hybrid but the top two models get the ‘mild’ version with a 48-volt battery that deploys and recuperates electric power to lower emissions and give a nudge to economy.
There are five models with the entry ‘2’ grade just outside the 20 grand budget but with a generous box of equipment and safety systems. If you want to pamper yourself then the GT Line S does not leave much on the table with heated front seats and steering wheel, auto dipping LED headlights, rear camera with front and rear parking sensors, navigation, and a superb digital driver display the stand outs.
The Kia will also put you in the hot seat - literally. The heated seats warm incredibly quickly to a temperature high enough to take the skin off your backside. Best to knock it down to level one as soon as it starts to warm.
Compact it might be but Stonic can accommodate a family of five as long as the children are on the lean side. There is good width across the back seat although storing luggage for five will be a stretch; some rivals offer more boot space.
Performance isn’t talked about so much these days, and GT Line S flatters to decieve. It has three drive modes, economy, normal and sport, the background colour changing accordingly with red the obvious shade for sport, not that it goes any quicker than the entry model, it just feels quicker with a change in the rev delivery. There is the option of a seven speed double clutch auto with manual change option but is a second slower to sixty than the manual, if that is important.
It sticks to the road well and that is down to a fairly stiff suspension set up, for a little more comfort look at a Renault Clio or Citroen C3.
The Stonic’s safety package is to be applauded but I have a bee in my bonnet over companies holding back some features for top models. Stonic fares well with front emergency braking across the range, but rear collision avoidance, so useful when reversing out of a parking space, along with blind spot alert that could stop you pulling into the path of an approaching vehicle or cyclist is part of the GT Line S package.
Safety is not a luxury and should be the same from top to bottom.
Stonic is a solid package, particularly with the seven year warranty, but it would be a stronger contender as a full hybrid. My average economy for the week was 44mpg, hitting 50mpg on a longer trip, but similar full hybrids I have driven have clocked 60mpg. In the end it is all down to cost and Kia is ploughing millions into its electric programme so this is probably as far as it goes for Stonic.
Yet it is cars like Stonic, offering a lot for relatively little money, that are holding people back from taking the plunge into the expensive world of electric motoring.
Fast facts
Stonic GT Line S 7sp auto
£25,810 (starts £21,255)
1 litre T-GDi 98bhp
0-62mph 12.4secs; 109mph
49.6mpg combined
129g/km. 1st VED £200
Boot: 351-1155 litres
Insurance group 9
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