Hyundai Staria detailed review 2022 (inc. 0-100): This or a Kia Carnival?

CarExpert

I LOVED Robocop growing up. So you can imagine my excitement with a car company released a car that looks like Robocop.  Paul Maric reviews the 2022 Hyundai Staria to see if Hyundai's all-new people mover that shares a platform with the Kia Carnival has what it takes to compete in this segment.  Hardness tester results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/121Auf6HGvaBqRToYcuAz94alin7Sw55SpOPECBDlnKE  Read the full review: https://www.carexpert.com.au/car-reviews/2022-hyundai-staria-review  More Hyundai content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/hyundai More Hyundai Staria content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/hyundai/staria  Skip Ahead: Intro: 00:00 Exterior 00:53 Interior 04:14 Infotainment 06:04 Safety Tech 09:10 Practicality 10:25 On the road 17:15 0-100 20:35 On the road: 20:51 Verdict 24:30  We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.  Whether you need new car advice, purchase validation or simply love learning more about new cars and technology, we are your car experts.  Subscribe to Car Expert: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DvMhvy3H7ntEgn9n3xQcQ?sub_confirmation=1  You'll find us dropping new video content three times a week. If you'd like to ask a question about one of our videos, simply leave us a comment. If you'd like to give us any feedback on our content, feel free to email us, or alternatively, hit us up on social media.  Finally, we want this channel to grow with your support and feedback. If there's anything you don't like or would like to see us change, we'd love to hear from you!  Follow us on social media to see what we're up to and to ask any questions!  CarExpert: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarExpertAus Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/CarExpertAus Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carexpert.com.au  Paul Maric: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaulMaric Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/PaulMaric Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/PaulMaric  #hyundai #staria #review

Transcript

00:00 G'day, I'm Paul.

00:01 No, it's okay, we haven't started reviewing spaceships.

00:04 This is in fact a new Hyundai.

00:05 It's called the Staria.

00:06 It replaces the iLoad and the iMax.

00:08 And if you're like me and you grew up loving Robocop,

00:11 I think this gives you some Robocop vibes.

00:14 Have a look at this LED strip along the front there.

00:16 I think that looks absolutely sensational.

00:19 Now this right here is the top spec Staria.

00:21 It's called the Highlander.

00:22 It's the diesel trim.

00:23 It's priced at a little over $65,000.

00:26 If that's too expensive,

00:27 the entire range kicks off at a little under 50 grand.

00:30 This competes with things like the Volkswagen Multivan

00:32 and the Toyota Granvia.

00:34 Today, we're going to do a detailed review of this car.

00:36 If you do wanna skip ahead to other parts of the review,

00:39 you can use the time codes up on the screen there.

00:40 Or if you're on YouTube,

00:41 just scroll down and use the chapters below.

00:43 And if you haven't done so already,

00:44 make sure you subscribe to our channel

00:46 and press the bell icon so you can find out

00:48 every single time we dive back

00:50 through my favorite movie history.

00:52 Let's talk exterior.

00:54 You've got five external colors to pick from

00:56 and all but black is an additional $695.

00:59 So there's a lot to unpack down the front here.

01:03 Let's start off with the grille.

01:04 So you'll notice the grille sort of sits

01:05 all the way down the bottom.

01:07 This shares a platform with the Santa Fe.

01:09 So it's not really a van,

01:11 so you don't need to have this traditional van layout.

01:14 And it is just fascinating to me

01:16 how you can have something that looks like a Santa Fe,

01:18 yet on the exact same platform,

01:20 you have something that looks

01:21 completely different like this.

01:23 So hats off to the engineers

01:24 who sort of make all of that happen.

01:26 So big gaping grille,

01:27 that's where you get all of the air to keep everything cool.

01:30 I decimated a bird this morning,

01:32 so sorry about all that,

01:33 but that's your radar just there.

01:35 Now what you'll notice here as well is

01:37 it looks just like another grille segment,

01:38 but there's actually an indicator behind there as well.

01:41 Then you've also got full LED headlights.

01:43 And then of course this LED strip runs most of the time.

01:46 When you do have the headlights off though,

01:48 it just shows these two outer sections.

01:50 So it's a really impressive setup.

01:52 Down the bottom here,

01:52 you have a camera for the 360 camera

01:55 and then the Hyundai logo.

