Kia Syros Turbo Petrol And Turbo Diesel Driven: The Practical Family’s SUV [Video]

In about 5 years, Kia Motors has brought 7 cars to India – the 7th and the latest car to arrive here is the Syros. While the launch of the Syros will happen on the 1st of February, bookings are already open. We got a chance to sample both the turbo petrol and turbo diesel engined, top-spec variants of the Kia Syros at Gurugram recently. Here’s our first drive review.

In design terms, it’s almost as though the Skoda Yeti decided to have a baby with the Maruti WagonR. The sheer funkiness of the Syros may be hard for many to digest but this is a car that will get more than a few stares on the road, for its looks very different from your typical sub-4 meter compact SUV.

The front end has headlamps set in the bumper. The headlamps themselves are triple stacked LED units with daytime running LEDs surrounding them. There’s a matte and satin bumper insert that accentuates the front end, and moves around the entire car as a cladding.

The bonnet is high-set, sculpted, and even visible from the driver’s seat. The overhang is short and the bonnet is short, too. It’s almost as though the Syros is a condensed version of the flagship eV9 from the front three-quarters.

The profile of the Syros is slab-like while the silhouette seems inspired by the Skoda Yeti. To relieve monotony, the designers have sculpted both the front and rear doors, which get a prominent crease. The roof rails, which are also functional, give the Syros the much needed height, and make the car look outdoor-sy. Another detail – or rather a segment-leading feature on the Syros – is the flush type door handle. 17 inch alloy wheels with a unique design are on offer.

At the rear, the overall boxi-ness of the Syros continues with the large tailgate, and high-set LED positioning lamps on both corners. The tail lamp and turn indicators sit in the rear bumper, which gets a matte and satin insert – stuff that’s similar to what the front bumper gets. There’s a shark fin antenna and a hatch lid spoiler to round off the rear.

On the inside though, it’s like your typical Kei car, with lots and lots of utilitarianism. In fact, it punches well above its weight in terms of the features, space and convenience on offer. Over time, the Syros will endear itself to you. We’ll get to that in just a bit.

The cabin experience

The doors of the Syros open wide, and have a reasonable sense of heft to them. They’re not as light as the ones on a Maruti or perhaps not as heavy as the ones on a Tata. They’re somewhere in between. Nobody’s going to complain.

While flush-type door handle is something that many would find inconvenient to use on most cars, it feels quite seamless to use on the Syros. Somehow, the designers have managed to make the flush-type door handles quite easy to operate. So, that’s a positive.

Stepping in, or rather walking into the Syros – a tall boy – the first thing that’ll strike you is that the dashboard layout is typically Kia. A 12.3 inch trinity display (largest in segment) greets you from the edge of the narrow dashboard. This display is made of 3 screens.

The one directly in front of the driver reads out all the information that one needs. The middle portion is a touchscreen panel for the air conditioning (AC) while the third panel is the infotainment unit – controlling everything from GPS navigation to in-car connectivity. Oh, and the Syros gets wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. The Trinity touchscreen display is quite sharp and sensitive. No complaints there.

While the AC can be controlled using the touch panel on the Trinity display, it also has physical buttons for most functions, which make it quite convenient to use. Kia also offers a physical volume button, and a bunch of physical keys to interact with the Trinity infotainment unit. In fact, there’s a convenient search button that leads one to the navigation function. Very nice! The stereo on the Syros is an 8 speaker Harman Kardon unit that sounds quite fruity but is probably a notch below the Bose system on the Sonet in so far as audio quality goes.

Then, there’s the steering itself – a hexagonal unit that’s finished in a shade of grey. It’s nice to hold, and is just the right size – not too big, not too small It’s got a slew of functions on it – the horn, adaptive cruise control (works very well), ADAS controls (16 features), voice commands and calling functions, and paddle shifters behind it. The drive modes and traction modes get separate buttons on each end of the steering, and are way more convenient to use.

All these feel quite tactile and nice to use, along with the wiper and turn indicator stalks. The steering is height adjustable (tilt function), and so is the front seat. The front seat also gets four way power adjustment – can be tilted and moved fore and aft. There’s a trumpet tone horn on offer as well.

