SsangYong Tivoli: Why Not?
SSANGYONG TIVOLI
WHY NOT?
Words by Tommaso Mogge
Photography by Ian Waltteri
Looking at Ssangyong offers a few years ago, you were potentially interested for one aspect only: the price. Today the story has really changed and if it is right to expect quality, stylistic and technological innovations from the truly luxurious Rexton, a more difficult challenge awaits the Tivoli, a new model that has the difficult task of grabbing customers in a very dense segment of competitors with more experience on their backs. However, the Tivoli has a considerable number of aces in its sleeve, first of all its young, fun and modern look. A really new shape that seems to bring the little Korean straight from the catwalks of some auto show, without giving up the practicality necessary to make it a perfect city car, ready to juggle traffic and handle a range of tasks identifiable in the most diverse situations.
It is just over 4 meters long – 4 and 20 to be precise – 1.80 meters high and the model we are testing comes with a 1.5cc turbodiesel 4 cylinder engine with four-wheel drive, or 2WD when you don’t need to power the rear wheels. The transmission is a 6-speed AISIN automatic and can be used in sequential mode using a small selector placed exactly on the gear lever itself. Yes, there are no paddles at the wheel and this solution is really strange, not to say unpractical, but to be honest, letting the car take care of changing gears, you never feel the need to intervene in first person, noticing the excellent elasticity of the small engine, maybe a little noisy idling. The Tivoli, as the name suggests, also wants to be elegant and I must say that the work done by designers is remarkable, either for the choice to use soft lines and accentuate the wheel arches (both front and rear) with slight ribs, both for the fact that the model here offers black roof and rims that contrast well with the metallic silver of the body. Five doors, five seats and a relatively large trunk are the other numbers that interest the typical customer of this latest generation Ssangyong, while the task that really interests us is to find out if in a car with small dimensions and features, there can be however, some good enough aspect able to make us recommend the purchase. This means that it must be pleasant to drive, but above all to prove a realistic alternative to the main rivals, such as the Fiat 500L and the excellent Nissan Juke, which is also strong in an innovative and nice design.
The 1.5 is an honest engine, but behaves well in the city as on the motorway, also ensuring excellent numbers in terms of consumption: 7.4l/100km in the city, 4.5l/100km extraurban and 5.5l/100km in the mixed cycle. The four-wheel drive can be activated by pushing the special button and the driver sits comfortably, with the touch display at hand and ready to control the infotainment and satellite navigator. The dashboard is always rigid and with shiny plastic, which certainly does not facilitate coexistence with dust and reflections of the sun, while the buttons at the center of the cockpit are always thin and not very intuitive, exactly like the ones seen on the XLV last year. This diesel-powered Tivoli therefore has 128 horses and 160Nm of torque, but thanks to its size and low weight, you will never miss a few extra HP under the bonnet; after all, what really matters is the practicality of the little Korean, who behaves well in the most disparate situations. You look at it and you like it, you drive it and it does not bore you. Finally, a newcomer that will satisfy many people and can be used in the real world, also counting on the different driving modes (Eco – Power – Winter) that intervene on certain parameters in order to make the Tivoli ‘s feedback tailored to the driver’ s needs. The entry level petrol starts from a few coins under € 16,000, while opting for the diesel unit you have to spend at least € 20,900; a sample like the one of our test will not come home with less than € 25,000. Not cheap figures for sure, but the package that Ssangyong offers is finally complete and able to answer affirmative to the demands of several customers, this time even with a homogeneous look and a pretty fresh shape. Tivoli, why not?
SSANGYONG TIVOLI 4WD
Layout – front-engined, all-wheel-drive
Engine – 4 cylinder 1.597cc – turbodiesel
Transmission – 6-speed automatic gearbox
Power – 128 hp @ 6.000 rpm
160 Nm @ 4.600 rpm
Weight – 1.325 kg
Acceleration – 11,2 sec.
Top Speed – 175 kph
Price – from €20.900 (2WD)