01:57 Let me know what you reckon about the design.

01:59 It is pretty full on,

02:00 but it's kind of growing on me.

02:02 When I saw it in pictures,

02:02 I thought it looked completely stupid,

02:04 but here in person,

02:05 I'll tell you what,

02:06 it looks cool and it certainly turns heads.

02:07 Come on into the side.

02:08 You've got a set of 18 inch alloy wheels.

02:10 I really like this design.

02:11 It's unlike anything I've seen on a new car before.

02:14 So you've got the sort of shadow chrome bits on the outside

02:17 and then the graphite look on the inside there.

02:19 So really a different setup and quite unique,

02:23 especially in the van segment.

02:24 And they're a little bit boring sometimes.

02:27 So this is a good way to make them stand out.

02:29 I did notice this before.

02:30 So the paint on this car looks really poor.

02:33 There's a lot of orange peel on there.

02:34 And we have mentioned that before with Hyundai products

02:36 that the paint really doesn't look that good,

02:38 but that panel is just sort of sticking out there.

02:41 So it's fine on the other side,

02:43 but sticks out on that side.

02:44 So not a good sign on a brand new car.

02:47 Around the side here,

02:48 two elements for the LED indicator,

02:50 this one here and that one as well.

02:51 You've got a little camera there

02:53 that gives you the 360 camera as well.

02:56 Have a look at the size of these windows.

02:57 They are absolutely enormous.

02:58 So you have plenty of glass house there

03:00 when you are inside the car to be able to see outside.

03:03 Come around to the back of the car.

03:04 It's a long walk.

03:05 That LED game continues here as well.

03:07 Look at that.

03:08 It is a whopper of an LED.

03:10 Your indicators here and they're progressive as well.

03:12 So they light up individually.

03:14 And then you've got your brake lights as well.

03:15 So love this.

03:16 This kind of looks similar to the Ioniq 5.

03:18 We actually did a walk around review of that.

03:21 Click up here to watch that.

03:22 It's a really cool looking setup.

03:23 And at nighttime when you're following this,

03:25 it genuinely looks like a spaceship.

03:28 So more of that giant glass house.

03:29 This is just over 5.2 metres long.

03:32 Importantly though, it's just under two metres high.

03:35 And I say that because a lot of apartment buildings

03:37 cap out at two metres.

03:38 So you will be able to fit this

03:39 into residential apartment buildings without any dramas.

03:42 This is also going to be released as a van.

03:45 This is the people mover version,

03:46 but there will be a van that looks the exact same,

03:49 just without seats and stuff inside.

03:50 It will just have a big open space to store things.

03:53 Now I am curious before we hop inside the car,

03:56 if you are in the market now for a people mover,

03:58 are you buying this or the Carnival?

04:00 The Carnival has that SUV design.

04:02 It looks quite classy and blends in

04:05 with other vehicles in traffic.

04:06 This completely stands out.

04:08 So if you're in the market for an eight seater,

04:09 which one are you buying?

04:11 The Carnival or this?

04:12 Let me know in the comment section below.

04:14 So we're inside the Staria

04:15 and we will start with the key.

04:19 So you have lock, unlock,

04:22 you have buttons here to open either side of the car.

04:24 You have a push and hold for the boot

04:27 and then a push and hold to remote start the vehicle as well.

04:30 On the back, you have a Hyundai logo.

04:31 It's a proximity sensing key.

04:33 So you just leave that in your pocket

04:34 and then you have nice looking push button starter

04:37 just there.

04:38 So the inside looks a whole lot more conventional

04:40 than the outside.

04:42 The first thing I've noticed is piano black.

04:44 It is everywhere.

04:47 It's like down here, it's around there.

04:48 It is all over the place.

04:50 So that is slightly excessive in my opinion, but anyway,

04:53 the downside to piano black is obviously

04:55 that it marks easy, it retains dust and just over time,

04:58 it just gets dirty a little too quickly.

05:01 On the design front, it's interesting

05:02 because you've got screens sort of all over the place

05:05 and then you have this tier of climate controls

05:07 and other bits and pieces.

05:09 It is sort of nicely laid out

05:10 and it gives you a pass through in the center here.

05:12 So from the sort of ergonomics point of view,

05:15 I think they've done a good job.

