irishcar.com - Daewoo Rexton first view

Anybody watching the designs of Korean cars in the last couple of years can’t fail to note that they’ve been making tremendous strides. Vehicles like Hyundai’s Santa Fe are not just practical, but stylistically desirable. And that longtime struggler, now facing life with renewed confidence after marrying into the GM family, Daewoo, is not lagging behind either.

Take Rexton. It is set to leapfrog the Daewoo brand right into the luxury SUV market with both ability and a strong sense of style. And that’s not just the marketing hype - at the European launch event in Scotland, the Rexton provided a preview of something which might well surprise that particular segment of the SUV market here.

The basic styling concept came from the drawing pens of Giorgio Giugiaro’s Italdesign in Turin, which accounts for a distinctly European flavour to the whole bodywork. And though it has been a long time in development since then (the design was frozen in 1998), the final version has a very much 21st century look. The front particularly works well, with smooth curves turned quite macho between the large glass lightcovers by a strong metallised grille surround and transverse sections seeming to ‘float’ in the middle.

The muscular aspect is heightened by chunky arch trims connecting with the bumpers at both ends and side-slabs of protective material on each door. The rough-riding capability is visually indicated by a high wheel travel space in each arch. From the back there’s a clean look to the tailgate, with a strong nameplate identity in a pleasing modern font style.

Personally, I’d prefer if the flying wing spoiler at the rear rooftop level wasn’t there, but I guess there has to be some tilt at the rather more flamboyant styles which the Korean Peninsula peoples seem to like. The roof rails are rather oddly described as ‘fashion’, but presumably can perform an important function as supports for specialised transport needs such as windsurf boards.

Along with the leather luxury, the interior is also flamboyant, and there’s a strong look of Lexus in the woodstyle-trimmed wheel and more woodstyle on the central stack in in the door trims. Daewoo are straight up about it, by the way, and make it clear that it is NOT real wood.

The car I drove in Scotland also had a duo-colour inside in terms of trim, with a solid black top to the dashboard and light colours matching the leather on the lower level. The effect reduced any tendency to overpowering gloom which can afflict some interiors. The instruments in front of the driver are well cowled and pleasingly large. The steering wheel incorporates remote radio controls.

The vehicle as sold in Ireland is a 7-seater with full leather, and most sales are expected to be of the one powered by a somewhat-tweaked version of the 2.9-litre Mercedes-Benz M290 turbodiesel which outputs 120PS (a 3.2-litre autoboxed petrol inline-6 engine will be available later, and was the one we actually drove at the launch).

The gearbox with the diesel vehicle is a 5-speed unit and the transfer case which allows ‘shift on the fly’ changing from 2WD to 4WD is a well-proven Borg Warner system, operated by push-buttons on the dashboard. The wheel hubs lock and unlock automatically as required. A Bosch 4-channel ABS system is a key component in active safety.

The underpinnings are SUV traditional in terms of the Rexton being built on a ladder-type platform designed to handle the toughest off-road conditions. But fairly serious attention has been paid to providing a ride on the tarmac that is up to luxury saloon level, using coils all round, a fully-independent double-wishbone suspension system up front and a rigid rear axle with five links at the rear. And while we haven’t really had the chance to see how that measures up in everyday driving, initial feelings are good. The seats both front and rear felt very comfortable during the Scotland trip.

It also travelled very quietly. There’s been very detailed attention to soundproofing using the latest lightweight foam technologies, and items like the enlarged air-intake cleaner and the use of hydraulic mounts for the engine also help.

Other comfort features include full air-conditioning, and there’s also an optional sunroof for those who like the rustle of real air in their hair. The sound system includes a CD stack player, and the tailgate has a flip-up window for easy loading of small shopping.

Very practical rain-sensing wipers and automatic headlight systems are available in the overall Rexton package, as are rear parking sensors.

Daewoo claims that the initial testing of the Rexton for the Euro NCAP crash tests already indicates that at least in some areas it will achieve the coveted five stars.

As I said, we didn’t actually get a chance yet to drive the diesel machine, but we did take the automatic petrol across a purpose-built offroad course which included forest, a deep-water trough, and some sideways tilt test gradients. It didn’t falter in any of the situations, and with a full set of low and high ratios, it seems to have been aimed at some of the existing toughies in the SUV area. Landcruiser and Trooper will be looking to their laurels, and perhaps thinking that a styling makeover at least is in order.

The specifications report that the Rexton has a longer wheelbase than the Land Rover Discovery, at 2820mm. Minimal ground clearance is 200mm and the vehicle can tackle a maximum grade of 48deg. Its approach and departure maximums are 29deg and 25deg. The claimed combined fuel consumption for the diesel model is better than 30mpg, not at all bad for a big luxury cruiser.

With the third row of seats folded there is 967mm of length to store baggage, while the second row of seats can also be folded flat to allow a 1.7-metre length. The rear rows of seats can fold separately, and the centre seatback of the middle row can be folded forward to provide a between-seats table.

Prices weren’t available as we went to press. The Rexton is built by SsangYong Motors, whose Korando and Musso have already established their reputations as extremely capable offroaders. The vehicle will be marketed under the SsangYong brand in some markets, but in Ireland will remain a Daewoo.