I've always wondered what it'd be like to drive a compact SUV. Well, I got to find out when I won the #JudgeMe contest! Kia rewarded me with the Stonic for the weekend and here's what I got up to.
At first glance, the Kia Stonic looks no different from other compact SUVs. But once I took the wheel, I felt an instant connection to the car. The sporty steering wheel and clean layout appealed to me, as did the more traditional handbrake and stick shift.
I sported a grin as I realised by tilting the gear stick to the right, you could get the closest approximation to a manual gear change experience. Throttling the car, the 7 gears showed a solid mid-range torque range which I liked. Amazingly, the 3-cylinder, 1-litre sized engine was responsive and lively. The soundproofing and vibration dampening could be improved in this specific model. But for a vehicle at such a good price point, it carries a lot of features you can only get in more premium-priced cars.
My first stop was Labrador Park by the sea. Nice breeze!
Next, together with my long-time expedition team buddy Grant, we picked up my wife for lunch. My wife thought the car was "too yellow", but the eye-catching colour was one of my favourite things about the car!
The next day, I spent my afternoon at West Coast Park where I decided to fully check out the boot space of the Stonic. I found that it has convenient drop-down split seats at the back, which makes loading large items a breeze.
Yellow is a standout colour!
I also really liked the sunroof. Usually it's not a practical feature in hot and humid Singapore, but you can actually drive without any sunlight coming in using the "all-closed" mode. But if you do like some sunshine, you can also slide the panel back to let the rays in through a tinted glass panel. But I moved the panels all the way back for a wind-in-your-hair experience!
For my last stop with the Stonic, I treated myself to some muffins at a popular bakery and took a wefie to sum up my day.
Even though my time with the car was short, I really enjoyed myself. Thank you Kia for treating me to this pleasant weekend!