05:16 It's a lot of sort of hard plastics up the top here,

05:19 but when you think about it,

05:20 this is kind of a work van that is a people mover as well.

05:25 So you're expecting it to look and feel a bit like a work van

05:29 but it does feel premium enough

05:30 that if you did spend this kind of coin

05:32 that you wouldn't feel like you were shortchanged.

05:34 What about our touch points though?

05:35 So there is no center armrest.

05:37 There is no armrest on the chair either.

05:39 I would have liked to actually see something

05:41 that folds down so you can actually lean onto it.

05:44 But we do have our durometer

05:45 and we've tested the main surfaces in this cabin.

05:48 If you wanna see how this car compares to other cars

05:51 we've tested before,

05:52 have a look at the link in the description.

05:53 Now, what about build quality?

05:54 Normally I sort of just shake things around

05:56 and just see what it's like.

05:57 Actually, it looks and feels pretty good here

05:59 aside from that thing on the body that we mentioned earlier.

06:03 Actually feels pretty solid inside.

06:04 Okay, infotainment.

06:05 We'll talk about this screen

06:06 and then the screen ahead of the driver.

06:09 So they both measure 10.25 inches.

06:12 And if you have seen our other Hyundai and Kia reviews

06:14 this is gonna look pretty familiar.

06:16 So built into this you have satellite navigation

06:18 and then you can also go back to the home menu here.

06:21 This is where you find the default home screen

06:23 that allows you to select profiles and swipe across.

06:26 And then you have litany of other features.

06:28 And I'll run through some of the coolest stuff

06:29 in just a second.

06:30 But in terms of radio, you have AM, FM, DAB plus

06:33 digital radio and a six speaker sound system.

06:35 Sound system, not amazing.

06:37 I thought it would be a little bit better

06:40 given the price point this car's at.

06:42 So yeah, it's probably just lacking a little bit there.

06:44 So if you're a sound fanatic,

06:46 you may need to look elsewhere,

06:47 but you do get in the sounds of nature

06:49 which is a thing to keep the kids entertained

06:52 and also quiet mode which keeps everything quiet

06:54 at the back of the car

06:55 so that parents can listen to some radio.

06:57 Over here you have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

07:00 Both of those are wired

07:02 and you can see it takes up the whole screen there.

07:04 It's really sharp, really quick, very impressive.

07:07 And this is what Android Auto looks like.

07:10 So not quite a full screen integration.

07:11 They cut it off there.

07:12 That section just tells me I'm in Android Auto

07:15 which I know 'cause I could see it on the screen.

07:18 When you click on here,

07:18 you don't really have the option of putting anything else

07:21 on that side, but it is nice and sharp

07:22 and very quick as well, which is good.

07:25 Okay, other cool features here.

07:27 So you have voice memo mode.

07:28 I like that 'cause if you come up

07:29 with any inspirational ideas out on the road,

07:32 you can note them down and play them back later.

07:36 But this is pretty cool.

07:37 So passenger view.

07:39 If I hit that, instead of just having a dinky

07:42 sort of mirror here,

07:43 I can actually see exactly what's going on in the back.

07:46 I don't know if this is more distracting than it is useful,

07:49 but I think that's a pretty cool setup.

07:51 So yeah, pretty impressive stuff.

07:54 Let me know what you think of the comment section below.

07:56 Is that useful or is that a distraction?

07:58 I'm keen to get your feedback.

07:59 Let's have a quick chat about the screen

08:01 ahead of the driver.

08:01 Another 10.25 inch display.

08:03 This is where you see your speedometer,

08:05 your tachometer, trip computer,

08:07 and your safety functions as well.

08:09 But there is a key issue,

08:10 and I'll see what it's like when we go for a drive,

08:13 but right now I can't see half of that screen.

08:15 The top of the steering wheel is blocking

08:17 the bottom half of the screen,

08:18 including the digital speedo in the center,

08:21 plus all the stuff that's down the bottom.

08:23 It's a bit of an issue because when they engineer cars,

08:26 they aim to cover as much of the population

08:30 as they can in terms of their body type.

08:31 So things like reach and eye line for items,

08:34 they try and cover maybe 80, 85th percentile of people

08:37 so that you've got everything covered.

08:39 But unfortunately, I seem to fall into that last 10

08:42 or 5th percentile of people

08:44 that have long legs and a short torso.

