🦫 Kia Stonic Vs Mitsubishi Asx

The Mitsubishi ASX ES is the baby SUV from the Mitsubishi stable. It has a great kerbside look and the dimensions that makes it your best friend in the city but it hasn’t had a true redesign and that means it has some solid competition from other compact SUVs, like the Kia Seltos, MG ZS and Suzuki Vitara.

So it’s a good thing the Stonic is a handsome car. Kia says it’s deliberately styled to appeal to everyone, unlike the love-it-or-hate-it look of the Nissan Juke. In fact, the Stonic continues a rich vein of design form from Kia that started with the third-generation Sportage in 2009 and has culminated with the recently launched all-electric Kia EV6. A facelift in 2021 softened some of the edges and reprofoled the bumpers, but it still mixes hatchback and SUV design idioms sensitively but to striking effect, being particularly handsome – to this tester’s eyes – from the rear three-quarter. Suffice it to say, this is a car you’ll notice when you see one on the road. Despite Kia’s effort to push upmarket, there’s not a huge amount of soft-touch material. Still it feels robustly built and the dashboard is neatly laid out and easy to use, thanks in no small part to the larger touchscreen that was added during the recent updates as well as some new trim materials. Also included was a revised trip computer screen that offers sharper graphics. From a functional perspective, though, it’s not immediately obvious when you’re getting in if the Stonic’s had quite enough SUV identity baked into it. You lower yourself down into the driver’s seat rather than sliding conveniently sideways into it, and the view you get out isn’t what you’d call commanding. Headroom is generous and there’s plenty of height adjustment on the driver’s seat cushion, allowing you to perch closer to typical crossover height if you want to. But overall, this isn’t a driving position that instantly smacks of easy accessibility or convenience. For those in the rear, the Stonic’s back seats are just large enough for an average-sized adult to sit comfortably behind another, and they’ll be fine for kids in booster seats. Taller adults will need to spread their knees and slouch in their seats to avoid contact with the seatback and roof. The car’s boot is a good size at 352-litres and has a handy split-level ‘boot board’-type false floor – but it also has a loading lip over which heavier cargo will need to be lifted. More mixed tidings, then. There are few complaints about the equipment levels, with all versions of the Stonic featuring all the essentials and more. The entry-level 2 features 16-inch alloy wheels, air-conditioning, electric windows and that larger touchscreen complete with Apple CarPlay and Android auto. There’s a comprehensive array of safety equipment too, including autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection. Step up to the GT-Line and you benefit from larger alloy wheels, climate control, and rear parking sensors, while the Connect model adds keyless entry, climate control, part faux-leather seat trim and on the outside a two-tone exterior with contrasting roof colour. This paint scheme also features on the GT-Line S, which also shares its LED headlamps with the GT-Line. On top of this kit it also adds heated seats and steering wheel and extra driver aids, including blind spot monitoring, lane departure warning and, on models equipped with the DCT twin-clutch transmission, adaptive cruise control. Sharing its platform with Kia’s Rio supermini, the Stonic has the same wheelbase as the Rio but it’s slightly wider and longer in the rear overhang, as well as having a slightly “jacked-up” ride height and an even higher-rising roofline. Still, the most meaningful differences between this car and its supermini donor are slight: 42mm on ground clearance and 70mm on overall height. Since there’s no option of four-wheel drive in the Stonic either and no engine more powerful than 118bhp, this is a car that plainly wears its SUV garb quite loosely. But that’s increasingly common in cars of this class. The Kia Stonic mid-life refresh in 2021 saw a small-shake-up of the engine range, with the previous petrol and diesel motors dropped in favour of a single, three pot petrol version of Kia’s new-generation Smartstream unit, which adds variable value technology for a claimed better efficiency and improved torque than the Kappa motor it replaces. This unit is available in two guises - as an entry-level 99bhp and in 118bhp mild-hybrid guise as tested here. Featuring a 48V integrated starter generator (which Kia brands EcoDynamics+) it is mated to the firm’s new intelligent manual transmission (iMT) gearbox. The six-speed box is actuated electrically rather than mechanically, which is designed to maintain the engagement of a manual while maximising the fuel economy and emissions benefits of the 48V ISG. As you’d expect, both engines are reasonably efficient and clean-burning, but it’s the mild-hybrid that delivers the best on paper figures, with claimed fuel economy of and CO2 emissions of 125g/km for the six-speed manual, while the seven-speed DCT manages the same and 129g/km as the entry-level 99bhp non-hybrid model with either gearbox. Despite that new tech, from behind the wheel the changes feel as subtle as the Stonic’s styling tweaks. The engine offers a classic three-pot feel, occasionally raspy but largely quiet, and with a touch of refinement offered by the engine-off coasting. The iMT gearbox feels much like a traditional manual: it pairs well with the engine and is responsive, although hardly thrilling. Around town, it tends to surge a little in response to initial throttle inputs, and so isn’t always as smooth as you’d like