Kia Stonic review

The Kia Stonic is the South Korean car maker's take on the small SUV style that's now so irresistible to buyers who once drove handy little hatchbacks.

The Stonic takes the bones of the now-discontinued Kia Rio hatchback and adds chunky wheels and tyres, a bit more height and tougher styling for a bit of SUV flavour. It has a straightforward engine line-up, allowing you to choose between two 1.0-litre petrols, one of which gets 48V mild-hybrid tech to improve fuel economy.

All versions have front-wheel drive, so if you're looking for extra traction, we’d point you towards four-wheel-drive versions of the Volkswagen T-Roc. And that rival is just the tip of the iceberg. There's also the Ford Puma, Renault Captur, Skoda Kamiq and more.

In other words, the Kia Stonic has a tough fight on its tyres. How does it stack up against the best small SUVs? Let's find out...

The cheapest Kia Stonic engine, which is available with the entry-level 2 and GT-Line trims, is the 98bhp 1.0 T-GDi. Performance-wise, it'll officially get from 0-62mph in 11.3 seconds with a manual gearbox or 12.4 if you opt for the automatic. While it feels a little weak at low revs, there's a fair amount of shove once you get going.

The two more expensive trims – 3 and GT-Line S – get the same engine but with mild-hybrid assistance. Performance is the same but fuel economy is improved, but not by enough to make the upgrade worthwhile unless you really want one of the higher trims.

The Stonic’s ride is well controlled but on the firm side. It’s never uncomfortable but the firmness means its wheels tend to follow little road undulations, causing the suspension to send a shimmy through the interior as they do so.

If you pass over a ridge, there’s a thump. Again, it’s not too harsh, but it's enough to make you notice. At motorway speeds, the Stonic fidgets a little on asphalt that looks flat. You’ll experience an altogether smoother ride at all speeds in a Skoda Kamiq or VW T-Roc.

Despite having a raised ride height, which can easily make things feel top heavy, the Stonic’s stiffer ride means it’s one of the more agile small SUVs you can buy.

We’d stop short of calling it fun, but it responds surprisingly eagerly to steering inputs and stays upright through corners that would cause the softer Citroën C3 Aircross to lean markedly. Even if you’re mid-corner and the road suddenly becomes bumpy, the Stonic remains impressively composed and controlled.

The steering isn’t exactly feelsome but it’s precise and well-weighted around the straight-ahead position, making it easy to stay in your lane on motorways. The Ford Puma is much more enjoyable to drive. If you want a small SUV with four-wheel drive take a look at the Suzuki Ignis, Suzuki Vitara and VW T-Roc.

The Stonic's petrol engine is decently refined. Sure, you hear it thrumming away when you rev it, but it emits a pleasant rasp rather than an intrusive clatter. All Stonics suffer from wind and road noise at motorway speeds. For a quieter life, try the T-Roc 1.5 TSI.

The six-speed manual gearbox you get as standard is slick and easy to operate, if not quite as enjoyable to use as a manual Ford Puma. The seven-speed automatic isn’t all that slick and you’ll certainly know when it’s changing through the gears.

The mild-hybrid system fitted to the T-GDi 118 makes for smooth engine restarts when the stop-start system is working, and a clever clutch system allows the car to coast when left in gear to save fuel.

It can make slowing down tricky to judge, though, because you don't know whether the regenerative braking system will cut in to charge the battery. When it does, the car slows far more quickly than at other times.

The Kia Stonic’s driving position feels a little odd at first, but you quickly get used to it. You sit low down with your legs stretched out, which feels natural in a small hatchback, but might disappoint SUV fans who prefer to be higher up.

Still, there’s no doubt that you’ll find a comfortable posture because there’s standard seat-height adjustment and plenty of in-and-out steering wheel adjustment to suit drivers of most sizes. The seats themselves are comfortable – it’s just a shame that you don’t get adjustable lumbar support (even as an option) like you do in the VW T-Roc. 

There are other commendable aspects of the Stonic’s interior, such as its sliding front centre armrest and the sensible positioning of all the buttons and switches on the dashboard. Indeed, everything is placed just where you'd want it to be.

The Stonic's relatively slim windscreen pillars make it pretty easy to see what’s in front of you from behind the wheel. The view backwards isn’t too bad, either – the rear pillars are a bit wide but the rear screen is quite deep.

To make parking even easier, every Stonic comes with rear parking sensors and a rear-view camera as standard. If you go for top-spec GT-Line S, meanwhile, you’ll also add front parking sensors.

All Stonics get automatic headlights but you’ll need GT-Line or above if you want bright LED headlights. Likewise, if you’d like automatic windscreen wipers, you’ll have to upgrade to either 3 or GT-Line S trim.

