Hyundai Staria Limited 2021 Car Review

You have to hand it to Hyundai, taking something as mundane as a van and creating something that is eye catching and futuristic is a dangerous dance, but thankfully they haven’t gone too far.

Hyundai New Zealand General Manager, Andy Sinclair says, “It's undeniable that New Zealand finally has a cool looking people mover. And it's kitted out with segment-leading technology and safety features ideal for families.”

Future Style

The first thing to catch your eye is the wide sweeping grill, and the long horizontal daytime running lights, which span across its front end. There is also a low belt line, which means that all the windows are quite large and offer an excellent panoramic vista, and it also adds to the futuristic look.

The rear is finished simply with large pillar mounted LED combination lamps, and there is a broad power operated tail gate. When open, it provides a great deal of protection from the elements. We can picture this makeshift sheltered area being used at sports events, perfect for backing up to the rugby game and using the low-slung floor as a makeshift seat.

Seriously Roomy

We marvelled at the vast space in the cabin; dimensionally speaking, Staria models share the same 5253mm length, 1997mm width, and 3273mm wheelbase, with the only difference being the Load's marginally taller height (1990mm vs 2000mm).

Even with all the eight seats employed there is plenty of room for kids’ cargo, or suitcases.

The interior feels modern and features dual 10.25-inch displays and there is also built in Satellite Navigation, and a snappy multimedia system. One neat feature we discovered was a wide-angle camera that brings rear passengers onto the screen in the multimedia system, while microphones and speakers assist with conversation.

The fully digital virtual instrument cluster is a polished unit with some interesting touches. For example, graphics on the digital cluster change with the selected drive mode (NORMAL, ECO, or SPORT). The 10.25 cluster in our test model also had a futuristic CUBE theme which we could select.

The eight seats are made with real leather upholstery, heated and ventilated front seats, and there are added comfort features like the heated steering wheel. Getting the family in and out is a breeze with twin power-operated smart sliding side doors; these can also be triggered with the remote.

Because of the vehicle’s shape, there is oodles of head room and with the twin sunroofs fitted on our limited model the cabin felt light and airy. One of the draw backs in having such large windows would be the glare. However, the Staria has a few tricks up its sleeves - with both the second and third row seats featuring built in pull out integrated sunshades.

Other great interior features were the wireless smartphone charger, five USB charging ports (spread across all the rows), and more than enough cup holders; a whopping 16 cupholders by our count.

The Heart

The Staria comes with one engine choice, but it’s a sweet one, a 2.2-litre with common rail direct injection and a variable geometry turbocharger. Hyundai say they plan to add eco-friendly Staria variants in the coming years.

It’s adequately powerful too with 130kW @3800rpm, as for consumption it consumes 8.2L/100km and has a CO2 output of 218g/km. This isn’t too bad considering the size of the vehicle.

The gear shifter is another future forward looking feature. It uses a shift-by-wire control system, which lets you shift the 8-speed automatic transmission with the push of a button.

The Staria has a range of drive modes to suit: Eco mode for peak fuel efficiency, or Normal mode for regular driving and efficiency and even a Sport mode. We are not so sure how often the “sport mode” will be used?

During our test drive the ride was comfortable and well insulated, as with all vans there was a degree of roll in the corners but nothing too drastic.

The driver assistive safety features and adaptive cruise control were helpful and made it easier to drive. The best part was that after a weekend of driving the fuel tank was still full.

Verdict

If you are running out of space and want to get a seriously luxurious van, then the Staria Limited is the perfect option. The limited model’s price is a stumbling block for some at $85,990 + (ORC). However, there is always the entry model at $69,990 + (ORC). The Staria feels modern and isn’t at all bland, which is a tricky thing to achieve in an 8-seater van.

Safety systems

• ABS braking with Electronic Brake-Force Distribution (EBD)
• Brake Assist System (BAS)
• Electronic Stability Control (ESC) 
• Traction Control System (TCS)
• Vehicle Stability Management (VSM) 
• Blind-spot Collision Avoidance assist (BCA)
• Blind-spot View Monitor system (BVM)
• Rear Cross-traffic Collision Avoidance (RCCA) 
• Forward Collision Avoidance (FCA)
• Forward Collision Avoidance-Junction assist (FCA-JX)
• Lane Keeping Assist (LKA)
• High Beam Assist (HBA)
• Driver Attention Warning (DAW)

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