An interesting feature that most would love on the Syros is the power window switches – and the fact that there’s one-touch up and down operation for all four windows. The Syros offers electrically adjustable and retracting wing mirrors. Visibility all around is excellent with ample glass area, and also the fact that there’s a quarter panel on both sides. This reduces blind spots significantly – again very thoughtful.

The center console hosts a wireless phone charger, with grooves to hold the smartphone in place. There are 2 USB type C charger points, one of which can also be used to connect the smartphone to the infotainment unit by pressing a switch. Another thoughtful touch there. There’s a regular cigarette lighter charging slot as well, nicely recessed and accessible with a finger press.

The center console also has the gear shifter, the 360 camera and the start stop button. Again, this is very thoughtfully placed as the whole process of switching the car on/off, and slotting it into drive/park is quite intuitive and feels very natural. The 360 camera is quite cool in that it’s interactive. You can move viewing angles around using the touchscreen on the Trinity display. Another nifty touch.

Then, there are the cup holders, which can be tweaked to accommodate some knick knacks. There’s an armrest with some space under it while there’s an air purifier that is also a part of the arm rest. Smartly, the air purifier gets a tactile button that the driver can use to turn it on and off. No more fiddling with the infotainment unit for air purification. Nice!

The driver and co-passenger seats get ventilation functions – both for the seat bottom and the seat back. The seats themselves feel supportive and plush, and for the nearly 200 kilometers we drove the car, we found no reason to complain.

There’s a panoramic sunroof offered as standard on the top-end trims. The panoramic sunroof and the grey-beige interiors come together really nicely to make the Syros’ cabin very airy indeed. The lighter colours, expansive glass area and the massive panoramic sunroof come together to make the Syros’ interior seem larger than it actually is. Next to the sunroof buttons is a sun glass holder – a typical Kia feature.

The lower trims get the option of a regular sunroof. Kia clearly knows what the Indian car buyer wants. So, everyone wanting a sunroof needn’t necessarily buy the top end trims of the Syros.

Air conditioning: Strong and effective

Automatic climate control comes standard in the top-end trims of the Syros, and the AC is a chiller. While this is a sub-4 meter car, cabin volume is quite large thanks to the tall-boy stance. The AC working well is quite critical in hot Indian summers, and the Syros seems more than up for it.

The back seat is what really defines the Syros

Kia is positioning the Syros as a step above every other sub-4 meter compact SUV sold in India, all thanks to the tricks the back seat packs in. This is the only SUV in the sub-4 meter class to have a back seat that not only reclines but also has a sliding function. There’s a 60:40 split too, that makes the back seat very versatile, indeed.

Sliding the back seat to its farthest position liberates a lot of legroom, a LOT. Forget the Sonet, the Syros blows the much larger Seltos out of the water when it comes to the sheer space on offer. Reclining the back seat makes the experience even richer. The rear arm rest is just the right size, and comes with the customary cup holders. Then there’s ventilation for the rear seat bottom: Cherry on the cake!

You can actually snooze in this car, and be very comfortable doing that for hours. Under thigh support is good, too. Perfect for those long road trips? You bet! The rear window is large too, with a window-line that’s pretty flat.

This gives passengers at the rear plenty of visibility and that feeling of being cooped up is simply not there. If you want a compact SUV with a fantastic back seat, look no further. Two USB Type C charging points, rear AC vents, scooped out front seat backs, storage space for gadgets on the front seat backs and space in the doors for full sized bottles round off the rear seat.

There’s a chink in the armor though. While the cabin of the Syros is wider than most sub-4 meter SUVs, this is not meant to be a full sized 5 seater. The fifth passenger sits in the middle, and the armrest doesn’t sit flush with the other seats. There’s a transmission tunnel as well. These things makes space for the fifth passenger, especially the shoulder room, a squeeze.

While this is tolerable for short trips, longer trips will not be comfortable for anyone taller than five and a half feet. The reinforced K1 platform has limitations in terms of width, and it shows. Clearly, the Syros is best enjoyed as a 4 seater, and in this avatar, it really shines.