08:46 And as a result of that, I can't see anything ahead of me.

08:48 And yeah, okay, I can put that steering wheel

08:50 all the way down so that I can see stuff,

08:52 but then it means I can't actually turn

08:54 'cause I keep hitting my knees.

08:55 So from a design perspective, this is not good,

08:57 especially if you have someone who has

08:59 what I think is a fairly generic body

09:01 that can't actually see how fast they're going.

09:03 So when we go out onto the road,

09:05 I'll see if that actually becomes a problem,

09:07 but yeah, pretty disappointing to see at this early stage.

09:10 Let's talk safety.

09:10 So you have front and rear AEB with pedestrian detection.

09:14 You have a blind spot monitor built into the wing mirrors,

09:16 but you also have blind spot monitoring

09:18 built into the screen ahead of the driver.

09:20 I'll show you what that looks like when we go for a drive.

09:22 It's quite a clever feature.

09:23 Front and rear cross traffic alerts

09:26 that'll stop the car if someone is coming

09:28 and you don't see them.

09:29 You have a lane departure warning

09:30 and a lane keeping assistant, radar cruise control.

09:33 Keep in mind though that the lane departure warning

09:35 and the lane keeping assistant,

09:36 I don't think they really work that well.

09:38 They can be, sometimes they just have a mind of their own

09:41 and I find that you don't wanna have to rely on them.

09:44 There's also a semi-autonomous steering function there too.

09:46 It's kind of in the same boat.

09:48 It sometimes pinballs within the lane

09:50 and it can just be a little hard to rely on.

09:53 So not a huge fan of that.

09:54 In terms of parking, you have front and rear parking sensors

09:57 and a 360 camera.

09:58 I'll show you what that looks like.

09:59 So it's actually a pretty decent camera.

10:01 The quality is quite good.

10:02 You get a top down view as well.

10:04 But check this out.

10:05 How cool is that?

10:08 So at low speed, this kind of moves as well

10:11 while you're driving.

10:11 So it gives you a little bit of insight

10:14 into what the car's doing.

10:15 And I love the fact that you can even change the,

10:18 you can even see rather as you go around

10:20 the reflections changing on the glass and the paint as well.

10:23 So yeah, really cool setup.

10:24 I love that.

10:25 Okay, moving on to practicality

10:27 and we'll start with your connectivity.

10:29 Down here, you've got two USB ports and a 12 volt outlet.

10:33 You also have wireless phone charging.

10:35 So you can just slide your phone onto that.

10:37 That's also gripped as well.

10:38 So your phone's not going to slide around

10:40 if you get adventurous in terms of your driving.

10:42 What about storage though?

10:44 And there is a lot of storage to get through here.

10:45 So you've got this center section.

10:47 It has a lid on the front.

10:49 It is a little bit deceiving.

10:50 It looks like all of this goes back,

10:51 but it only stops here and I'll explain why later on.

10:54 Got two cup holders there.

10:56 You can store your phone there if you want.

10:58 So you can put it in the wireless phone charger

11:00 or slot your phone there.

11:01 In terms of coffee though,

11:03 it's actually just the right height for a coffee cup.

11:07 And then bottles fits in there fine.

11:10 You've got teeth as well.

11:11 Lots of bottle storage down the side too.

11:13 So you can easily fit one of those bottles.

11:15 Let's try a whopper bottle.

11:18 Yeah, that easily fits as well.

11:19 You can probably put a couple of wine bottles in there

11:21 as well if you wanted to.

11:22 Also, almost forgot, you've actually got one here

11:24 similar to the Porsche 911.

11:26 And then you've got one up there as well

11:28 that you can slot your gear into.

11:31 In terms of the rest of the storage though,

11:33 you do have another sort of tray here

11:36 that you can put keys or papers or whatever in.

11:38 A secondary tray here and then a grab handle

11:41 to close the door.

11:42 Then you move on to your storage compartment.

11:45 So this entire section comes out

11:47 if you don't need your cup holders.

11:49 Then it goes all the way down here.

11:51 You've got more storage in there.

11:53 You then have a glove box here.

11:56 You don't want that to open while you're driving though.

11:58 Actually, it probably wouldn't make a difference

11:59 'cause I can't see the speedo anyway,

12:01 but you've got storage in here.

