What's the news?
SsangYong has given the Korando a makeover to update its looks and improve refinement. Two trim levels are offered, SE and ELX4, with prices starting at £14,995.
Exterior
The front end gets a new, slimmer grille with black mesh. There are new headlamps too, with a more contemporary look, featuring combined projector lenses and LED daytime running lights in a black and aluminium bezel. A wider low level air intake is part of the bumper and, on the ELX4 model, this is flanked by round fog lamps. Further changes include LED tail lamps plus new designs of 16- and 17-inch wheels. Customers can also choose from three new colours: Sunrise red, Cosmic blue and Carbonic grey.
Interior
SsangYong has given the interior a redesign with a new, soft touch dashboard incorporating matt wood grain inserts. There are plenty of storage spaces including enlarged cup holders, a mobile phone tray and flip down sunglasses holder.
Mechanicals
Power comes from a 2.0-litre turbodiesel engine; in the range-topping ELX4 model it can be combined with an automatic transmission and develops 175hp. In conjunction with the standard six-speed manual gearbox the engine produces 149hp. Official fuel economy figures range from 47.1mpg for the two-wheel drive Korando SE to 37.7mpg for the ELX4 automatic with CO2 emissions of 147- to 199g/km respectively.
The engine mounts have been redesigned to cut noise and vibration; reinforced mounting brackets are said to cut engine noise levels by up to 9.3%. Further isolation from engine and road noise comes from new rubber bushes between the sub frames and the body.
Anything else?
The SsangYong Korando SE recently won The Caravan Club Towcar of the Year Award 2014 for vehicles under £16,000.
John Lambert - 17 Dec 2013