Kyron gets more oomph

The Kyron is a mid-sized, five-door sports utility vehicle with on-demand four-wheel-drive, seating for five adults, and plenty of room for luggage.

The latest model from Korean carmaker SsangYong, now owned by the giant Chinese company Shanghai Automotive Corporation, continues a long-time engine and component sharing agreement with Mercedes-Benz.

The latest variant of the four-wheel-drive Kyron gets the 2.7-litre five-cylinder turbodiesel used in the previous Benz M-Class model and still in use in C-Class sedans and station wagons. The bigger SsangYong Rexton also uses the same engine. The Kyron is a mid-sized five-door sports utility vehicle with on-demand four-wheel-drive, seating for five adults, and plenty of room for luggage.

It was released in New Zealand this year using a 2-litre direct injection diesel engine mated to a five-speed manual transmission or an optional Mercedes-Benz 5-speed automatic with manual mode.

The 2-litre unit produced 104kW (140bhp) at 4000rpm and 310Nm of torque at between 1800-2750rpm.

But the optional 2.7-litre powerplant adds the extra oomph that SsangYong says its customers want for towing.

It puts out 121kW (162bhp) at 4000rpm and 340Nm of torque at 2400rpm and drives the rear wheels through the Benz five-speeder.

The driver can engage high-range four-wheel-drive if things get slippery and low-range for mud-plugging work. The 2.7-litre Kyron Limited gets more standard equipment than the entry-level 2-litre, including leather seats, curtain airbags, electronic stability/traction/hill descent control and 18in alloy wheels.

The 2-litre model runs on 16in alloys, has dual airbags, anti-lock brakes, and a limited-slip differential.

The Kyron has a ladder-frame steel chassis with double-wishbone suspension in front and a five-link set-up in the rear. That arrangement works better on smooth road surfaces, because wishbones don't allow as much suspension travel up front as other systems. As a result, the ride suffers over bad surfaces, but the trade-off is pretty good directional stability.

The Kyron is 4660mm long, 1880mm wide, 1740mm high with a wheelbase of 2740mm and front and rear track of 1570mm. It has a kerb weight of 1929-2001kg and can tow 2300kg braked trailer weight. Minimum ground clearance is 193cm and minimum turning radius is 5.6m.

It has an immobiliser and alarm and steering-wheel controls for the CD and stereo. The 2-litre Kyron Sport is priced at $39,990 (manual) and $42,990 (automatic). The 2.7-litre Limited costs $49,995.