Review of SsangYong Tivoli 2019: ELX diesel

Did you know that SsangYong translates to "Double Dragon"?

How fucking cool? At least a lot cooler than the story of the Korean brand, which the word "turbulent" is barely beginning to cover.

After years of owner problems and near-bankruptcy, the brand came out on the other side with enough stability to launch a number of new cars thanks to its ambitious new owners, Indian giant Mahindra & Mahindra.

The Tivoli small SUV is the first vehicle launched under the new, paid leader, and when it landed in Korea in 2015, it was solely responsible for the Double Dragon brand's first profit in nine years.

Fast forward a few years and the refreshed SsangYong is once again confident enough to enter the Australian market with a four-speed, all-new SUV.

So, does Tivoli have what it takes to break into our highly competitive small SUV scene and help SsangYong make a wonderful Korean turn a la Hyundai?

I spent a week behind a mid-range Tivoli ELX diesel engine to find out.

Ssangyong Tivoli 2019: ELX
Safety Rating
engine's type	1.6 L turbo
fuel type	Diesel
Fuel efficiency	6.1l / 100km
Landing	5 Places
Price from	$20,700

Does it represent good value for money? What functions does it have? 7/10

If SsangYong wants to get back into the market and challenge people's perceptions of the brand, it first needs to get them to walk in the door. In the end, this low-key strategy worked for Hyundai and Kia, which infiltrated Australia with models like the Excel and Rio that offered all the features of the bigger brands at a discounted price.

The challenge is not to tarnish your brand while you're at it. Did SsangYong succeed with Tivoli?

Our ELX is a mid-range vehicle, standing above the entry-level EX and below the all-wheel drive and diesel Ultimate.

The SsangYong features a large feature set across the range thanks to a decent 7.0-inch touchscreen. (Image credit: Tom White)

The ticket price of $29,990 for our front-wheel drive diesel would be about right if the Tivoli was from any popular brand. For about the same money, you can get the top-end Mitsubishi ASX Exceed ($30,990), Honda HR-V RS ($31,990), the similar Korean Hyundai Kona Elite ($29,500) or Mazda CX-3 Maxx Sport with a diesel engine (US$ 29,990 XNUMX). ).

Oh, and despite looking pretty big in the photos, the Tivoli is definitely a small SUV, narrower than the Hyundai Kona and not as long as the CX-3.

In terms of features, our ELX received 16-inch alloy wheels, a 7-inch multimedia touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto support, front and rear parking sensors with a rearview camera, an auto-dimming rearview mirror, and a leather-trimmed steering wheel. , standard cloth seats (which strangely remind me of Hyundai seats from about a generation ago), roof rails, a luggage screen in the trunk, dual-zone climate control, privacy glass, and halogen headlights with LED DRLs.

Base 16-inch alloy wheels are unlikely to be as flashy as most of the competition. (Image credit: Tom White)

Not bad. The security offering is not only good, but available across the range, so check out the Security section of this review for more on that.

Missing at this price are leather trim (available on the Kona Elite and ASX), active cruise, LED front lighting, and power front seats. It's not a crazy price, but it's not a bad one at $29,990 either.

Is there anything interesting about its design? 7/10

SsangYong is hardly a brand known for its consistent or beautiful designs. In the past, the brand has floundered between Musso's boxy lines and the latest-generation Korando's unresolved bulging curves.

The relaunch of the brand has finally brought it to speed, with every car in its lineup featuring a single design language. It has improved out of sight, but is still not without flaws.

Visible up front is an aggressive-looking, horizontally slotted, rectangular grille with multiple angles that wrap around the sides of the small SUV.

The Tivoli looks quite charming from the front and side. (Image credit: Tom White)

The corners continue up the A-pillar and across the roof to form a European-style boxy roofline.

Then things get… weird from behind. A pronounced curved ridge runs to the rear wheels and flows into a rounded trunk. It seems out of sync with the angular rear window and bottom garnish.

Too much going on behind your back; it's too stylish. The chic chrome trim around the lower reflectors doesn't help, nor does the big round SsangYong badge and bold "TIVOL I" typeface.