The Stonic’s infotainment system is really rather good, and compares well with the ones in rival small SUVs. For a start, you get a sharp 8in touchscreen display, plus there's a DAB radio, Bluetooth and Android Auto and Apple CarPlay smartphone mirroring as standard.

That system allows you to connect your phone and use Google Maps and other apps on the infotainment screen.

The touchscreen is positioned high on the dashboard and is easy to see, with large icons that are simple to hit on the move. It’s responsive to commands, although the Seat Arona gives you menus that are easier to navigate.

The Stonic feels solidly made inside. When you press and prod the dashboard, nothing wobbles, and all the switches and buttons feel well-damped.

There is a "but" here though. As with many other small SUVs in this price bracket, many of the surfaces are made from unyieldingly hard plastics, including the upper door trims. That used to be the case with the Seat Arona too, but a mid-life facelift means that car now has a more premium-feeling interior than the Stonic. 

As you might expect, premium-badge wearing rivals including the Audi Q2 have the best interiors in the class but you’ll pay more for the privilege – even the cheapest Q2 costs more than the top-spec Stonic.

You won’t be short of space in the front of the Kia Stonic – there's plenty of head and leg room, even for taller occupants. Interior width is generous for a small SUV too, so the driver and front passenger won’t be clanging elbows.

It’s quite a comfortable place to be and you shouldn’t find yourself struggling for space. Even so, if having loads of space up front is important, the Skoda Kamiq and VW T-Roc are even larger.

Storage space is respectable. There's a decent-sized glovebox and a tray for your phone in front of the gear lever, plus two cupholders and a cubby under the centre armrest.

The Stonic's rear space is below par by class standards. Head room is fine, but leg room is tight compared with that offered by the Seat Arona or the much larger Kamiq, especially if there’s someone tall sitting up front. 

What’s more, while the interior width is fine up front, it doesn’t translate to the rear, and trying to seat three adults in the back is a bit of a squeeze. 

There’s not a lot of room for odds and ends in the rear. You get a couple of small door bins and map pockets on the backs of the front seats but that's about your lot.

The Stonic is average in this respect, with no height adjustment for the front passenger seat unless you opt for top-tier GT-Line S trim. That’s something that rivals including the Renault Captur and the T-Roc both get as standard. 

While you get 60/40 split folding rear seats for those occasional trips to the tip, the Stonic does without the flexibility of sliding or reclining rear seats, which the Captur does have.

The Stonic’s boot space is nothing to get excited about. While there’s enough space for a decent weekly shop or five carry-on suitcases, having only 352 litres of storage space means it has one of the smallest boots in the class.

That becomes more apparent when you put the Stonic up against its rivals, with the Arona, Kamiq and T-Roc swallowing seven of the same carry-on cases in our tests, and the Ford Puma managing eight.

There’s no ski hatch, which would be handy for when you’re loading long items, but at least you have more space once you’ve folded the rear seats. The seat back don’t fold flat down flat so you’ll have to contend with a step up in the extended boot floor.

As a cash purchase, the entry-level Kia Stonic will cost you a little more than the Citroën C3 Aircross and Seat Arona but manages to undercut the Ford Puma and Renault Captur.

Better still, the Stonic is predicted to hold on to its value as well as the C3 Aircross and Puma, which will help to keep PCP finance rates competitive.

The entry-level petrol engine managed an average of 46.1mpg when it was put through our Real MPG testing. The mild-hybrid version of the engine should get close to 50mpg but you'll have to do a high mileage to justify the extra cost.

If you want to keep costs down, we can certainly see the appeal of the Stonic’s entry-level 2 trim. Indeed, it gives you plenty of standard equipment, including 16in alloy wheels, cruise control and air conditioning.

Jumping up to GT-Line gives you more luxuries and is probably all you need, coming with sportier styling and 17in wheels, automatic air-con, aluminium pedals and privacy glass.

Next up is 3 trim, which won’t cost you much more and includes the mild-hybrid engine, heated front seats, a heated steering wheel and artificial leather upholstery.

At the top of the range is GT-Line S. It gets the same sporty styling and 17in wheels as the GT-Line, which adds extra safety kit and, on automatic versions, adaptive cruise control. It’s quite pricey, making it hard to recommend.

The Stonic didn't feature in our 2024 What Car? Reliability Survey but Kia as a brand came 11th out of the 31 manufacturers ranked. For context, that's below Citroën and Renault but above Ford, Seat and Skoda.

Kia gives you a seven-year warranty, which is one of the most generous available (most car makers give you three years). UK and European roadside assistance is free for a year and available at a reasonable cost after that.

While the Stonic scored the full five stars when it was tested for safety by Euro NCAP but that was back in 2017 and the result is no longer valid.

At least you get a good amount of safety equipment as standard, including automatic emergency braking (AEB), lane-keeping assist, a tyre-pressure monitoring system and driver attention warning. GT-Line S adds blind-spot warning.

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