Our Kia Stonic proves its worth as a do-anything all-rounder

When I get into a car knowing that I’m going to be spending a great deal of time on the pathetic excuse for a road known as the M25, I’m often filled with a feeling of dread at what traffic-related horrors await me.

However, that wasn’t the case on this sunny Tuesday morning, as I was looking forward to having my first go in our new Kia Stonic long termer.

That said, when I turned the ignition on and went to programme the satellite navigation with my destination, I was surprised to find there actually wasn’t one — forcing me to grab my portable Garmin device out of my own car and stick it on the Stonic’s windscreen.

The 110-mile journey was made up almost entirely of motorways and dual carriageways, but I was rather impressed with how efficiently our Stonic ate up the miles. Although it’s not a top-spec example, the combination of cruise control, air conditioning and a driving position comfortable even for my slightly lanky frame made the jaunt an absolute doddle.

— Tristan Shale-Hester (@tristan_shale) May 14, 2018

The 80-mile return trip to my home near Arundel, West Sussex was more of a pain, as it involved navigating a plethora of small country roads that were badly bunged up with rush hour traffic, but again the Stonic held up well, its light steering making tight turns around busy mini roundabouts easy.

Since my 190-mile trek around the south-east of England, I’ve taken the Stonic for several weeknights and weekends, and I must admit that I can’t really find much fault with it. It has all the bells, whistles and creature comforts you really need in a car – with the possible exception of sat-nav – and although I prefer a weightier steering set-up that offers more feel in the corners, I realise this is just a personal preference and that there are advantages to the lightness that Kia favours.

I also took the opportunity to poll various people I know on their opinions of the Stonic when they encountered it, hoping to gain a new perspective on some of its features, but alas, there weren’t exactly helpful.

— Tristan Shale-Hester (@tristan_shale) May 5, 2018

When meeting a couple of friends for coffee, one of them responded to the question of what they thought of the Kia with “it’s very big and very red”.

Then, when giving my father a lift to the supermarket, he muttered something about the seats being comfortable but the suspension being unnecessarily firm, which in fairness I agree with.

All in all, I’ve learned two things from my time with LF18 NKM – the Kia Stonic is a solid, go-anywhere, do-anything vehicle, and don’t ask friends or family for their opinions of press cars…

Highlight of the month: Taking LF18 NKM on a 190-mile mission to Essex and back.