The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Tivoli takes on SUV rivals
The SsangYong Tivoli takes the fight to small SUVs like the Nissan Juke and the Renault Captur with budget pricing, a gutsy range of engines and build quality the like of which you wouldn’t credit at this price point. It’s proved to be SsangYong’s breakthrough model.
The Tivoli has had some serious investment thrown at it, and it shows. The chassis is all-new, albeit hardly adventurous in its suspension design, with MacPherson struts up front and a space-efficient torsion beam rear end.
There’s a choice of two 1.6-litre engines, a 128hp petrol unit and a 115hp diesel and both of them drive only through the front wheels.
Through the corners, body control is decent and the steering consistent, if a little light. Fortunately, you can weight it up by playing with the “Smart steering” system that SsangYong has decided all models should have, a set-up delivering three self-explanatory modes – “Normal”, “Comfort” and “Sport”.
The 1.6 petrol unit will get to 62mph in a relatively relaxed 12 seconds and is offered as standard with a six-speed manual gearbox. Pay a little more and you can pair this engine with a six-speed automatic, which is the same unit as seen in the latest Mini.
Prices start at around £14,500 for the base model most will choose. Looking at the standard variant, this means a Tivoli can easily undercut a rival Nissan Juke, which starts at around £15,200 – and it’s much better equipped.
Do remember though if you’re making that comparison that you’re not really comparing like with like, the Nissan getting a 95PS engine, fully 30PS down on the SsangYong’s petrol powerplant. Even stepping up to the next engine up in the Juke range, the 1.2 with 115PS, doesn’t bring power equality with the Tivoli, and Nissan wants more than £17,000 for the cheapest one of these. Suddenly you begin to see why SsangYong are so bullish about making huge gains in sales.
Does this over-stuffed market sector really need yet another option? If it’s inexpensive, better equipped and more spacious than the norm, then we’d say yes.