KGM SsangYong Torres 2025 review: Ultimate long-term | Part 1

I'm just going to come right out and say this – the KGM SsangYong Torres is among the stranger vehicles I've reviewed recently.

I don't mean that in a bad way, necessarily. It's more that it took me a while to figure out what it is, or what it's trying to be.

Read More About KGM Ssangyong Torres

• Is this ute a darkhorse to upset big name rivals such as the Ford Ranger, Toyota HiLux, BYD Shark 6 and Kia Tasman? KGM Ssangyong could bring new O100 derived electric ute to Australia
• Familiar value-focused brand returns to battle Toyota RAV4 and Haval H6: 2025 KGM SsangYong Torres gets sharp drive-away pricing ahead of October launch
• SsangYong Torres 2025 review: Adventure

But look closer and there are some oddities. That might look like a spare wheel on the boot, but it's merely a design flourish. And the grab handle to the right of it might look like it opens a left-hinged boot, but again it's just a quirk – the boot opens from the top as normal.

And up front, the Torres appears to be doing its best Jeep impression, with a six-slot (rather than the American brand's seven) grille, and a bright red recovery point.

So, is this a rough-and-tumble 4WD ready to get amongst the tough stuff? Or is a city SUV playing dress-ups?

The latter, it would appear. My Torres Ultimate might look like the love child of an older Toyota Prado and a Jeep Cherokee, but there's no mistaking it's an urban-focused SUV, with all-wheel drive really the only nod to off-road adventure that I could find.

Ok, so now we know what it is, and what it isn't, what's the deal? The Torres is the torchbearer for a new generation of KGM-branded models that will soon begin to arrive in Australia. The Korean brand has been here for a while under the SsangYong name, but never achieved anything like the kind of cut-through as Hyundai and Kia.

Its new KGM overlords will be hoping to change that, though, and the Torres is the canary down that coal mine.

Mine is the Ultimate, the most expensive option, currently priced at $47,000 drive-away. There's also the Adventure ($43,000 DA) and the ELX ($38,000 DA) in the family.

Under the bonnet there lurks a 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine producing 120kW and 280Nm, which is fed through a six-speed automatic and sent to all four wheels.

Predictably, it gets the best equipment, too, with the Ultimate offering a want-for-nothing feature list which is genuinely impressive.

That includes LED lighting, including fog lights and daytime running lights, 20-inch alloys, a powered boot and a sunroof.

Inside, there's dual-zone climate, push-button start, leather seats that are heated and ventilated in the front and heated in the window seats in the back and a heated steering wheel.

Tech is handled by twin 12.3-inch screens – one for the driver, and the other handling infotainment duties – and there's Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, too.

The big selling point, at least according to the brand, is the Torres' boot space - a big 703 litres with the rear seats in place, or a bigger 1526 litres with them folded flat.

All of which is good, as is the Kia-matching seven-year, unlimited kilometre warranty, which in this case includes your first three services for free.

But good doesn't quite cut it in the Australian new-car market, you need to be better than that. And while in some areas the Torres definitely is, there are some weak points that have grated on me over my first four weeks with the car.

For one, there are some definite tech gremlins on board. On a couple of occasions, the screens stayed blacked-out once I started driving, suddenly turning on after a minute or two. On one occasion I had to turn the car off and back on again to jump start the screen.

I also don't love the gear-selector toggle, which looks fancy, but because you can't leap over neutral, you find yourself having to pull it several times to get from park to drive, and twice to get back to reverse, and so on.

Finally, I'm not entirely sold on its driving dynamics, at least not yet. Despite its tough-guy appearance, the Torres sports a relatively small petrol engine, and it feels like a lot of heavy lifting is being done by the turbocharger, so there's no shortage of lag and then a jerky take-off when you really put your foot down.

But if that's the not-so-great, there are real winning features, too. I know the design feels a bit like a city SUV in fancy dress, but I quite like it. It looks sharp and different, and it stands out on the road.

And it really is practical. The backseat is a little tighter than we'd like, but we have had the boot stacked to the roof and it really does swallow a lot of stuff. We're talking a pram, bouncy chair, a couple of bags and more, without too much stress or Tetris-style arranging.

I also like that its 50-litre fuel tank accepts E10 for cheaper top-ups, and its claimed 7.9 litres per hundred kilometres isn't too far off the mark, given how much of my driving has been in the city.

Still, whether I'd have the Torres over a cheaper – but still ferociously well-equipped – Chinese rival remains to be seen. But I have some longer adventures planned this month to help me figure that out...

UPDATE: Ok, that was meant to be the end of this month's dispatch, but today my screen problems worsened. Now when they black out they don't always turn back on, even when the car is turned off and back on again. And then on some trips they'll work perfectly.

But when they're out, it mans no speedo or any other important driving data, which in turn means a trip to the SsangYong Service Centre.

Watch this space.

Acquired: January 2055

Distance travelled this month: 891km

Odometer: 3666km

Average fuel consumption this month: 9.6L/100km