Hyundai Staria - cyberpunk in Korean

Hyundai has once again proved to the world that the designers in its staff receive their fees for a reason. All their talent is reflected in the exterior of the new Staria minivan, which has already been literally covered with beautiful adjectives: “space”, “alien” and “futuristic”. Of course, this is a new word in automotive design, but is a minivan from Hyundai interesting only in appearance? Let's look not only at the exterior, but also deep into the car.

Futuristic design

It is not known whether the South Korean designers used the golden ratio or something else from this opera to develop the exterior of the new minivan. Even if not, it turned out very well. He is good from all angles. When looking at the profile, the eye is attracted by the low line of glazing and massive door handles, the rear part attracts with vertical pixel lights. The front side looks even more interesting - a non-standard headlight and a horizontal “bar” for the entire width of the body not only illuminate the road in front of the car, but also give it a special style.



Hyundai designers did not stop at the body and developed a whole range of rims that organically emphasize the design of the minivan. Some options are only available for the 7-seat Business Shuttle, the most premium version of Staria. In addition to being beautiful, they can be used to distinguish which modification of the car is in front of us - ordinary or business. By the way, only in the top version there are four-row optics and high LED lights at the back. In the usual modification of the rear headlight on incandescent lamps, you will have to pay extra for the “future”.

The futurism of the commercial version is slightly lame on one leg, since instead of an automatic transmission there is a manual transmission, the wheels are stamped, and the body is all-metal and is made in the format of a three-seater van. However, even in this version, the car retained its original design. In addition, this option is more designed for the role of a "workhorse", and beauty is not so important to her.
Briefly about the parameters



The minivan is made in a body with a length of 5253 mm, a width of 1997 mm and a height of 1990 mm. Depending on the model, the passenger version allows you to comfortably accommodate 7 or 8 people in three rows. The mass of the car itself is 2505 kg, the ground clearance is 186 mm, which is quite good for an urban minivan and gives it the opportunity to drive on roads that are not of the best quality.

Comfortable salon

In the top version, all the seats located in front, namely the first row and two "captain's" seats in the second row are separate. A similar scheme is implemented in the Kia Carnival. In the Staria minivan, the seats are equipped with an electric drive and retractable ottomans. Heating and ventilation are also in order, the seat armrests tilt with the backrest.



The third row in the cabin can be pushed up to the back door, thereby “losing” the trunk, but instead getting a lot of free space for passengers. Such an opportunity is only in the top version, while in the usual rails are shorter, and it will not work to move the row so far. Also, the minivan in the usual version lacks two captain's chairs. In their place is one sofa, divided into two parts of different sizes, and in the front row there are three seats at once.

The front panel of the Staria interior is decorated with leather. The ceiling is made of suede, the floor is covered with a soft carpet like carpet. Side and luggage doors are equipped with an electric drive. Cameras are mounted along the perimeter of the minivan, another one is in the cabin and “follows” the passengers.



A big plus of the cabin in a futuristic minivan is a lot of hidden and not very compartments for storing things. These are boxes, compartments, cup holders, glove compartments and other places where you can place something at the discretion of the driver or passengers. Interestingly, they do not catch the eye.

In the standard version, the minivan is equipped with a simpler one. There is also enough storage space here, but the floor is not carpeted, but washable plastic, the front panel is framed by no means with leather, the chairs do not have an electric drive. There is a digital panel, but its resolution and picture quality are worse.

Driver's seat

As for the style of the interior and the equipment of the driver's seat, the Hyundai Staria minivan is no longer so surprising, especially when compared with the more interesting Elantra and Palisade models in this regard. The driver has access to a multifunctional steering wheel with a galaxy of mechanical buttons, a not quite standard digital instrument panel, pushed towards the windshield, and a push-button transmission selector. The central tunnel is empty, it is proposed to control the box from the front panel.



In the center of the interior is a control panel with many buttons and a wide display of the multimedia system. On the "gray" cars imported from South Korea, navigation is in Korean, without a Russian-language version, as well as with South Korean online services.

Hyundai Staria and Russia

The minivan was first introduced in April 2021 with the prospect of going on sale closer to winter. However, the launch was postponed, and only recently OTTS (vehicle type approvals) for this model appeared in the Russian database of Rosstandart. From this document, you can get detailed information about which versions of the minivan will be supplied to the Russian market.

Based on OTTS, both passenger and commercial versions of Staria will be sold in Russia. In the first case, the buyer will be offered a choice between a 7- and 8-seater saloon. The range of engines includes a 2,2-liter turbodiesel engine with 177 hp. With. and with a torque of 430 N * m. An alternative is an atmospheric gasoline engine with a capacity of 249 liters. With. and with a moment of 332 N * m. In both cases, the motors are paired with an 8-speed automatic transmission.

The commercial version of the Staria minivan will receive an all-metal body and a three-seat cab. The design of the rear door is presented in two options: single or with hinged doors. Instead of an independent suspension, implemented in the passenger version, there is a lever system. There is no range of engines - there is only a diesel 177-horsepower engine and a manual transmission.



In Australia, a commercial modification of the new minivan with the name Staria Load is already on sale. There, its cost is about 50000 Australian dollars, which at the current rate is about 2 Russian rubles. In Russia, the Staria model will replace the Hyundai H-350.

How much is the future worth?

The most budget option is a three-seater all-metal van for commercial use. Its initial price is around 2 rubles. For a regular passenger version, you will have to pay at least 149 rubles, and for a 000-seater business shuttle - from 3 rubles.

Conclusion

Hyundai Staria is too expensive a car for a small business or infrequent transportation. If you buy it, then for serious tasks. So, these cars have already become popular in the field of transfer in Moscow, Sochi and other large cities of Russia. The commercial version with simpler equipment and three passenger seats does not “bite” so much in terms of price, and becomes a good alternative to competitors from Peugeot and Volkswagen.