SsangYong's Kyron is unusual in its class in being a true off-road 4WD, with a ladder-frame chassis and a two-speed transfer case.

There's the choice of two-high, four-high and four-low ranges, but no neutral position. Shifts between ranges are controlled from a turnknob on the dash.

For the 2008 season, SsangYong has backed off a bit on the shape of its controversial 4WD, now taking a more global view as to design rather than he distinctly South Korean one of the original model.

To achieve this, the Kyron has a new bonnet, headlights, radiator grille and under-bumper air intake. The intake now features a sporting mesh look. At the rear there's a smoother look based around a bigger back window.

The new-look interior's improvements include a more stylish dash that houses a redesigned instrument cluster, better night-time illumination, a leather-wrapped steering wheel and revised cloth seat trim.

The steering wheel now carries tiptronic-type controls to let the driver make pseudo manual gear changes on the automatic transmission.

The best news is that the price of the Kyron has been reduced in price by $2000 to $3000 depending on model.

With a price list beginning at just $32,990 it offers exceptional value for money because it's bigger than many of its competitors so you get a lot of 4WD for your money.

Power on our test car came from a four-cylinder 2.0-litre turbodiesel. It's adequate rather than exciting in the way it goes and can struggle on long hills.

There's more turbo lag than we like, but anticipate this and the characteristics can be lived with. Those desiring a bit more grunt can go for the optional fivecylinder 2.7-litre turbo-diesel. Note that SsangYong no longer imports petrol Kyrons to Australia.

There's good interior space for four adults and a fifth can be carried without being unpleasantly cramped. Noise levels in the Kyron are about average when accelerating, but it becomes very quiet when cruising. Indeed, at a steady 100km/h this is one of the quietest vehicles of all and makes an excellent country tourer.

We like the general handling of the Kyron. Its steering has reasonable feel, though some will find it on the soft side. There's good road grip even at above average cornering speeds for a full-chassis 4WD. The damping from the shock absorbers was a little slow at times and caused some mild hassles over hard bumps.

Kyron has an electronically controlled part-time four-wheeldrive system that, unlike most of its competitors, runs the rear wheels, not the front, in normal conditions. With the excellent part-time 4WD system, high and low range four-wheel-drive can be selected from the driver's seat and on-the-fly switching to high range 4WD is possible up to 70km/h. Kyron comes with airconditioning, power windows and mirrors with power folding and heating. Entertainment is provided by a six-speaker CD/AM/FM audio system and there are steering-wheel controls for improved safety. In the safety department, the Kyron boasts four-channel ABS brakes, dual front airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners and load limiters.

Price is going to be the biggest attraction of the new SsangYong Kyron range, but there's more to it than simply a low tag. This is a genuine off-road 4WD that's finished to a good standard, offers plenty of interior space and has a high level of standard equipment.

The full SsangYong Kyron range, with prices (excluding on-road costs) is - Kyron M200 XDi 2.0-litre turbo diesel five-door wagon $32,990 (manual), $35,990 (automatic); Kyron M270 XDi 2.7-litre turbo diesel five-door wagon $36,990 (automatic).

 

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