Kia Stonic

In the new age SUV universe, where all the SUVs are becoming more premium and offering additional upholstery and trim options, the Kia Stonic sticks to the conventional roots and offers only one interior scheme of an all-black finish. In the EX AT variant, this all-black cabin of the Stonic comes with contrast satin silver surrounds for the centre console and AC vents, with additional satin silver touches on the inner door panels and door handles. However, all these panels are finished in black in both iterations of the LX variant. 

Seats and upholstery

In all the three variants in which it is offered, the Kia Stonic comes with cloth upholstery for the seats and a polyurethane finish for the steering wheel and gear lever. Though, we would have loved to see leather touches for the seats, at least in the top-spec EX variant. The rear seats in all the variants feature a 60:40 split-folding facility, with the top-spec EX variant also getting height adjustability for the driver’s seat.

Comfort and convenience

The list of comfort and convenience features in the Kia Stonic is not as long as the newer rivals on the block, which has made the cabin of the Stonic feel dated now. Nevertheless, the Stonic still gets a few essentials across its entire lineup, including air-conditioning, a conventional instrument console with a 3.5-inch MID in between, keyless entry, tilt-adjustable steering wheel with audio and Bluetooth controls mounted on it. The higher-spec EX AT variant also gets a push start-stop button and automatic climate control.

Entertainment, information, and communication

There is not much to differentiate between the three variants of the Kia Stonic when it comes to in-car audio entertainment. The Stonic comes standard with an 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system in the centre console, which is compatible with features like Android Auto, Apple Carplay, Bluetooth, AM/FM radio, and USB. It serves as a window for the six-speaker audio system (four speakers and two tweeters). 

Storage

While the Kia Stonic is low on comfort and convenience features, it offers plenty of small storage spaces inside the cabin, thus making it a practical vehicle to live with. The Stonic has a closed glovebox on the co-passenger side, two cup holders in the front centre console and bottle holders, and map pockets in all four doors. It also claims an adequate boot space of 325 litres, which could have been more, given its size. 

Launched in 2017 globally, the Kia Stonic has remained more or less unchanged in the last five years, which is a long time for a product to exist in today’s day and age. The fact that it is a half-a-decade old design makes it look a bit dated now, as it lacks the freshness of what its peers are offering. Still, for a compact SUV of its size, the 2022 Kia Stonic has accurate proportions, which make it feel well-designed from every angle you look at it.

At the front, the 2022 Stonic gets a slim and wide grille, which has the trademark ‘Tiger Nose’ design like all the other Kia products on offer in the Philippines. This grille gets satin silver touches on its upper and lower parts and is flanked with large trapezoidal headlamps on either side. These headlamps come integrated with halogen projectors in the middle and clear lens turn indicators in their outer housings.

While the LX variants come with fog lamps in triangular housings of the front bumper in the LX MT and LX AT variants, the top-spec EX AT variant gets boomerang-shaped daytime running LEDs on the inner edges of the different-looking gloss-black housings in the front bumper. The front bumper here has a slim slit above the license plate housing and a wide air dam below it, which gets unique-looking rectangular inserts. This wide air dam is garnished with a rugged-looking silver skid plate at its bottom.

The side profile of the Kia Stonic is proportionally designed and has a perfect stance with angular pillars. In the top-spec EX variant, the side profile of the Stonic feels even better to look at with a chrome finish for the outer door handles and window waistline. The optional dual-tone colour schemes in the EX AT variant add a gloss black finish for the roof, A-pillars, and rear spoiler, adding a touch of sportiness to the design of the Stonic. All the variants of the Stonic come standard with roof rails and 16-inch diamond-cut alloy wheels.

At the back, the Kia Stonic has a very plain-looking design and is the one angle that shows that the car is now lacking behind its rivals in the freshness of its design. The design for the boot lid is clean and is devoid of any character lines, though the slightly steeper angle for the rear windscreen adds some visual drama. The side edges of the boot lid come fitted with two-part combination tail lamps, which now get LED inserts. The rear bumper of the Kia Stonic looks rugged with all-black cladding and a silver skid plate in the middle.