12:02 You've got another one over here.

12:05 You've also got a glove box over here.

12:07 Quite a small one though.

12:08 And then finally down here, one more storage slot there

12:11 and a little nook in there.

12:13 So you will literally find somewhere to put

12:16 whatever you need to store in this big bus.

12:19 Righto, let's talk comfort.

12:20 You have single zone automatic climate control.

12:23 You have heated and cooled seats for the front row.

12:26 Plus you also have a heated steering wheel.

12:29 In terms of seats, it is electrically adjustable

12:31 for the driver.

12:32 It goes forwards, backwards,

12:33 and then the backrest goes forwards and backwards.

12:36 You can also move the seat up and down as well.

12:39 There is no memory function.

12:40 The passenger seat is fully manually adjustable.

12:43 In terms of the seats themselves,

12:45 they're actually pretty comfortable.

12:46 So it's a fair hike to this filming location.

12:49 And yeah, I just found it a nice place to be seated.

12:52 They hug you in enough.

12:53 They're not sort of too overbearing

12:55 or don't have enough sort of bottom support.

13:00 So yeah, pretty impressive setup for the seats.

13:02 In terms of the steering,

13:04 you have reach and tilt adjustment.

13:06 And then in terms of our reach test,

13:09 yeah, the stuff is a little hard to reach.

13:11 You have to actually lean forward

13:12 to attack most of this stuff.

13:14 If you don't, everything's just out of reach.

13:16 Okay, second row time.

13:19 To get access to the second row,

13:21 it's pretty straightforward.

13:22 You can either just pull the door handle

13:23 or using the key, you just push and hold,

13:26 and then it opens up like this.

13:28 Let's hop inside and I'll run you through the space here.

13:30 Let's start off by having a look at how much room we have.

13:33 So the button to close the door is just over here.

13:36 Look at that, acres of knee room,

13:38 lots of toe room and plenty of headroom as well.

13:41 Love this dual pane sunroof setup here in the top spec.

13:44 You can move the seat if you want to give

13:46 the rear passengers more room or less room.

13:49 So you have plenty of accommodation there.

13:51 You can also recline your seat if you want to.

13:53 Have a little bit of a kipper or something like that.

13:55 Now in terms of the windows,

13:56 you don't have windows that come down on their own.

13:58 You have to manually open them up.

14:00 So interesting setup.

14:02 I would have just preferred to have a window

14:03 that goes down on its own.

14:04 It'd be a little bit easier.

14:05 You do also have blinds that come down

14:07 to give you that little bit of protection from the sun.

14:10 This is where you control the second zone

14:12 of climate control.

14:13 So you can set your temperatures there,

14:14 fan speeds and all the individual settings.

14:17 I mentioned earlier that the reason you don't have

14:19 more access to that front glove box

14:21 is because you have this part here.

14:23 So cup holder there for two cups

14:25 and then beneath that, a storage bin.

14:27 You also have two USB outlets.

14:29 You've got map pockets in the back of the seats

14:31 with storage hooks.

14:32 You have ISOFIX points on the two outboard seats

14:35 along with top tether points.

14:37 And then the seats themselves don't actually have

14:39 any center armrests with a cup holder,

14:41 but you can drop this seat down

14:43 if you do want to have something to lean on.

14:45 Okay, third row.

14:46 It is a little bit clumsy to get inside.

14:48 You can move this row all the way forward

14:50 and sort of sneak in through there.

14:52 But you do have this little red tag.

14:54 You give that a pull, that drops the seat

14:56 and then allows you to slide the row forward.

14:58 We'll climb in.

14:59 How much room is there?

15:01 So we had this row all the way back.

15:03 And what I'll do is reset to that position

15:06 just so you can see how much room I've got.

15:09 So the answer is not a great deal of room,

15:12 but what we can do, because there was acres over there

15:15 to start with is actually move that back

15:18 to what I think should be a regular position.

15:21 And there you go.

15:22 I have loads of knee room there.

15:23 That's not a problem at all.

15:24 I've got the air vents above me

15:25 that I can shift and adjust as required.

15:28 Two USB ports, one on that side, one on this side.

15:31 And we have cup holders as well.

15:33 So look, decent space, but yeah,

15:35 I just met with a pillar here.

15:37 I don't really have much vision out the side of the car.