Boot space?

465 liters is what the Kia Syros offers, and this is measured up to the roof. You can even load it up so high since you do get a rear camera that can function as a rear view mirror for such situations. It’s a squared out boot, which means that there is plenty of functional space. The ability to move the rear seat forward, and the 60:40 split, makes the boot quite versatile – it can accommodate irregularly shaped things as well.

The parcel shelf is short and stubby because the rear seat needs space to slide back. The boot’s deep and the loading lip is high, which means that moving heavier luggage in and out of the boot will require sturdy arms and a strong back.

What’s under the hood?

Two engine options, both of them tried and tested. Two gearbox options, again tried and tested. First the engines. Petrolheads get the 1 liter-3 cylinder GDI turbo petrol engine borrowed from the Sonet. This motor makes 118 PS-172 Nm. Gearboxes are 6 speed manual and 7 speed twin dry clutch automatic options. Dieselheads will be greeted by the 1.5 liter-4 cylinder turbocharged CRDI unit with 115 PS-250 Nm. 6 speed manual and torque converter automatic gearbox options are on offer.

Driving the diesel

We drove the diesel automatic – a familiar combination that powers a host of Hyundai and Kia cars. Refined torque is what really defines this engine. In sport mode, the diesel really gets a move on. Pedal to the metal, shifts happen at about 4,000 rpm in all three modes: Eco, Normal and Sport. But in Sport mode, the steering gets stiffer, and the throttle response, sharper.

Shifts are very smooth and seamlessly and the AISIN gearbox doesn’t hunt for gears. All in all, the diesel motor is a smooth and refined unit that is very strong when you right foot asks for it. Overtaking is a breeze thanks to all that torque and Syros feels as fast as the Seltos Diesel while being slightly slower than the lighter Sonet. There’s no sound deadening material under the bonnet, and this makes the engine noise filter into the cabin at higher rpms. Not a bad note but some sound proofing would have made the cabin a much more quieter place.

Handling is sure footed but there is some body roll as suspension is tuned for comfort rather than sharp handling. In fact, the Syros is a lot more comfortably sprung than both the Sonet and Seltos, both of which are on the stiffer side. Clearly, comfort is the calling card of the diesel Syros, just the way it is for the petrol Syros. The Syros is more comfortable than both the Sonet and Seltos. If you want great ride quality and back seat comfort, this is the SUV to pick among the three.

Driving the petrol

We drove the petrol automatic – a car that gets the 7 speed twin clutch gearbox. The gearbox is a fast shifting unit and goes through the gears rather quickly yet very smoothly. It keeps the 1 liter turbo petrol engine on the boil when you keep the throttle pinned, and there’s a nice aural note from the engine – a three cylinder thrum that’s quite enjoyable to hear. Sport mode stiffens the steering and makes the throttle more responsive. Shifts happen at around 6,000 rpm when driven pedal to the metal.

Driven aggressively, the petrol feels faster than the diesel, partly due to the fact that the engine revs up a lot quicker, the note is more sporty and the gearbox goes through the gears quicker. When you take it easy, shifts are nearly imperceptible on the petrol and the engine is very quiet. To sum it up, the petrol motor is quite strong and fun when there are two people on board with AC on.

With more load, the diesel is likely to be stronger. Also, the diesel is quite quick as well but the linearity makes it more effortless. If you don’t drive large monthly distances, the petrol makes sense. For those who frequently hit the highway and clock large distances, the diesel is the right pick.

Brakes were quite strong on both cars. Pedal feel is very good and there’s no drama thanks to disc brakes on all four wheels. There’s some nose dive while hitting the brakes hard but that’s quite expected.

Going off the beaten path!

We took the diesel Syros to a few sandy trails near the Leopard valley, off Gurugram. The ride quality was quite comfortable. The short front and rear overhangs, and the 190 mm ground clearance meant that we could take the Syros to off beat places, not having to worry about under body damage.

The switchable terrain (traction control) modes with sand, snow and mud also came in handy during these mild trails. Overall, the Syros is a car that you can take to some off beat locations. But you must remember that it’s a front wheel driven car.

Downsides? Watch this!