Kia Stonic Mild Hybrid

I have owned the stonic 1.5 years, almost all the time it was working well, but do not expect to accelerate the car very soon, it will take at least 1 second to respond, and sometime you will get clutch slip especially between gear 2 to 3. It is very bad experience, because of this i want to break the car. I did sent the car back for servicing, but C&C sadi nothing wrong with engine or whatever, everything is fine, so we have to bear it. Very sad.

Drove for 8k plus. It is a good small compact car. Powerful to drive. Good pick up and cruising. Powerful for long distance as well.

Pros:

Powerful drive

Save petrol with mild hybrid

Cheap road tax

Blindspot warning

Front parking sensor

Wireless CarPlay

Cons:

-Small boot, not so good for long distance or if going to Malaysia road trip

-passenger leg room is lesser. Same as other typical hatch.

-Some time no need too much automation

Quite nice little car to drive and suits Singaporean family needs well!

I would avoid using the Eco mode though. That said, the normal mode is fuel efficient enough compare to other cars.

It's now at 7,000km and I feel I would like to share my thoughts on this car. Was deciding between the NOTE e-kicks and this. In the end the wife decided.

Its quite a perky "Small" Car with its 1 Litre turbo engine. Driving on Eco mode is still powerful enough for your daily usage (I drive alone mostly) and surprisingly, much better than my previous Made In Korea 1.6 saloon. I like the stylish shape of the Stonic with its muscular look, even more after I upgraded to 17in rims and wider tyres. (stock was 15ins).

Don't expect the interior finishing to be like conti feel, there's a lot of hard plastic everywhere, as expected of this price range for a Made In Asia car. What I like is the 8ins infotainment system which comes with wireless Apple and Android Auto. Seat comfort is only so so for me maybe because I am tall, only after I installed a seat cushion (bought online) it was slightly better. However, I don't thnk it will be comfortable for long range driving. Rear pax space is quite good if you are up to 1.7m, anything more it will be quite a squeeze. Boot space is expected of a hatch back unless you fold down the rear seats.

What surprises me was the brakes, it doesn't have that mushy feel and does a good job in bringing the car to a stop. Thumbs up for this. The mild hybrid, which I am driving, also gives me around 15km/l (average) with 100% Urban driving. My best was 25km/l on a long stretch from BKE to airport. Aircon is good too, however, its best to turn off auto start stop if you want a continuous cooling feel.

Now comes the big "Negative", the DCT is a pain to drive. As mentioned by another reviewer, you will get occassional clutch slip especially between gear 2 to 3. Have brought back to C&C for diagonstic, but, nothing came through. So, I just have to leave with this inconvenience.

The engine start button is positioned on the left, and very close to the aircon button. At times, I have accidently pressed the wrong button, hahaha.

If you can accept the occassional clutch slip issue, I would say this car is not too bad.

Driven the car 10k km, experienced multiple times of the dct slipping or disengaging during driving. Inform SA during servicing and nothing was done. And I know I'm not the only one experiencing this issue. Seems like Kia will not address this issue for the cheapest range car

Here's my opinion having owned this car (EX variant) for 6+ months and driven 6000+km.

It's a fun drive, with better than expected acceleration feel if you rev up the engine a bit.

With how rattling the test car was at 8000km mileage, I expected the same for my car. True enough, there was some rattling after 5000km, but completely inaudible in the cabin.

Internal space is slightly smaller coming over from a Honda Jazz 2nd Gen. Tailgate also feels heavier than the Jazz.

Fuel economy is also comparable to the Jazz with the Stonic being driven in Eco mode 99% of the time. Mild hybrid system is only capable of maintaining 35km/h speed - your speed will start to drop the moment the system kicks in.

Engine brake kicks in erratically when coasting (without sailing mode) in order to charge the hybrid battery. So you never know when you need to use the foot brake. Brakes also feel a bit mushy - you need to step on the pedal for real with 5 people in the car.

Hauls 5 people without much of a struggle. With the rear seats down, I also managed to fit a 27.5" Hardtail mountain bike after removing the front wheel.

Wireless android auto is a bit clumsy to set up, but the wired connection cuts off from time to time. The audio volume dial is on the left of the touchscreen as it seemed to be ported from a left-hand drive design. But the controls on the steering made up for it.

Engine start button is also on the left, thus not easily accessible if you're just trying to start the engine from outside the car.

Shutting off the car is also a bit clumsy if you don't follow the exact sequence, e.G. Leave door open before shutting off.

Likes:

- Comfortable for its size

- Decent sound insulation

- Decent acceleration with some revving

- Competitive price relative to the market

- Manual handbrake

Dislikes:

- Build quality (uneven panel gaps; Rusting screws; Rusting brake caliper clip; Fading paint at areas not outward facing)

- Hybrid is too mild (electric motor can only maintain 35km/h speed)

- Unpredictable engine brake effect (to recharge hybrid battery)

- Engine stop/start needs to be disabled with each engine start

- Mushy brakes

- Rear seats tight for 3 adults

- Unable to control windows immediately after car shuts off

This Kia Stonic has been around for quite some time now but has got a new mild-hybrid engine to go along with its turbocharged engine.

This is my second Stonic, but this time I got Mild Hybrid version, 'cause the government was giving a rebate. Compared to the pure petrol Stonic this version has 3 driving modes - Eco, Normal and Sport. Eco is "Too eco". It is too bad that each time I start the engine I have to push 2 buttons to disable the "Super Eco" Mode - Economy mode (which engages the battery and keeps RPM on a lower limit) switching to Normal and disable engine on/off at the stop or traffic light ('cause it shuts not only the engine, but the aircon as well). Dealer told me that there is no way to have "Normal" Mode permanently. Normal mode is the same as on the petrol version, but I noticed that when a car in front of me is driving slow, Stonic's engine is loosing power and downshifting, making the engine to rev. Eco mode will be nice when boarders will be open and one will be able to drive to Malaysia. You can off the aircon and enjoy open air and fuel economy. I also like the sport mode, as it allows to accelerate really fast and overtake "Slow players". Boot space and rear leg space is not much, so this is pure urban car to send your kid to school and go get some groceries. Value for money.

First thing, as much as this is considered a CUV, I find it to be more like a slightly lifted hatchback. Which really isn't a bad thing, considering it looks quite good.

The Stonic is a little car that drives pretty well, the facelifted model with the mild hybrid system improved the drive, resulting in a smoother drive and improved fuel economy.

But the Stonic isn't without its flaws, being a small CUV, the ride isn't exactly that good, and it is pretty cramped inside, you wouldn't want to fit more than 2 at the back

Test drove the Mild-hybrid, but have to say the mild-hybrid doesnt really do much... 1.0 CC engine complimented by Turbo delivers but with some lag.

If you do go for a test drive, make sure you switch the car between the different drive modes. This thing can go from ok and mildly sluggish in Eco mode to actually quite brisk in Normal and Sport modes.

Test drove the EX model and confirmed the car on the same day. Was especially pleased by the sharp handling and increased torque from the mild hybrid system and the additional accessories such as wireless Apple / Android carplay, auto ac and leather wrapped steering etc. (features which were not present in the non-MH EX model) sealed the deal! Would highly recommend users on the fence to test drive the vehicle and get a feel of the torque for yourself. Slight turbo lag (which is normal), but the power kicks in almost immediately at the traffic light and the results show for itself when you pull ahead of other higher CC vehicles.