15:39 You have to have this moved backwards

15:42 to really sort of give yourself a little bit more room.

15:44 Finally, you have your sun blinds there as well.

15:49 Okay, cargo space.

15:50 What's it like?

15:51 Your button is just under here.

15:53 Give that a push.

15:54 It is powered.

15:55 You need to move out of the way

15:56 because it takes a lot of room to open.

15:59 There it is there.

16:01 It also doesn't really go high enough.

16:02 I kind of knock my head on it on the way in, but anyway.

16:06 So you've got 800 or a little over 800 litres

16:09 of cargo space just here.

16:11 That is a huge amount of room.

16:12 What normally happens with these people movers

16:14 is you don't have any storage behind the third row.

16:17 This is the exception to the rule.

16:18 It's not quite as deep as the Carnival though.

16:21 You'll remember in our Carnival review,

16:22 click up here if you haven't watched it yet,

16:24 they move the spare tyre from under here

16:26 to under the passenger side

16:29 because you're able to then make a big open cavity here.

16:32 Whereas right now the spare tyre is under the vehicle

16:34 and you don't have that space.

16:36 So that is one of the downsides to this,

16:38 but there's still plenty of room.

16:39 You can easily fit your suitcase in here

16:42 without even trying at all.

16:44 So if you do need more space,

16:45 you can actually just fold this out of the way

16:47 and that just gets down there.

16:49 That expands the space to about 1300 litres.

16:51 So you can see here that it's not exactly

16:53 the most practical thing in the world.

16:55 It is worth noting that in some markets,

16:57 you can actually get a raft

16:58 of different configurations inside.

17:00 You can get captain's chairs,

17:02 you can get the ability to fold everything flat

17:04 so you can get a mattress in there.

17:05 We just have what appears to be

17:07 the most basic configuration out there.

17:09 So look, it is an okay space, but I don't know.

17:11 I think they could have done a little bit better.

17:13 This is kind of a bit clumsy.

17:15 So we've hit the road in the spaceship Staria.

17:19 What is powering this?

17:20 So you've got two engines to pick from.

17:22 You can either go front wheel drive with a V6 petrol

17:25 or all wheel drive with a diesel.

17:27 And that's what we're driving here.

17:28 It's a 2.2 litre, four cylinder turbo charge diesel engine.

17:32 Makes 130 kilowatts of power and 430 newton metres of torque.

17:37 And that's all mated to an eight speed

17:40 torque converter automatic.

17:41 So that means you're getting a standard gearbox.

17:43 Everything kind of just feels pretty normal.

17:45 Now, what does it feel like behind the wheel?

17:47 Let's give this a little punch here.

17:49 Look, it's okay.

17:51 I think it is worth keeping in mind

17:52 that this weighs near enough to 2.3 tonnes

17:55 and 430 newton metres of torque isn't a massive amount.

18:00 So you can imagine now that it doesn't feel overly quick

18:03 just with Igor and I in the car.

18:05 Can you imagine what it's like

18:06 when you load it full of people?

18:08 So I think if you are after that punchy feel

18:10 behind the wheel, you're probably better off going

18:12 for the V6 petrol, 'cause it's gonna feel

18:14 a little more confident when it goes to overtaking

18:16 and that kind of thing.

18:17 But in saying that, it's not a complete slouch.

18:20 The gearbox can take a little bit of time to respond,

18:22 but once you get stuck into it,

18:25 it sort of just starts winding up on its own.

18:27 It's not gonna win any sort of drag races,

18:29 but for the most part, it's confident enough

18:31 to keep up with traffic.

18:32 Hyundai claims an official fuel economy figure

18:36 of 8.2 litres per 100 Ks.

18:38 Let's have a look at what we're achieving here.

18:40 7.8, so that's not too bad.

18:44 It is worth keeping in mind,

18:45 this has been predominantly driven on the highway

18:47 here today, so we haven't really done a whole lot

18:49 of faster driving, so it is probably less

18:52 than what you'd expect, but pretty impressive

18:54 given its size.

18:55 I mean, you've gotta remember, 2.3 tonnes.

18:57 That is a big old bus, and that is not a huge amount

19:00 of fuel consumption when you put it into that perspective.

19:03 Let's talk drive modes.

19:04 So you select drive modes over here.

