Ssangyong Rexton Time to say ta-ta to our T-rex
Old-school 4x4 earned respect in the daily grind but does have an Achilles heel
FINAL REPORT MILEAGE 7697 WHY WE RAN IT To find out whether a big, separatechassis, part-time all-wheel-drive SUV still has a place in the world
SUVS engineered like the Rexton were once the only way for this breed. They had a separate chassis made from stout girders, big, knobbly-tyred wheels, tough, longtravel suspension and clusters of knobs, levers and switches to engage all-wheel drive and low ratio. These were rugged, no-nonsense beasts built for the wearers of hard hats and pith helmets. Off-roaders and 4x4s, as they were then known, had a mission to be ruggedly useful and, among other things, they could tow, quite often as much as 3.5 tonnes.
Which the Rexton can, too. It also has a separate chassis, big wheels (but no knobbles on its tyres), a rotary all-wheel drive switch, robustly configured suspension and quite some bulk. Its rivals are few, most SUVS now being monocoque-bodied, road-biased high-riding hatchbacks, but among them are the Mitsubishi Shogun, Jeep Wrangler and Toyota Land Cruiser, all of which feature body-on-frame construction and comfortably workaday cabins.
One of the Rexton’s surprises is that Ultimate trim (it means what it says on the tin) brings you expansive quilted leather upholstery that creates an ambience entirely at odds with talk of chassis frames and low ratios. It looks very inviting and proves no less so once you’ve hoisted yourself inside. Less strenuous boarding can be achieved by ordering sill steps, but I don’t like their disrupting effect on a car’s lines. True, after glancing at the extraordinary pressing that is a Rexton front wing, you may wonder at the relevance of such aesthetic sensitivities, but if you can overlook these panels, the Rexton isn’t a badlooking beast for one so big.
Apart from its sheer scale, its most distinctive features are fat, vision obstructing but shapely D-pillars, the creases in its rear wings and, with the Ultimate, 20in alloy wheels finished in chrome. Those anxious to avoid referencing a Californian trend of a decade ago will be pleased to hear that brake dust soon dulls the bling.
The bigness, then. You get an awful lot of Rexton for your £38,495, or £28,495 for the entry-level EX. You can have five seats or seven and our five-seater is able to swallow 1977 litres with the seats tumble-folded and the false floors removed. Even with the rear seats up, it will take 820 litres. When you live with a vehicle this cavernous, you think of ever more ambitious carting tasks for it, besides the occasional tow.
This it manages with ease, any manoeuvrings aided by the fact that the around-view camera provides a partial view of the trailer. Concerned not to spoil the Rexton’s trim, I put a rubber boot mat on its boot boards
and this had the unexpected benefit of stopping the bigger of the two false floor boards from drumming over bumps. This was the Rexton’s only fault in 7000 miles, the ‘securing’ Velcro not up to the job.
It has a considerable job to do because the Rexton’s ride is turbulent. It’s worse in the back, the near-continuous clatter of any tools you place in the boot hinting at mild misery for kids banished to the third row in the seven-seat version. If the ride gets smoother the closer to the front you sit, the improvement is only relative, because the Rexton has trouble with almost every kind of bump. Most intrusive
the smaller, sharper dips and troughs of B-roads, which create a restless jostle entirely at odds with the luxuriant surroundings. A good thing, then, that the Rexton has quite a lot of qualities to counter this deterrent, although not enough to stop you wondering why Ssangyong’s engineers haven’t fixed it, or if they can’t, called an outfit that can.
One merit is refinement, if only of the aural variety. Wind noise is minimal despite the sea-container frontage, and the 179bhp 2.2-litre diesel is impressively subdued when coupled to the Mercedes-made sevenspeed transmission, which tends to change up early enough to avoid straying into the rougher reaches of the rev range. True, this tends to promote slightly languid progress, but that suits the Rexton, and not only because of the chop and check of its suspension. Languid becomes lethargic should the engine drop off boost, when flooring the throttle produces an over-theatrical delay.
Still, when you sit this high in slightly throne-like front chairs, enjoying the high-level sights afforded to Range Rover drivers, it’s easy to be overcome by the urge not to rush. The seats help, too, being sumptuous, fully electric, heated and cooled, if short of lumbar adjustment.
Mostly, though, a Rexton Ultimate is very well equipped, with heated rear seats, too, self-warming steering wheel, around-view monitor, power tailgate, 9.2in infotainment screen and 220V socket. It’s not short of safety features, either, including autonomous emergency braking, traffic sign recognition and forward collision and lane departure warnings. Apple Carplay and Android Auto go some way to improving on the somewhat basic sat-nav.
It’s the Rexton’s ride that’s the killer, though. If sorted, it could make this Ssangyong a real contender in its niche. This is not an especially thrifty or zesty vehicle, but it has much else going for it – enough, indeed, that the Bremner household became moderately fond of its huge usefulness and mostly calm manners. And despite that ride, it’s a big step forward for Ssangyong.
If the ride was sorted, it could make the Rexton a real contender in its niche