The SUV market is rather crowded at the moment and it can be difficult to stand out, but SsangYong has thought outside the box with its new Tivoli XLV. Essentially it’s an SUV that’s been fused with an estate to give SUV driving style with the extra boot space of an estate. SsangYong says it has created a new genre of car, a genre that I’m going to call ‘eSUV-tate’ – you heard it first.
It’s available to buy now with prices starting at £18,250 for the 1.6 litre diesel model with manual transmission and two-wheel drive – that’s £1,000 more than the equivalent ELX. The XLV shares the same wheelbase as its smaller sibling but offers more luggage space – 720 litres of space can be found in the rear of the XLV so it should be perfect for those family trips. It’ll be a safe place to be as well – seven airbags have been installed in to the ‘eSUV-tate’ as well as ESP, Active Rollover Protection, Brake Assist, Hill Start and Emergency Stop Signal (ESS).
It's a rather 'bold' interior but you can't accuse it of being boring
Other technology includes dual-zone climate control, infotainment system with 7” touchscreen, USB/Aux port, Bluetooth and iPod connectivity, Tom-Tom sat nav and a rear reversing camera. if that isn’t enough, there is also cruise control, front and rear parking sensors, automatic windscreen wipers and automatic headlights.
The base model comes with two-wheel drive but as with the ELX, the XLV can be specified with SsangYong’s intelligent four-wheel drive system. In normal driving the Tivoli will operate the front wheels only to aid fuel economy but when the going gets tough (or slippery), power is fed to the rear wheels as well to give better traction and stability. £19,500 is the price for the cheapest 4x4 model which comes with a manual transmission but if you’d prefer an auto you can extra £1,000.
