Ssangyong Musso XLV vs Zeekr X (awd)

What's the difference?

The SsangYong Musso XLV Ultimate is an affordable workhorse that has good comfort, features and drives well. It suited my little family and our gear just fine this week with its space. If you need the practicality of a ute and are on a budget, you get a lot for your money here.

The Zeekr X all-wheel drive surprised me in a great way. Not only is this the first Zeekr I've driven, it's also one of the best small electric SUVs I've ever driven. There's so much to like - from the good price and quality design to the high level of safety and how easy it is to drive.

The Musso looks the part of a 4x4 dual cab ute. It’s big even without the XLV pack at 5095mm in length. And with it, that jumps up to 5395mm. Enough to well and truly fill out a car space.

To put it in perspective, it's longer than the Kia Carnival, so I'd check to see if it will fit in your garage!

The finish isn’t the best, with wide spaces between door jams and the tray (I can fit my hand in that one) and a painted foam-like joinery in the tailgate which is already showing a lot of wear and tear for a brand-new workhorse. Stuff like this could make it look worn quickly.

Once you move into the cabin, it becomes obvious where a lot of the facelift has been focused.

The black leather upholstery, headliner and accents all make it feel premium in the cabin.

The dashboard has been redesigned to be more horizontally-themed and to sit lower than the previous dash. It showcases the new upgraded tech screens, large integrated air vents and digital climate control panel.

The cabin looks way more expensive than the price tag might suggest and it's most welcome.

More than interesting, the design of the Zeekr X is intriguing with styling that ranges from 'ooohhhh' when you see it from the front to 'huh?' when you catch it in side profile. 

The nose design, to me anyway, looks exquisite - Porsche-SUV-like in its sporty and luxurious shape and the way the LED running lights are embedded into the bonnet is different and so special it probably makes some prestige brands a bit envious.

That side profile also looks pretty pleasing to me, until I reach that rear quarter where suddenly I feel I’m looking at panel shapes so oddly combined it’s like a puzzle with just five pieces and all of them in the wrong place.

The rear of the X looks good, but more importantly unique compared to the same templated styling many SUVs tend to safely stick to.

Zeekr and Volvo are owned by the massive Chinese car manufacturer Geely and the X is closely related to Volvo’s EX30. Once you know this you’ll see the similarities in the looks, although the less conservatively styled X is more appealing to me.

The X is also 100mm longer and all of that extra length is in the wheelbase which is 2750mm. As for the rest of the key dimensions, the overall length is 4432mm, the height is 1572mm and the width is 1836mm. So, a fairly small car.

The X’s interior is as intriguing as its exterior with the AWD version on test fitted with the no-cost option 'Mulberry & Rose' two-tone upholstery - a colour combination of maroon and off-white which you don’t see often unless it's a bespoke choice in a high-end car.

No, it’s not leather, but I don’t think this upholstery doesn't feel cheap or ‘plasticky’ as some synthetic leather interiors do.   

There are high quality touches throughout, from the dotted city scape of Hangzhou where Zeekr is headquartered that glows through the door trim fabric at night to the embossed Zeekr pull tabs on the seats.

The X’s interior feels luxurious and the styling is outstanding.

The cabin of the XLV Ultimate is big on space and all occupants enjoy fantastic head- and legroom.

Individual storage is good for a ute with the front enjoying two cupholders, a good-sized middle console and glove box plus a drink bottle holder in each door.

Rear occupants get map pockets, a fold-down armrest with two cupholders and storage bins in each door.

Amenities on the whole are good with the heated and ventilated front seats that feature lumbar support. But the upgrade to electric control for the fronts and heat function for the rear outboard positions clinch the luxury factor Both rows are well-cushioned and comfortable for long journeys.

Charging options are limited to the front with two USB-C ports, which is an upgrade from the old USB-A ports, and two 12-volt sockets.

But one of them is an old-school cigarette lighter which I haven’t seen in years! Now that was a teachable moment when I was a kid.

It's a shame there are no charging options in the rear as it could be inconvenient if you travel a lot and your kidlets have devices.

Fitting a child seat in the rear row is a little awkward due to the backrest folding down in one piece and it misses out on any clever hacks like some other utes have, like the zippered accessed points to the top-tether anchor points found on the HiLux and D-Max or the 60/40 split-fold on the Cannon.