With a length of 4100mm, the Stonic surpasses the restricted four-meter length of many new-gen sub-compact SUVs. The Stonic has a width of 1735mm, a height of 1533mm, a wheelbase of 2570mm, a ground clearance of 185mm, and a turning radius of 5.5 meters. While the automatic LX AT and VX AT variants have a kerb weight of 1530 kg, the LX MT variant weighs 1480 kg.

All the variants of the 2022 Kia Stonic come standard with an electrically-assisted power steering and front-wheel-drive configuration, with a suspension combination comprising of McPherson struts with a stabilizer at the front and coupled torsion beam axle at the rear. Also standard on all the four variants is 16-inch diamond-cut alloy wheels, which come wrapped with 195/60 R16 tyres. While the EX AT variant gets disc brakes on all four wheels, the LX variants come with disc brakes at the front and drum brakes at the rear. 

While the world of compact and midsize SUVs is making a shift towards more powerful turbocharged petrol engines, the 2022 Kia Stonic is one of the few SUVs to offer an old-school previous-generation naturally-aspirated petrol engine. The Stonic comes with a 1.4-litre four-cylinder naturally-aspirated petrol engine as standard in all three variants, which has been the mainstay of many Hyundai and Kia offerings in the past. 

The 1.4-litre petrol engine of the Kia Stonic is available in two states of tune. This engine produces 95 PS of power in the LX MT variant, in which this engine is paired to a 5-speed manual gearbox. On the other hand, in the other two variants – LX AT and VX AT – this engine produces 100 PS of maximum power and is coupled to a 6-speed automatic gearbox. The torque output of this engine is rated at 132 Nm across all three variants.

It is where the Kia Stonic once again feels that it is an SUV that is lagging behind the others in newness and offering a little bit extra than the need. All three variants of the Kia Stonic come equipped with a standard safety package, comprising features like dual front airbags, ABS, seat belt pre-tensioners with load limiters, reverse camera, and ISOFIX mounts for child seats. In addition, the range-topping EX AT variant also gets features like reverse parking sensors, electronic stability control, hill start assist and engine immobilizer. 

 Warranty

Offering one of the best warranty schemes in the compact SUV category, the Kia Stonic promises a warranty period of 5 years or 160,000 km, whichever comes earlier. 

Kia Stonic vs the competition

The Kia Stonic belongs to the lower end of the compact SUV segment, which has the following direct rivals in the same space:

Toyota Raize – Among all the compact SUVs mentioned here, the Toyota Raize is the newest and most direct rival to the Kia Stonic. The Raize has arrived as the most affordable and smallest SUV from Toyota’s lineup in the Philippines, as it has replaced the Rush in the country. This SUV is offered in four variants with two engine options – a 1.0-litre turbocharged 98 PS petrol engine with a CVT gearbox and a 1.2-litre naturally-aspirated 88 PS petrol engine with both 5-speed manual and a CVT gearbox options.

MG ZS – By size, the MG ZS can be termed as a rival to the bigger Kia Seltos. However, the pricing of the ZS is squarely aimed at that of the Kia Stonic. With this, the ZS appeals more as a bigger and more spacious SUV at the same price as the Stonic. The MG ZS is on sale with a 1.5-litre four-cylinder naturally-aspirated 114 PS petrol engine, which is available with both a 5-speed manual and a 4-speed automatic gearbox options.

Suzuki Jimny – With a three-door body style, smaller dimensions, and standard four-wheel-drive system, the Suzuki Jimny might have the same essence as that of the Kia Stonic as a family-oriented car. However, for the same price as the Stonic, you get a quirky but highly capable SUV off the road with the Jimny. The Suzuki Jimny is offered with a 1.5-litre naturally-aspirated 105 PS petrol engine, with the options of both a 5-speed manual and a 4-speed automatic.

 Final words

With no significant changes in the last five years since its launch, apart from minor feature additions, the Kia Stonic has now started feeling a bit long in the tooth. This dated appeal in its styling and list of features is gradually reducing its factor of novelty, which makes it lag behind other new-age SUVs in terms of freshness. However, the Stonic still is a highly capable and practical SUV in terms of overall performance, driving dynamics, and space on offer, which are some of the most sought-after aspects for a family-oriented car buyer.