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Wheels24's Janine Van der Post is crazy about a minivan, and the Hyundai Staria ticks all the right boxes. Enough to make her want one in her dream garage with a bunch of classics and supercars. She explains why...
Do you remember your first crush? The way you felt giddy every time you saw that one person who made your heart beat a thousand times per second? This might seem strange, but I get that same feeling every time I see a Hyundai Staria minibus.
Not too long ago, while testing the Staria, I stopped next to a taxi down a well-known main road down here in Cape Town. The taxi driver's 'gaatjie' (read door operator, money collector, destination 'screamer') looks at the minibus and blows a wolf whistle.
"Mammie", he says, "This is a lekker van. (But imagine this conversation in Afrikaans.) Do you drive the school kids with this?
"No," I reply, "I'm testing it for work." Naturally, he wants to know where that is, and yes, the traffic light is still red at this point. "News24 on the phone, I know it, yes. Now, where are the headlights? What's that strip in front? This van looks like it's from the future. How does it drive, Mammie?"
"That is the headlight," I explain. "And, it drives bladdy nice," embracing the 'Mammie' reference as a sign of respect.
"Okay Mammie, drive lekker, hey. I'll read about it on my phone," he shouts as the light turns green and they drive off, and the friendly taxi guard is still hanging out the passenger side window pointing out the Staria's looks to the passengers in his van.
He was mesmerised by the Hyundai, and frankly, I understand where he's coming from. If I could pick a few cars for my dream garage, the Staria would be one of them. To prove I'm not completely mad, there'd also be a Toyota Trueno AE86 (Hachi-Roku), a Nissan Skyline GT-R R32, my restored Toyota Corolla 20V RSI, a Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth, a Ford Fairmont GT, a BMW 333i, BMW 5 Series (E60 V10 5.0-litre), and a Nissan Skyline (Hakosuka), a Lexus LFA, and Porsche 911 GT2 RS, and a Volkswagen Amarok V6. All the cars I absolutely love, and for different reasons. Okay, I digress, and the Staria still sticks out like a sore thumb.
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But here's my reasoning. While I'll always be a petrolhead at heart, I am crazy about a minivan. Especially one with dual sliding automatic doors, seats for my entire family (you can pick between a 9-seater or 11-seater options), sufficient boot space, and a frugal fuel consumption reading. Even if I didn't have a large family, there are always friends who need a lift to the rugby field or next family outing. With my parents getting on in their years, I want a vehicle I could drive them around in. One with fantastic ease of ingress and egress so they could literally just slide into a seat without much effort.
The Staria has replaced the Hyundai H1 bus - I enjoyed this minibus, too, especially the massive cargo area in the rear behind the three rows of seats.
Hyundai's minivan is well-put-together and comprises standard features across its model line-up. It's comfortable whether driving or in one of the many passenger seats. It has a superb seating position allowing the driver to see clearly on the road ahead, and the short front end makes for even better visibility on the road. It features one-of-a-kind 180-degree swivel seats which means it's great for face-to-face meetings on the go.
There's a dual sunroof and massive windows, which is always a treat for my little one as she wants to see the world outside where ever we're driving.
But probably my biggest highlight here is the frugal fuel consumption readings you get from such a large vehicle. City driving or being stuck in stop-go traffic will see the Staria peak at 8.0-litres/100km (Hyundai claims 8.7-litres), but it's when you're on the highway when the readings shine. Driving at a constant speed of 120km/h, even with the aircon blowing, I reached a reading of 6.1-litres/100km, and I even managed to bring the consumption lower to an average of 5.9-litres/100km when going at slower speeds.
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All models in the range feature the same R2.2 diesel engine delivering 130kW and 430Nm, which is more than enough to do some comfortable overtaking at any point. Gear changes are smooth and driving is easy, and I kept having to remind myself I'm driving a minibus instead of a burly SUV because it hardly ever felt like it. It has a top speed of 185km/h and that's more than enough as you're never going to drive crazy speeds with a vehicle like this, even when it can hold its own on the highway or long open roads.
For a vehicle this size and price, some parts in the interior could use a more sturdy material, and where the cheap plastics don't quite fit in. But with that aside, there are other awesome features like the double sliding doors, which can be operated via a touch of a button on the door panels for passengers, on the key fob, or via buttons in the front for the driver.
There's a pull-out cup holder for the front passenger, while the driver has one in the right corner of the dashboard. While that's great and easy to reach, water bottles don't stay cold when it's in direct sun - but that's nitpicking. There are loads of other storage compartments for all sorts of things and additional bottle holders in the doors too.
It's packed with standard safety features, but my ultimate one is the blind spot detection; that's just incredible. Instead of just a light flashing in your mirror, the Staria's instrument cluster displays the side mirror camera in front of you, showing the car on your left or right once you've indicated to change lanes.
It's not cheap, of course, but for what you're getting, there's loads of value for money here. Pricing starts from R799 900 for the R2.2 9-seater Executive Bus and goes right up to R1 114 900 for the R2.2 Luxury version.
It comes with a five-year or 150 000km Manufacturer's Warranty + an additional two-year or 50 000km Manufacturer's Powertrain Warranty; a five-year or 160 000km Manufacturer's Perforation Warranty; a seven-year or 150 000km Roadside Assist, a six-year or 90 000km Service Plan with 15 000km service intervals.
