Call Us Aliens: We Drove Hyundai’s Spaceship-Looking Staria Minivan
Seoul, South Korea—The Hyundai Staria is unlike any other minivan sold in Canada. Over here, typical family haulers are relatively generic-looking and more about substance than style. The only exception to this rule is arguably the new, all-electric Volkswagen ID. Buzz, which is a colourful modern-day interpretation of a German icon.
Things are different in South Korea, at least where the Staria is concerned. This futuristic multi-purpose vehicle, or MPV, looks more like a space shuttle than a minivan. As a matter of fact, the smooth silhouette with a rounded nose is said to be inspired by the halo that illuminates Earth's horizon during sunrise when seen from outer space. Love it or hate it, you have to admit that Hyundai designers aren’t afraid to be bold. And given the large number of units we spotted on Korean roads, the result is definitely a success.
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The Staria is available in a wide range of models and configurations. One has just three front seats to maximize cargo space, another has the classic 2+3 layout, a third comes with nine seats across three rows, and there’s even an 11-passenger variant, say, if you need to haul a youth soccer team.
Alternative applications include a school bus with 11 or 15 seats, ambulance, cargo van, camping van, wheelchair-accessible van, taxi and police vehicle. The Staria we were given the opportunity to test drive was a nine-seat model featuring a hybrid powertrain.
Three Different Powertrains
Under the hood of the Staria, Hyundai offers three different powertrain options. The first is a 2.2-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel—the only one that can be paired with all-wheel drive since the other two come with front-wheel drive exclusively.
The gas options are shared with the Kia Carnival including a naturally aspirated 3.5-litre V6 (this time producing 237 horsepower and 231 lb-ft of torque instead of 287 horsepower and 260 lb-ft, with the ability to run on liquified petroleum gas a.k.a. propane) and a turbocharged 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine mated to an electric motor (rated at a combined 242 horsepower and 271 lb-ft, matching the Carnival Hybrid sold in Canada).
While the Staria and Carnival both weigh around 2.2 tons, the former is 10 cm longer overall with 19 cm of extra wheelbase. When stepping inside, the cabin feels so much more spacious than any other minivan we’re used to. The huge windshield and triangular-shaped front side windows let in plenty of light and offer tremendous visibility. This brought us back about 20 years to a time when vehicles had yet to fall victim to that form-over-function obsession.
Flying Over the Road
Sitting high up with a low steering wheel, we didn’t get the impression of driving a car, more like a Ford Transit full-size van. That unique, elevated driving position gives you a better view of the road, that’s for sure. Meanwhile, the digital instrument cluster is located near the base of the windshield, closer to eye level. It has all the essentials and is easy to read, with bright and large enough characters.
The infotainment touchscreen sits atop the dashboard and there are multiple buttons underneath. While smartly laid out and easy to memorize, these controls are touch-sensitive and sunlight tends to bounce off the high-gloss black panel around them. It's even worse with light-coloured seats, which was the case in our test model.
The nine-passenger Staria has room to spare. Of course, it's also possible to fold the rear seats down in order to maximize cargo space. In the first row, the driver and front passenger enjoy excellent headroom, but an adult or tall teenager cannot realistically sit between them for a long period of time. If you drop the middle seatback, you can use the hollowed-out section to hold a few items and beverages. By the way, another cupholder is built into the left-hand side of the dashboard, which seems like a good idea.
Out on the road, the gas-electric Staria handles a lot like the aforementioned Carnival Hybrid. It offers plenty of low-end torque, resulting in lively acceleration. On the flip side, the transmission's occasional hesitations in the lower gears can be really annoying.
To be clear, though, the hybrid system is a good match for the vehicle and quite fuel-efficient, too. More specifically, we averaged 7.2 L/100 km for the entire day, and as low as 5.7 L/100 km at one point. Seriously. Granted, there were no other occupants and not a single piece of luggage inside the Staria, but that’s still impressive.
When cornering, the Staria’s longer wheelbase makes it less agile than the Carnival, but you know what? We didn’t really mind. The only complication comes from parking in tight spaces and lots, which requires a few extra manoeuvres. Steering lacks weight and a bit of precision.
On a positive note, we found the interior fairly quiet, while the nicely calibrated suspension does a good job of shielding passengers from road imperfections without slouching in sharp corners. In terms of overall ride and handling, we believe the Staria would do well on Canadian roads.
There’s Always the Palisade…
At the end of the day, we came away from our experience with the Staria with a feeling of satisfaction and also the conviction that it could meet the needs of large families in Canada looking for space and fuel economy in a distinctively styled package.
However, since most people on this side of the Pacific only care about SUVs and crossovers, it makes total sense for Hyundai to focus on vehicles like the Palisade. While shorter and less roomy than the Staria, the three-row midsize SUV would still crush its spaceship-looking sibling if the latter were to be sold in North America.
We Liked:
- Extremely spacious minivan
- Decent fuel economy
- Comfortable ride
We Disliked:
- Touch controls are hard to see under the sun
- Transmission can be slow to shift at times
- Not as agile as a Kia Carnival
