Kia Syros - A Luxury City Car
Indian roads have a vast variety of cars catering to the needs of every buyer, be it SUVs, Sedans, Hatchbacks or the sub 4-meter Compact SUVs which are quite the trend setters these days, they do not put much pressure on the pockets, and bring a certain level of stature in the society. But, there is a big problem with the current fleet of cars, the SUVs offer all the features, and comfort options needed but at a higher price, whereas the compact SUVs do not offer everything. Kia saw an opportunity over here and decided to fill the gap, by introducing a car which would be placed between the existing Sonet and Seltos. In the Bharat Mobility Expo on February 2025 Delhi, Kia launched the Syros. Now, if we look at it from a business point of view, this is a new segment so technically the Syros does not have any competition but still is entering the arena with Maruti Suzuki’s Breeza, Mahindra’s 3XO, and even Hyundai’s Creta. This also means that it might go on a full cannibalism mode and eat away the numbers of both the Sonet and the Seltos, and somehow Kia is okay with that. With 4 trims - HTK, HTK+, HTX & HTX+, combined with petrol and diesel fuel options, and both manual and automatic gearboxes makes a total of 13 variants for the Syros with a price range starting from ₹10 lakhs on-road (Delhi) for the base model and ₹21lakhs on-road (Delhi) for the top variant HTX+. Kia has high hopes from their new baby. Is the Syros worth the hype? Are the things bragged by Kia actually correct? Is the Syros actually that good as the company claims or should the Indian buyers stick to Sonet and Seltos? If these are some of the questions you are having, then lets find out.
Engine & Performance
Kia is offering 2 engine options, a 1L Turbo Petrol engine that produces 120hp and 172nm of torque, and a 1.5L Diesel producing 116hp and 250nm of torque, now these are seriously good numbers especially the 1L Turbo petrol producing 120hp, this should have made the car pumpy but it completely fails to deliver. Another concern is when a smaller engine produces a higher horsepower, invites a lot of engine noise that can find its way inside the cabin if the soundproofing is not upto the mark, and in the case of Syros this is exactly the problem, so if planning to buy the petrol one, I would recommend checking for engine noise before signing the cheque. The 2 engine options are paired with 6-speed manual for both the Petrol and Diesel options along with a 6-speed automatic for Diesel and a 7-speed DCT automatic gearbox for Petrol. One question that every Indian car buyer has is regarding the mileage, what is the mileage for the manual variant and the automatic? Mileage for petrol variant and diesel? Every car in the Indian automobile industry boils down to this particular question no matter what additional perks it offers. Kia has put a lot of effort to pull good mileage numbers for the Syros, atleast on paper. The manual variants for petrol and diesel gives 18.2km/l and 21.2km/l respectively and for the automatic the number comes down to 17.7km/l and 17.6km/l. The Syros has 3 basic driving modes - Eco, Normal and Sport along with 3 traction modes - Snow, Sand & Mud, it is absolutely a brilliant idea to add the driving modes and traction modes on the steering wheel itself, and not to place it somewhere in the center console like the other brands, I seriously hope that other carmakers get some inspiration from this idea, bigger international brands like Porsche already follow this and I think it is high time to make this standard for all Indian cars too.
Design
Coming to the design language of the Syros, this is where the entire car community is divided in 2 ways, one strongly believes that the Syros is one of the worst looking car and if there is any award for the ugliest car then the Syros would win it for the year 2025, the other part of the community simply do not care about the way a car looks and they are focused more on the practicality. Keeping the length under 4 meters, that is 3995mm to be precise, with a width of 1805mm, a tall boy height of 1680mm, and a long wheelbase of 2550mm, all complementing a boxy design of the Syros. I am not a big fan of the boxy design, but when it comes to proper SUVs like the Fortuner or the Endeavour, or the very epitome of SUVs with a boxy design, the Cadillac Escalade, these cars give justice to the design by showing their brute presence but, the Syros is just pure ugly. Kia says that the design is inspired by its own EV9 SUV, not exactly sure from which angle, but if the company itself says so, then there is no option but to accept it. The Syros has ground clearance of 190mm which is good enough for the Indian roads, because a higher ground clearance than this would invite a lot of body roll for the car. Now lets talk about the front profile, the tall boy compact SUV has a very sleek hard plastic nose grille separating the bonnet from the front bumper and that is the only highlight of the front profile. The side profile has people talking too, ice cube like windows which some feel is inspired from the Land Rover Defender, some say it reminds a lot of the Wagon R but if you ask me, it is a cheap rip off of the Skoda Yeti at best. Streamlined door handles instead of normal ones like all the other cars that are following this trend. The rear design seems like a 5 year old tried to draw a car for his summer homework. “L” shaped LED DRLs at the rear windscreen for some reason. The Syros has 8 color options - Frost Blue, Glacier White Pearl, Sparkling Silver, Intense Red, Imperial Blue, Pewter Olive, Gravity Grey and