19:06 It's a little bit convoluted, because if you are driving,

19:09 it takes a little bit of attention to figure out

19:11 which one is the drive mode button.

19:12 You then need to press it and then look up here as well,

19:16 which I can't really see.

19:17 So flick over to sport.

19:19 You've got normal, eco, and sport, and also smart.

19:22 Eco is just dulling the throttle and reducing everything.

19:27 Normal is just your normal setting,

19:28 and then sport is where the gearbox enters the sport mode.

19:31 It feels a little sharper.

19:32 Steering is a bit heavier, and it's ready to pounce.

19:35 I think this is a good opportunity for us

19:36 to have a bit of a play here,

19:38 just to see how this feels.

19:40 Obviously, with all-wheel drive,

19:41 you should have a little bit more traction,

19:42 and we are on a closed road here,

19:45 so we have a bit more room to play with.

19:47 Tell you what, it's surprisingly good.

19:50 I wasn't expecting this to be as agile as it is.

19:53 Everything is nice and predictable,

19:55 and you can kind of just have some fun with it.

19:59 It is a big bus, but it doesn't actually feel

20:01 like a big bus because of that platform share

20:04 with the Santa Fe.

20:04 So they've done a really good job of engineering,

20:07 ride, and handling into it,

20:08 and even on the choppier sections of road,

20:10 it's really nice and compliant,

20:12 and you know exactly what it's doing.

20:14 And then you have that added surety of all-wheel drive.

20:16 It's more of an on-demand system,

20:18 so it's not sending torque to the rear

20:20 unless it needs to go there,

20:21 and that's going to be handy for things

20:23 like if you're driving to the snow,

20:25 or if you just want that extra stability out on the road

20:27 that you don't get with a front-wheel drive vehicle.

20:30 Hyundai doesn't provide an official 0-100 time

20:33 for the Staria, but we've put it up against our stopwatch,

20:35 and this is how it went.

20:37 (car engine revving)

20:40 Okay, so let's go back into normal mode here.

20:54 The thing that's really standing out to me at the moment

20:56 is the amount of road noise that's coming into the cabin.

20:59 They have gone upmarket with the interior,

21:01 and all that looks great,

21:02 but it still sounds like a van in here,

21:04 and by that I mean that there isn't

21:06 a great deal of insulation.

21:08 So, especially in the course chip sections at highway speeds,

21:10 you're getting a lot of noise coming into the cabin,

21:12 a lot of wind noise as well.

21:14 Granted, it is very windy today,

21:15 but I am noticing it a whole lot more

21:17 than the other car we're testing today.

21:19 So, that is worth keeping in mind.

21:21 If you're doing long-distance drives,

21:23 you might want to just turn up the volume a little bit.

21:25 What about the ride itself?

21:26 They've actually done a great job with this.

21:28 So, this vehicle doesn't have a local ride

21:29 and handling tune,

21:30 but the tune that's come out of Korea with this

21:33 is actually on point.

21:34 It's soaking up all the bumps

21:36 and the kind of thing you'd expect to see

21:38 on B roads very easily,

21:39 even on these choppier sections here

21:42 that kind of throw the car around a bit.

21:44 It actually sits nice and level and flat.

21:46 So, it's a pretty impressive ride experience,

21:49 and it's not gonna make you feel sick

21:50 if you have passengers on board.

21:52 If you're planning on doing any towing,

21:53 you've got a two and a half tonne brake to towing capacity,

21:56 both on the V6 petrol and this diesel.

21:58 Obviously, keep in mind that if you do stick a trailer

22:00 on the back of this,

22:01 it's going to slow it down even further.

22:02 So, just be mindful of that.

22:03 Don't go straight up to two and a half tonnes

22:05 because it's going to feel positively slow if you do.

22:08 Let's talk visibility.

22:09 You may have noticed the windows are absolutely ginormous,

22:13 and that means you have excellent visibility.

22:15 I can see very clearly out the side there,

22:18 at the front, at the back.

22:19 It really is just a visibility masterpiece.

22:21 You've got a blind spot monitor built into

22:23 the big wing mirrors,

22:24 but if you do put the indicator on,

22:26 actually get the camera come on as well on both sides,

22:28 and I think that feature is fantastic.

22:30 Now, I mentioned earlier that I couldn't really see

22:32 the dials and the gauges in front of me.