Because of this, you'll want to fit your child seats at the same time and probably want it to be a 'set and forget' scenario.

On to the upgraded technology – the touchscreen of the multimedia system is responsive but the info is limited to the radio and a small settings menu.

Think of it as more of a mirror-screening device for the wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. It’s easy to connect to the CarPlay and the graphics are nice and bright. 

The instrument cluster is semi-customisable but it’s here you can access/customise more information like the safety features, which I appreciate.

Our test vehicle has that XLV Pack fitted which adds 300mm to the tray length and boosts the overall capacity by 251L.

The max payload is 880kg, which should be sufficient for a lot of weekend pursuits.

You get a full-sized spare wheel and with our optioned tonneau accessory, you don’t have to worry about your gear getting wet, either. 

The tailgate is large and feels very light to operate, thanks to the assist function but this ute lacks any sort of step to access the tray, which won’t be an issue for you giants out there but for me it was a bit of comedy to climb in to the back to retrieve stuff.

Small cars don’t generally have the practicality of larger ones because of the obvious space limitations but the Zeekr X has a long wheelbase for the class (longer than the Mitsubishi Outlander’s) making it roomy compared to rivals.

Second row head- and legroom is good and even at 189cm tall I can sit behind my driving position. Back there are two cupholders in the fold down centre armrest, directional air vents in the pillars and bottle holders in the doors. 

Back seat downsides? No USB ports and the way the rear door sill kicks up means my two children (both under 10 years old) can’t see out of their windows well.

Up front space is good with plenty of elbow and foot room. Storage is good, too, with big door pockets, a couple of cupholders, a deep centre console bin and even a hook for a handbag or to hang a takeaway bag. There are USB ports up front and a wireless phone charger, too.

Front seat downsides? No glove box, and while we're at it the panoramic glass roof doesn’t have a sun shade and even though it is tinted I found that over summer in Australia the car heated up quickly and I’ve even had to wear a hat while driving to keep the sun off my head and face. 

The Zeekr X has a decent-for-the-class 362L rear boot capacity and a tiny 21L front boot which is where the charging cable lives.

The Zeekr X tested is the top-of-the-range all-wheel drive which lists for $64,900. The only other variant in the X model line-up is the rear-wheel drive which lists for $56,900.

Sure, $65K might seem a lot for what is a small SUV, but the X AWD is reasonably priced compared to rivals like the tinier Smart #1 for $58,900, its Volvo EX30 Performance Ultra twin for $69,990 and the Xpeng Long Range for $59,800.

We’ll get to the technical specs soon, but the all-wheel drive variant offers more than just AWD, there’s also more standard features than the RWD.

The RWD X comes with two-tone body colour with a black roof, a panoramic glass roof, a six-way power driver’s seat, an 8.8-inch digital instrument cluster and a 14.6-inch media screen.

There’s also Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a seven-speaker audio system, dual-zone climate control and wireless phone charging.

The AWD has all of the RWD’s features and adds 20-inch alloy wheels, a 24.3-inch head-up display, an intelligent B-pillar which provides information on charging, a power adjustable front passenger seat, heated and ventilated front seats, a heated steering wheel, a 13-speaker Yamaha stereo and LED ambient lighting.   

The RWD has just one motor while the AWD has two and more power, which we’ll cover soon.

The upgrade hasn’t seen any changes to the Musso's powertrain and it is still powered by a 2.2-litre, four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine with a maximum power output of 133kW and 420Nm of torque (400Nm without the XLV Pack).

It’s got plenty of grunt and despite having only a six-speed auto transmission, the gear changes are mostly smooth.

Adventure enthusiasts should be happy because the Musso is a proper part-time 4x4 with low- and high-range, which is easy as pie to change over to when the need arises.

On test is the all-wheel drive version of the Zeekr X which has two motors while the rear-wheel drive has just one.

Two motors brings the AWD variant more power and torque than the RWD. A lot more. Zeekr’s specs state the combined output for the AWD is 315kW and 543Nm, while the RWD has 200kW and 343Nm.

Good traction and plenty of grunt means the AWD can accelerate from 0-100km/h in 3.8 seconds, while the RWD gets there in a respectable time of 5.6 seconds.