away from standing. But there’s plenty of accessible torque here, which makes zipping the car up to speed, maintaining your momentum – and overtaking when you need to – easy to do. The car’s suspension tuning, like its exterior design, is clearly intended to make it stand out in a growing crowd of similar small cars, specifically by engendering a thrusting, poised driving experience – and in that mission, the car only partly succeeds, especially against the backdrop of assured and entertaining performers such as the Ford Puma. Its low speed ride is firm and slightly tetchy around town, where really the car ought to feel more at home than the average supermini. The Stonic’s body fidgets and fusses over uneven roads, and while its body control settles down a little bit at higher speeds, it never even approaches the enhanced comfort and isolation levels that you expect of a high-riding car. The Stonic handles keenly up to a point and keeps its body flat at all times but, though it steers with pace, there’s a little too much leaden weight at the rim, and too little genuine incisiveness off-centre, to make you really enthused. The car’s grip levels are only moderate, while the car’s driving experience certainly isn’t as comfortable as you might have expected it to be, neither is it coherently fun. Yet driven with everyday restraint it’s capable and composed, managing everything you throw at it without giving you cause to think about what it’s doing, and for its target market that’s no doubt fine. If you’re looking for fun, however, you’ll need to seek out your Ford dealer and try one of their Pumas. Yet there's still plenty to commend the Kia. No it’s not a class leader, but it’s a stylish, pleasantly likeable and slightly alternative to many. The recent changes to the car haven’t vaulted it up the pecking order, but the tweaks have been worthwhile, in particular the 48V mild hybrid that brings a dash of refinement and a useful bit of extra fuel economy. It remains a machine well suited to the needs of likely buyers with a number of admirable strengths. But while the sharp end of the class has moved forward thanks to the Puma and Volkswagen T-Cross, the Stonic has merely kept pace with the chasing pack behind. Kia Stonic FAQs Is the Kia Stonic available as a plug-in hybrid or petrol electric?Kia is committed to electrification, but unfortunately currently there’s no plug-in or EV version of the Stonic. The closest the small Kia crossover gets is the inclusion of a 48 volt mild hybrid system, that uses a powerful starter/generator set-up. This gives a small boost of electric torque when accelerating at low speed as well as harvest electrical energy through regenerative braking when slowing down. What are the main rivals to the Kia Stonic?Supermini-based SUV models are big business at the moment, which means the Kia Stonic has an abundance of competitors. The Ford Puma offers similar hybrid tech but is much more engaging to drive and offers greater refinement, while the Renault Captur looks sharper and has a classy interior, as well as a plug-in hybrid option. The Volkswagen T-Cross is more expensive but feels more upmarket, while its sister cars the Skoda Kamiq and Seat Arona promise more practicality and style respectively. Speaking of close relations, the Peugeot 2008 and Vauxhall Mokka look great and have all-electric versions. How much power does the Kia Stonic have?When it comes to engines in the Kia Stonic, there’s not a lot of choice. In fact, there’s essentially only one - a turbocharged three-cylinder petrol. In its most basic guise this engine delivers a modest 99bhp, while the 48V mild hybrid-assisted model gets a boost to 118bhp. Neither figure looks particularly exciting on paper, but it’s a smooth and surprisingly responsive unit, making the Stonic feel more eager than the figures suggest. What choices of gearbox are there for the Kia Stonic?The entry-level 99bhp Kia Stonic is only available with a six-speed manual gearbox that has a light action and progressive clutch that makes it easy to drive. For the more powerful versions, this transmission is given the brand’s IMT (Intelligent Manual Transmission), which is effectively an electronically controlled clutch. You still operate the pedal in the same way, but there’s no connection between it and the clutch itself. Also available in the 118bhp car is a seven-speed DCT twin-clutch automatic transmission. Where is the Kia Stonic built?The Kia Stonic is built in a number of locations around the globe. Most examples are assembled at the Gwangmyeong factory in South Korea, which is one the firm’s oldest plants having been opened in 1973. Cars for the Chinese market are constructed at the Dongfeng Yueda Kia joint venture plant in Yancheng, while examples are also produced by the Lucky Motor Company in Karachi, Pakistan. How many generations of the Kia Stonic have there been?Launched in 2017, the Kia Stonic is still in its first generation and was designed to cash-in on their relatively recent small SUV sales boom. There was a very minor facelift of the car in 2020, with subtly revised headlamps, a new infotainment system and the addition of mild hybrid engine options. A second generation machine has not been announced yet, although Kia has already discontinued the current car in its home market of South Korea due to slow sales. Used cars for sale NewsletterGet all the best car news, reviews and opinions direct to your inbox three times a week. You can unsubscribe via any email we send See our full privacy notice for more details Subscribe Never miss an issue of the world's oldest car magazine – subscribe to Autocar magazine today. Subscribe Kia Stonic First drives

kia stonic vs mitsubishi asx