DESPITE the continued uncertainty of the model’s future, SsangYong Australia has launched its up to date Rexton massive SUV with the seven-seat household hauler being gifted new styling, extra energy and torque and elevated commonplace tools whereas the bottom EX trim has been dropped from the vary.
As one would count on, dropping the earlier vary opener has pushed the Rexton’s beginning value up considerably from $39,990 driveaway to $47,990 with the now entry-level ELX rising in value by $1000 as a part of the facelift – the flagship Final has risen $2000 to now begin from $54,990.
The obvious change to the Rexton is its new aggressive entrance fascia with the entire association centred round a very redesigned grille and entrance apron.
New LED headlights and tweaked daytime working lights flank the grille within the prime corners of the fascia with loads of angles and sharp contours filling the remainder of the house.
Adjustments have additionally been made on the rear with redesigned tail-lights and bumper which is now largely freed from the everyday black cladding discovered on SUVs with a set of built-in chrome exhaust suggestions poking by way of.
The remainder of the Rexton’s physique has been left untouched save for some up to date alloy wheel designs on each the ELX and Final whereas the inside has scored a brand new 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, overhead console and a redesigned gear lever.
Nonetheless powered by the acquainted 2.2-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder engine, SsangYong has bumped the Rexton’s peak energy and torque figures by 15kW and 21Nm respectively with the mill now churning out a more healthy 148kW/441Nm, placing it properly and really on par with its Japanese rivals.
To extract probably the most out of the up to date engine, engineers have paired it with a brand new eight-speed automated transmission – nonetheless that includes excessive and low-range – driving all 4 wheels through a selectable 4×4 system.
Gasoline consumption has elevated on account of the additional grunt and new transmission mixture, rising from a claimed 8.3 to eight.9 litres per 100km.
The additional shove has made no affect on the Rexton’s already class-leading braked towing capability of 3500kg, nonetheless trailer sway management has been added to its record of ordinary tools and security gear.
On the ELX, prospects rating the aforementioned digital instrument cluster and redesigned gear lever in addition to 18-inch alloy wheels, LED head-, fog- and tail-lights, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, multi-device Bluetooth connectivity, TPU leather-based upholstery, heated and ventilated entrance seats with energy adjustment, heated rear seats, a leather-based steering wheel and cruise management.
The Final steps issues up significantly with 20-inch alloys, sunroof, powered tailgate, 360-degree digicam, premium leather-based seats, heated leather-based steering wheel, wi-fi cellphone charging, rear zone air-con, inside temper lighting, entrance contact sensing door handles and reminiscence perform for the driving force’s seat and wing mirrors.
Customary security gear on each variants consists of autonomous emergency braking with ahead collision warning, blind spot detection, lane change help, rear cross-traffic alert, trailer sway management, driver’s knee airbag, tyre strain monitoring and parking sensors entrance and rear whereas the vary topper additionally picks up speed-sensitive steering.
The automated locking rear differential has additionally been carried over on each variants.
Given it shares its ladder-frame chassis and the overwhelming majority of its working gear with the Musso/Musso XLV pick-up, it ought to solely be a matter of time earlier than an up to date model of the workhorse emerges brandishing an identical face and matching energy outputs on the very least.
SsangYong has undergone one thing of a resurgence up to now this yr ending February with gross sales up 98.9 per in comparison with the identical interval final yr (368 vs 185) with the Musso/Musso XLV doing the majority of the heavy lifting (279).
The Rexton in the meantime has had a much more conservative begin to the yr with simply 37 items offered (+5.7%).
2021 SsangYong Rexton driveaway pricing
ELX (a) | $47,990 |
Final (a) | $54,990 |