Kia Stonic review

Unlike with some rivals, there isn't a bargain-basement version of the Stonic to tempt budget-conscious buyers. Instead, the range starts at a price slightly above that of the Renault Captur and slightly below that of the Seat Arona.

As for fuel economy, the 1.0-litre turbo petrol managed a respectable 41.4mpg in our real-world True MPG tests, although the Arona 1.0 TSI 95 and C3 Aircross Puretech 110 achieved slightly better figures. You should get more than 50mpg from the diesel Stonic.

No Stonic drops emits less than 100g/km of CO2; the best performer is the diesel, at 109g/km, while the petrol manages a reasonable 115g/km.

The Stonic is predicted to hold onto its value well by industry experts, although Kia’s PCP finance deals aren't very competitive at all.

We’d suggest keeping the costs down and sticking with the still relatively well-equipped entry-level 2 trim. This gives you plenty of goodies, including 17in alloy wheels, automatic lights and wipers, air conditioning and rear parking sensors. We recommend adding the optional safety packs, though, which  both come as standard on 3 trim and above. Also, 3 adds the infotainment features we described earlier, a rear-view camera, privacy glass and climate control.

Range-topping 4 trim adds a heated steering wheel and heated front seats, along with a heat-blocking windscreen, but it's too expensive to get our recommendation. Maxx, meanwhile, is based on 2 trim and adds faux-leather upholstery and natty interior detailing. So, it's more style than substance, and you can’t add to it those important safety packs.

Kia as a brand came sixth out of 31 manufacturers in the 2019 What Car? Reliability Survey. However, the Stonic itself has yet to feature in the results. If something does go wrong, there's always Kia's seven-year warranty to fall back on; this is the joint-best in the class.

UK and European roadside assistance is free for a year and available at a reasonable extra annual cost thereafter.

Disappointingly, the Stonic doesn't come with automatic emergency braking (AEB) across the range. This fact contributed towards Euro NCAP giving the Stonic just three stars out of five for safety when it was tested back in 2017; adding it (it’s optional on 2 trim and standard on 3 trim and above) brings that rating up to five stars. Most rival small SUVs, including the Seat Arona and Volkswagen T-Roc, have five-star ratings, and the Stonic’s adult occupant and pedestrian protection scores trail those of that rival pair.

A second safety pack that combines lane-keeping assistance, driver attention monitoring and automatic high beam is again optional on 2 trim and standard on 3 trim and above. Maxx models have to go without either package, though, and you can have blindspot monitoring only as standard on range-topping 4 models.

Meanwhile, every Stonic has a standard alarm and immobiliser, along with deadlocking on all doors. Mind you, the Citroën C3 Aircross proved harder to break into and steal in Thatcham Research's security tests.

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