KGM Torres K40, it’s not just the looks

I was pretty excited after hearing that a KGM Torres press car was on its way to Scotland

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Car Reviewed: KGM Torres K40 SUV

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SsangYong Motor UK rebrands to KGM Motors UK

SsangYong Motor UK rebranded to KGM Motors in the UK after the KG Group acquired SsangYong Motor Company in Korea in November 2022.

Inside, it looks minimalistic, almost like you’d find in a modern Kia, but there are lots of scratchy plastics, and by opting for the K40 guise like I had, you get electric seats and 20” alloys. Naturally, it has a commanding road view and lots of visibility.

The touchscreen is laggy. I hopped to the shops, which are roughly a 5-minute drive away from my home, and it remained unresponsive until I arrived—simply because it was still waking up. KGM has tried to put all the settings you would typically find on a button cluster into a ‘vehicle’ screen, but when accessing this screen, the internal digital clock display in the top right corner disappears. Who needs to check the time anyway, right?

Its safety tech can be intrusive. Using the accelerator pedal when intelligent cruise control is active is a no-no — it repeatedly flashes a large irritating warning square on the instrument cluster until you let off.

The turbocharged 161bhp 1.5-litre powerplant is enough for everyday use. KGM claims that this, combined with the six-speed auto, will get the car to 62mph from rest in 10.8 seconds. Our testing showed it being 0.8 quicker to 62mph, while 60mph arrived in 9.5 seconds. The 30-70mph dash was brisk at 9.0 seconds.

The gearbox often struggled to decide what gear it should be in at lower speeds, which meant either tons of lag or too much acceleration. When trying to achieve 0-62mph times, the car wouldn’t break traction, but when pulling out of a junction, the front wheels would screech, which left me feeling like a bit of a yobbo.

On longer journeys, the Torres managed 32mpg, which isn’t far off the manufacturer’s claim. Hustling it brought that figure down to a gutsy 16.7mpg.

The positioning of the rear door handle gives the impression that the boot lid opens outwards, but it opens upwards like a conventional car, making it easier to access in tighter parking spaces. It also looks like KGM weren’t too sure what to do with the rear styling, as the hump on the boot lid indicates there could be a spare wheel. Unfortunately, there isn’t. Instead, like most cars nowadays, you get an empty spare wheel well under the boot carpet.

This is a good-looking car with lots of standard tech, but it struggles against popular rivals such as the Kia Sportage, Ford Kuga, Mazda CX-5, and Nissan X-Trail, all of which should depreciate slower.