It's a pity that the rear end looks overloaded. (Image credit: Tom White)

The 16-inch alloy wheels on the EX and ELX trims are plain matte silver 10-spoke wheels. There is nothing special about them, but at least they are easy to clean.

Inside, too, everything is mixed. Lots of good and bad. The seats are upholstered in durable fabric with plenty of sponge for comfort, and there are sensibly placed soft surfaces for your elbows in the doors and on the center console.

It's far from perfect, but there's a lot to like about the Tivoli's interior. (Image credit: Tom White)

The dashboard has an aesthetically pleasing symmetrical theme and is finished in mostly decent plastic. The 7.0-inch media screen is pretty good too, but the rest of the center stack is a little nasty and old-fashioned.

It's a combination of glossy plastic and silver surfaces, a giant climate control dial and mediocre buttons that dot its surface. It reminds me of the design of Korean cars of the past, such as the Holden (Daewoo) Captiva and older generations of Hyundai. To be fair, though, where it's due, things look a lot better.

Ridiculous touches like this glossy plastic center console are reminiscent of old Korean models. (Image credit: Tom White)

I'm actually a big fan of the Tivoli handlebar, it has a ribbed chunky shape and nice faux leather trim. The function switches behind it are solid, with rotary dials on them to control the lights and wipers. As the main points of contact with the driver, it is nice that they have a unique SsangYong personality.

How practical is the interior space? 7/10

The Tivoli may be a small SUV, but it has a spacious interior. It is truly impressive and can rival some of the best players in the segment such as the Honda HR-V.

The front seat offers a huge amount of headroom, leagues of legroom, plenty of room for your hands on either side, and a fully telescopic steering wheel.

Storage consists of a shallow recess under the climate control unit, decent-sized cup holders in the center console and doors, and a deep console and glove box that seems to disappear into the dash forever.

There's also a rather odd groove cut out of the dashboard above the console. It's ribbed and has a rubbery surface, but seems useless for storing stuff that just falls out on acceleration.

As mentioned earlier, the front passengers have comfortable elbow rest surfaces.

Rear seat passenger space is excellent too, with amazing legroom for this segment and leagues of airspace for even taller people. The same soft armrests in the doors and deep cup holders, but there are no air vents or USB ports.

Rear seat room is excellent for its class, but lacks amenities. (Image credit: Tom White)

The backs of the front seats have odd elastic strings for storage (with varying degrees of success) and a reclining armrest.

The boot is rated at 423 liters (VDA), which is deceptively large (not far from the HR-V's 437-liter space in size). The problem here is in the shape of the boot itself. It's deep from the floor to the retractable screen, and SsangYong says it will fit three golf bags, but the narrow width and length limit its potential.

The amount of boot space is fantastic on paper, but it's a little hard to use in practice. (Image credit: Tom White)

I found it uncomfortable to move some oddly shaped items such as a heater and some boxes, and the high trunk lid entry point makes moving heavier items a bit difficult.

Our ELX has significantly more space thanks to a compact spare under the boot floor. The Ultimate, which sits taller, has a full-size spare, further limiting trunk space.

The same strange elastic ropes along the edges of the trunk wall for smaller loose objects or cables.

Our ELX makes do with a spare under the boot floor. (Image credit: Tom White)

What are the main characteristics of the engine and transmission? 7/10

Our Tivoli is equipped with a 1.6-liter four-cylinder turbodiesel engine with 84kW and 300Nm of torque.

It feels a little low on the power front compared to petrol rivals, but the strong torque figure available from a nearly instantaneous 1500 rpm gives this engine a solid opportunity to get up and running.

The 1.6-litre diesel is definitely the better choice of the two 1.6-litre engines available. (Image credit: Tom White)

If you don't mind a diesel, I would highly recommend this engine over its low-powered 1.6-litre petrol equivalent, as it has nearly twice the torque.

It may seem risky for SsangYong to offer diesel in a segment where this type of fuel is unpopular, but it makes sense in terms of global supply since diesel is mostly the fuel of choice in Tivoli's home country of South Korea.

The ELX is front-wheel drive and can only be fitted with an Aisin six-speed torque converter automatic transmission.

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How much fuel does it consume? 7/10

In a week of driving mostly in the city, I scored 7.8 l/100 km fuel consumption against the city's claimed figure of 7.4 l/100 km, which is not too bad, but not stellar either.

