The two of us must admit to not having our fingers on the pulse, as when we were informed we were taking delivery of a KGM Torres for testing, we were both quite curious and perplexed. Then the penny dropped when it arrived in the driveway, it was of course unmistakably a SsangYong who were recently rebranded as KGM, (which is definitely much easier to spell!) and it is now launching its first new car since in the UK with the Torres which is a mid- sized SUV.
On the outside, it has a modern design, a quite sleek, less boxy look than the brand’s traditional design whilst still looking rugged and capable with powerful lines and the wide radiator grille is still symbolic of the brand’s heritage. All quite eye-catching.
Once inside, there is lots of space with plenty head and legroom, and generous storage options. The back seats split 60/40 so you can fold them down for extra storage and the boot space is huge compared to others in its class. The dashboard features a 12.3in infotainment touchscreen, and there’s another 12.3in driver display behind the steering wheel with Android Auto and Apple Carplay as standard. Build quality feels good even although most of the materials are hard plastic, designers have managed to make it look attractive and our test car had leather upholstery whereas the K30 has to make do with faux leather.
We had the 1.5 turbocharged petrol engine, official doing 0-60 mph in 10.8 seconds, (although it did feel a bit quicker), was more than sufficient for our motorway drives and leisurely trips out in the country, visibility is reasonably good, and the ride was comfortable. KGM says it will return 33.2mpg, but we didn’t achieve that, more like 30mpg, maybe we have heavy right feet! A hybrid version is due in 2025 which will be more fuel efficient and may be attractive to some and there is also an EV available now.
The Torres has lots of safety kit that comes as standard such as automatic emergency braking, lane- departure warning, adaptive cruise control, and rear parking sensors, the K40 that we had on test adds blind spot detection, rear cross traffic alert and a system that stops you from opening your door into the path of other cars and a 360-degree camera.
In conclusion, the Torres looks good, drives well but as we always say, the SUV market is busy with lots of choice. Main rivals for the Torres are likely to be the Hyundai Tucson and the Nissan X- Trail, both excellent cars so it will need to offer something a little bit extra to steal buyers away from these favourites, which could be its looks. Unfortunately, there is no 7-seater on offer.
0-62 in 10.8 seconds
Prices start from around £35,000
Ally says – I loved the space inside, it comes with great kit as standard and I really enjoyed driving the Torres.
Lorraine says – Unlike other South Korean manufacturers, the brand has always been a niche market on our shores, but I think the Torres will make bigger inroads in the near future.