Electric cars are known for their rapid acceleration but just to put those numbers in context, a new base model Porsche 911 ($280K) has 290kW and 450Nm and does 0-100km/h in 4.1 seconds.

Despite its size, the Musso's official combined cycle fuel economy figure is only 9.0L/100km.

My real-world average came in at 10.2L/100km after a good mix of open-road and urban driving. Not too surprising, but that's without any loads. Expect it to be thirstier if you plan on towing.

Based on the combined fuel figure and 75L fuel tank, you should be able to get a driving range in excess of 800km.

The Zeekr X all-wheel drive has a range of up to 470km (WLTP), but if anything under 500km already has you twitching with anxiety, the rear-wheel drive's 540km range might alleviate some of that.

We found the range of the AWD to be fine for the city, but also learnt that we chewed through a lot of energy at an average of 18.4kWh/100km according to the trip computer.

Zeekr says after a combination of open and urban roads you’ll likely use 15.5kWh/100km, but you’d need to be a smooth driver that’s not tempted to test the acceleration at every traffic light and drain the battery.

Speaking of which, the Zeekr X has a 66kWh battery with a DC charging capacity of 150kW and at that rate can be charged from 10-80 percent in about 30 minutes. 

The Musso has won me over with how it drives. The update has seen the suspension retuned and it’s well-cushioned without feeling spongy.

The ride comfort is very good but you occasionally get some shudders through the frame when gear changes happen on a steep hill. The cabin sounds refined with how quiet it is, even at higher speeds and you’ll enjoy that on longer trips. 

Hitting the open-road isn’t an issue with power being delivered smoothly when you accelerate. Despite being a tall car, the Musso handles cornering much better than I thought it would without heaps of roll. 

You don’t feel any of the weight of the car when you steer, though, and that’s a bit too light for my liking. But it gives the Musso more of a car-like feel rather than a ute/truck feel which some people might enjoy.

Massive windows mean the Musso has crazy-good visibility for a ute and I feel confident about checking the blind-spot because of it. That's great for such a big vehicle.

Despite being almost 5.5m long, the Musso isn't too difficult to park because of the 360-degree view camera system, and front and rear parking sensors, a must have on large cars like this. The camera system is a smidge low quality for the image, though.

In short, the Zeekr X is outstanding to drive for the class - it’s composed, comfortable as well as easy and fun to pilot. 

Everything feels good - from the steering and the pedals to the seats and visibility.

The tech works well - the head-up display is large and shows directions and speed clearly, and the shifter being on the steering column makes three-point turns and just getting out of car parking spaces easy.

The acceleration is ridiculously good, but that novelty wears off after you’ve shown everybody in your family, which is why it’s lucky it's not the only thing this small SUV does really well.

While it’s not as spacious as the other large SUV I was testing at the time - the Zeekr X’s short length means it was the car I picked if I needed to go somewhere close where I knew parking spaces would be a bit squeezy.

The Zeekr X scored the maximum five-star ANCAP rating under the stringent 2024 criteria with a high 91 per cent for adult occupant protection and an impressive 87 per cent for child occupant protection.

The advanced safety tech is also impressive with AEB that not only detect pedestrians, cyclists and other cars on a straight road but also while turning at junctions and T intersections.

There’s lane keeping assistance, blind-spot warning, front and rear cross-traffic alert and airbags covering the front and rear occupants including a front centre airbag.

I used the Zeekr X to drive my own kids around and for child seats there are three top tether anchor points and two ISOFIX mounts in the second row. 

The on-going costs are great on the Musso, with it coming with a seven-year/unlimited km warranty, which is above average for this class. 

It also comes with a seven year/105,000km servicing program where services average $375, which is competitive for the class. 

Servicing intervals are average at every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever occurs first.

The X is covered by Zeekr’s five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty while the drive battery has an eight-year, 160,000km warranty. Roadside assistance and connected services are also offered for five years.

Servicing is recommended every two years or 40,000km. 

Service pricing is $690 at two years/40,000km and $1420 at the four-year/80,000km mark, which covers the warranty period. For reference, the same $690/$1420 sequence is repeated at the six-year/120,000km and eight-year 160,000km intervals.