The official declared/combined consumption is 5.5 l/100 km.

The Tivoli has a 47 liter fuel tank.

What is it like to drive? 7/10

We never recommend that you drive blindfolded, but if you could and did drive a Tivoli, I sincerely believe you would have a hard time telling it apart from any other small SUV on the market today. 

The diesel engine feels powerful from the start and pushes the 1390-kilogram SUV at a reasonable speed. It's not a sports drivetrain, but it's just as good, if not better, than most gas-powered rivals.

The six-speed torque converter gearbox is mostly great in the city, but is old school in the sense that you definitely feel every gear ratio. He also had a nasty habit of grabbing the wrong gear from time to time.

Once I caught him completely under hard acceleration and he spent a full second finding the right ratio. However, it's still better than a continuously variable transmission (CVT) for driver engagement.

The steering is light but direct and provides decent feedback. The ELX offers three steering modes—Comfort, Normal, and Sport—that artificially change the weight behind the wheel. "Normal" is the best option.

The Tivoli steering has three modes, but the default mode feels the best. (Image credit: Tom White)

The suspension is also impressive. Other Korean brands, Hyundai and Kia, have been talking about local tuning efforts for a while now, but I found the Tivoli suspension setup almost as good. It's a slightly softer, comfort-oriented tune, but I was impressed with how relaxed it felt in corners.

The ELX has a cheap torsion bar rear suspension that was only seen in rough road conditions.

Driving the Tivoli was also surprisingly quiet at low speeds. This ensures a pleasant and quiet city ride despite the diesel engine, but at speeds above 80 km/h and engine speeds above 3000 the noise becomes much worse.

I'd say the Tivoli rides as well as most Hyundais and Kias just a few years ago. There's room for improvement in the little details, but for the brand's first foray since its international reboot, it does a hell of a job.

Warranty and safety rating

Basic Warranty

7 years / unlimited mileage


guarantee

ANCAP Safety Rating

What safety equipment is installed? What is the safety rating? 7/10

Tivoli comes with a fairly complete set of security features, but there is still room for improvement.

In terms of active safety, our ELX has Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB - available at speeds up to 180 km/h), Lane Departure Warning (LDW), Lane Keeping Assist (LKAS) and High Beam Assist.

Active Cruise, Blind Spot Monitoring (BSM), Traffic Sign Recognition (TSR), or Driver Attention Alert (DAA) are absent even on the top-of-the-line Ultimate trim.

The Tivoli has seven airbags, two ISOFIX child seat anchorage points on the rear outboard seats and top tether anchorages on the second row, and the expected brake and stability controls (but no torque vectoring).

The Tivoli received a four-star ANCAP safety rating as of 2016, however this is based on a EuroNCAP rating and this test did not consider currently available lane keeping assist technologies.

How much does it cost to own? What kind of guarantee is provided? 9/10

The SsangYong Tivoli now leads the small SUV segment with a seven-year unlimited mileage warranty, well above the acceptable industry standard of five years unlimited mileage offered by most competitors.

SsangYong offers a long warranty and affordable and transparent service. (Image credit: Tom White)

The cost of service is a completely fixed and impressive $322 for a diesel engine for 15,000 km annual service during the entire warranty period.

Additional service items are neatly laid out in a table breaking down parts, labor, and total cost, with the most expensive item being transmission fluid ($577), which is recommended to be changed every 100,000 km at worst.

From this, we can tell that SsangYong intends to target the Kia audience and use this part of the business to categorically beat its competitors.

Verdict

When I was testing the Tivoli ELX, I was asked the critical question: "Do you think people will buy this machine?" After some thought, I replied, "Not much... yet."

Those who can ignore brand perceptions are getting an SUV that's as damn good as anything on the market, and probably cheaper to run.

You can say a lot of things to this: If only it cost a little less. If only his back looked better. If only it had a five-star safety rating.

But here it is - the fact that the Tivoli can even match its sleek, finely tuned rival speaks volumes. The Double Dragon is back, and if he can afford to stay for a while, he might have a chance to get the attention of the big players.

Can you overlook the brand's perception, or is the rebooted SsangYong a leap too big to be trusted? Tell us what you think in the comments below.