Rhino charges into New Zealand

Friday, 25 January 2019

SSANGYONG RHINO

Price range: $29,889 to $50,014

Powertrains: 2.0-litre turbo-petrol four, 166kW/350Nm, 10.7L/100km. 2.2-litre turbo-diesel four, 133kW/400Nm (420Nm auto), 7.9L/100km.

The SsangYong Rhino is one of the few utes in New Zealand to have the option of a petrol engine.

Body style: Double cab ute

On sale: Now

SsangYong's ute was the Musso, then it became the Actyon Sport, now it's the Musso again. Except in New Zealand where it is called the Rhino. Which is what 'Musso' means in Korean. Got it? Good, because not only is the name unique to New Zealand (for now, at least), the Rhino itself offers a couple of features that are fairly unique in the local ute segment as well.

Make me an instant expert: what do I need to know?

SsangYong is one of the tiny handful of manufacturers in New Zealand to offer a petrol option in its one-tonner, albeit only in 2WD form, with a choice of manual or automatic transmissions. The petrol engine is a 165kW/350Nm four-cylinder turbo, with the transmissions both being six-speed units.

Off road ability is good, but ground clearance and approach/departure angles are limited. A lift kit will be available though.

* Would you like a Mustang engine in your Ford Ranger?

* Here's a tough squad - the big SUVs that have been built off utes**

The 4WD Rhinos are diesel only - a 133kW/400Nm four-cylinder turbo - and also available with the two transmissions.

The Rhino shares the Rexton SUV's interior, meaning it is comfortable and well appointed.

A double cab is the only body style offered, but there is also a unique twist on that, with a long tray version landing shortly to compliment the existing standard tray.

At 1,275mm, the Actyon Sport had the shortest tray in the ute segment by far (all the others are around 1,500mm) - which was a positive for some and a negative for others - and while the Rhino's standard tray is fractionally longer (1,300mm), it is still the shortest on the market.

The addition of the long tray option, however, takes it to the largest by far at an impressive 1,610mm long. This means that the Rhino will be available in forms both longer and shorter than rivals such as the Mitsubishi Triton, Toyota Hilux, Ford Ranger and Nissan Navara, again giving it a very unique and appealing position in the New Zealand ute segment.

The Rhino has the smallest tray in the segment, but it also has the option of the largest.

The long tray will be an option on all models and GLMD expect it to cost less than $3,000.

Where did you drive it?

The roads and a farm on the outskirts of Taupo made up our test route for the launch of the Rhino, with a bit of light off roading in the morning followed by a comprehensive road route in the afternoon.

A short loop through a paddock made up the off road portion of the day and, while not overly challenging, did nicely show off the Rhino's abilities as either a farm vehicle or a lifestyle choice. While its approach and departure angles aren't exactly class leading (22.8 20.2 and 23.4 23.0 degrees respectively), it is nicely geared, with all of its torque in the right place for off road stuff.

While it has hill descent control, it is perfectly capable of creeping down steep slopes using a low gear, while heading up them in first or second is effortless and surprisingly refined, as the engine is remarkably quiet and the cabin extremely well soundproofed.

The Rhino's 215mm ground clearance is decent, but as with the Actyon Sport, GLMD say they will be offering a lift kit for more serious off roaders.

On the road both the petrol and diesel models proved to be brisk and comfortable, with less of the 'for a ute' caveats than usual.

Being essentially a Rexton with a slightly stretched wheelbase and a tray, the Rhino rides and handles in a pleasingly similar fashion to the big SUV, which is unsurprising given that it also shares a beefed up version of the Rexton's five-link coil sprung rear suspension, as opposed to the more traditional ute leaf spring set up, although the long tray models will come with a leaf sprung rear which will also up the load capacity to just over 1,000kg.

The ride isn't quite as refined as the Rexton's though, with a degree of jiggliness that you always expect from a ute making its way in. Sadly, this is magnified in the top-spec SPR, with its big 20-inch alloy wheels, giving it easily the worst ride of the range.

What's the pick of the range?

While the top-spec SPR is packed with an impressive range of features for the money, the ride on the larger wheels was a mark against it, whereas the exact opposite was true of the entry level petrol manual model that sits on 17-inch steel wheels (the rest of the range is on 17-inch alloys).

The combination of good ride quality, impressive handling and road holding and a good manual transmission made it the keen driver's pick. Again, there's that whole 'for a ute' thing, but the petrol engine is eager and smooth, although it does need to be rowed along a bit in the higher gears, and the interior is still obviously more SUV-like than ute-like in terms of comfort and appearance.

Why would I buy it?

Well, there's the obvious value-for-money thing for a start, but that aside the Rhino's unique offerings of petrol or diesel and two tray lengths give it very broad appeal indeed.

Then there is the fact that it is a good looking thing (depending on where you stand on the now-traditional vertical C-pillar) with a superbly comfortable SUV-like interior, including the very un-ute-like 27 degree rear seat angle (by way of comparison, the VW Amarok is 15.6 degrees) and large rear doors that actually make the back seats of the Rhino usable and comfortable.

Why wouldn't I buy it?

You really can't get past that C-pillar or, more importantly, you are deeply offended by the fact that it only has a lap belt for the centre rear seat, something that really isn't good enough these days. To their credit, however, GLMD are in discussions with the factory about that particular problem.

While the 4WD diesels will all get six airbags as standard, the 2WD petrols only come equipped with two, missing out on the side and curtain airbags of the diesels, which may make you pause if you were hoping for a petrol-powered family ute.