22:33 Well, now it's ultra pronounced.

22:35 This steering wheel is blocking the digital speedo,

22:38 so I have no idea what I'm doing,

22:39 and here in Australia,

22:40 where speed limits are so vigorously enforced,

22:43 it's going to become a problem

22:44 because I want to know that I'm accurately

22:47 doing the speed limit,

22:48 and honestly, this would prevent me

22:50 from actually buying the car,

22:51 even if it was the most amazing car in the world.

22:53 If I can't see how fast I'm going,

22:55 it kind of makes the ownership experience pointless.

22:57 So, yeah, pretty disappointed that they didn't

22:59 actually think about that properly.

23:00 So I mentioned earlier that there is a fair bit

23:02 of tire noise that comes into the cabin at higher speeds,

23:06 but at lower speeds, it's actually the diesel.

23:08 Have a listen to this.

23:10 When you get onto it,

23:11 the diesel is the predominant noise in the cabin.

23:15 The engine really is quite noisy.

23:16 Yeah, and I think for a people mover that's, you know,

23:20 luxury and all that sort of stuff,

23:22 I think they really could have added

23:23 a bit more insulation there to make it

23:25 more of a quiet experience at low speeds.

23:27 Turning circle comes in at 11.94 metres.

23:31 So it is a big turning circle.

23:33 It's not like the HiAce, which can kind of turn on a dime.

23:37 11.94 metres is pretty big,

23:38 but it's not actually that big when you consider

23:42 what it could be on an all-wheel drive vehicle

23:44 and a people mover.

23:45 So it is compact in that sense.

23:47 We've also got a button down here

23:49 for the four-wheel drive lock.

23:50 So I mentioned earlier that it's an on-demand

23:52 four-wheel drive system,

23:53 and you can see ahead of me there,

23:54 it tells you how much torque is going

23:56 to each part of the car.

23:58 You can see predominantly it's at the front,

23:59 but it does send some to the rear.

24:01 If you do want to make that more of a 50/50 split,

24:04 you can press the four-wheel drive lock button down here.

24:07 Once that activates, you'll see that any throttle

24:09 applications are almost 50/50,

24:12 and that just gives you a little bit more

24:14 reliable torque delivery if you are on an unsealed surface.

24:18 And it is worth pointing that out,

24:20 that you really should only be using the four-wheel drive

24:22 lock on an unsealed surface.

24:23 If you want to understand why,

24:25 click up here to watch a video that we shot

24:27 that kind of explains that in a little bit more detail.

24:30 So the Hyundai Staria, what do we reckon?

24:35 Well, look, the design has absolutely grown on me.

24:37 I think it looks just different,

24:39 and that's what we need in the world of cars,

24:40 different cars.

24:41 We don't want everything to look the exact same.

24:43 It performs really well in terms of handling.

24:45 I was surprised by that.

24:46 You can really throw it around a bit

24:48 and have some fun with it.

24:49 It doesn't feel like a big bus of a thing.

24:52 It is let down, though, on refinement.

24:54 There is a lot of noise that comes into the cabin

24:56 on coarse chip surfaces,

24:57 and the diesel engine is really noisy as well.

24:59 They really just need to add a bit more sound deadening

25:02 to make that interior environment a bit easier to live with.

25:05 The other thing that I'm not a huge fan of as well

25:07 is the lack of versatility inside the cabin.

25:09 Even though you have that much room,

25:10 you really can't do much with the seats

25:12 to increase your cargo space,

25:13 because it is really tall, and it's based on a van,

25:16 so why can't you have a better interior space?

25:19 So aside from those negatives,

25:21 I think that they've created a really good product.

25:23 It just needs a little bit of work to it,

25:24 or perhaps one of the interiors that are available

25:27 in international markets to be on sale in Australia.

25:29 Let me know what you reckon in the comments section below.

25:32 Are you gonna buy one of these?

25:33 Have you bought one of these?

25:34 What do you think of it?

25:35 What could they improve, and what did they get right?

25:37 Really keen for your feedback.

25:39 Let me know down in the comments section.

25:40 If you did enjoy this video,

25:42 make sure you like it and share it with your mates,

25:43 and if you haven't done so already,

25:44 make sure you subscribe to our channel,

25:46 but until next time, take it easy.

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