Aurora Black Pearl. Only Frost blue is unique to the Syros as other colors are already available in the Sonet and the Seltos, and hence Kia is advertising the Syros in only the Frost Blue color to highlight the uniqueness. Black cladding over front & rear wheel arches covering the entire fenders, the cladding is sort of connected by a continuous line on the bottom of the doors. Headlights and Tail Lights merge beautifully into the cladding but I am not sure putting the lights below near cladding is a good idea. The black cladding is there for a purpose which is to protect the main steel body and paint from any scratches and dents as that area is prone to inviting problems, putting glass near the cladding would mean a higher chance of damages. Speaking more about the headlights, Kia gave the Syros ice cube shaped headlights stacked vertically which is good to look at. The roof has shark fin antenna, integrated spoiler and roof rails to carry luggage but I would not recommend putting heavy luggage on the top as it may damage the sunroof. The top variant of the Syros offers 17-inch allow wheels but the other variants get only 16-inch tyres. The size of tyres, along with the Syros’s dimensions results in a low turning radius so its easy to manuver the car in city roads. The whole idea behind Syros was to give it a unique design, something eye catchy and trend setter. I would say Kia managed to give the Syros a unique design but not in good taste, nothing about the Syros’s exterior design is appealing in any way.
The Syros’s interior is what’s making noise. Designers at Kia have done one amazing job which is, to keep ample cabin space for a sub 4-meter car, they have reduced the length at front from the bonnet and at the rear to provide a spacious cabin space. Yes, increasing the cabin space has affected the boot space for the Syros, but Kia already thought about this and came up with a brilliant solution, like the front seats, the rear seats can be moved back and forth as well making it 390L when moved back and 465L when the seats are moved forward. This would make the city drive great but can be a problem on a road trip for a family of 4 or 5 when they have to store the luggage, yes there are roof rails for that but keeping heavy luggage on the Panoramic Sunroof is not advisable. Magic of the rear seats doesn’t just stop here, with a good amount of thigh support and ample legroom, the seats can be reclined as well for more comfort, but be aware, the reclining seats are offered from HTK + variant and above and not the base variant. The tallboy design of the Syros gives good headroom for the passengers. 3 people can fit on the rear seat but, the middle passenger would not get a headrest and is affected by an elongated floor in the middle, my suggestion - do rock/paper/scissor before deciding who sits where. Lots of storage space in the Syros to increase the practicality, designated phone holders for the rear passengers which is a good touch. Dual Tone color scheme using subtle colors, even the gear knob has dual color treatment. The dashboard is made smaller compared to other cars in order to increase space in the cabin to some level. Everything is simple and not very over the top, and not too minimalist as well like what we see in the EVs coming in the market, everything is clear and clean. Use of both soft touch materials and hard plastic for the dashboard with a good mix of texture and glossy parts. AC vents are conventional and there are physical buttons below the infotainment screen. The steering wheel is flat from the bottom and from the top, I am not exactly sure as to what is the purpose of flatting the steering wheel from both sides but this is what we get. Logo on the steering wheel is not at the center but towards the right side. The customers have complained about the outside noise coming inside the cabin which means that the sound proofing in the Syros is not upto the mark, hopefully Kia will take this point and make improvements in the upgraded version or the EV version coming in the future.
Features
Now lets talk about the list of features offered in the Syros. Kia is known to attract its customers by offering a wide variety of features, in its newest project the Syros, Kia does not fall back. Some of the premium features include a dual pane Panoramic Sunroof which is demanded by all customers, 4-way power adjusted front seats, 64-color ambient mood lights and a 8 speaker Harman Kardon sound system. Ventilation for both the front and the new reclining rear seats but there is a catch, the front seats have ventilation on both the backrest and the base but the rear seats have ventilation in only the backrest of the seat. 30-inch Trinity Panoramic Display which basically means a single glass screen setup which has 3 screens inbuilt like what was introduced by Mercedes 5 or 6 years back. These 3 screens include two 12.3-inch screens for driver instrument cluster and infotainment system and a 5-inch HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) screen. This 5-inch screen serves no utility purpose whatsoever, its blocked by the steering wheel, so have to sort of go around the steering wheel and change controls, this is going to be difficult when driving and the Syros already have physical buttons for the air conditioner below the infotainment system. My point is, if there are physical buttons already, there was no use of adding the 5-inch screen, it is easy to use the buttons while driving instead to trying to access the touch screen and accidentally giving the wrong command. The front and rear defogger buttons are available in the touch screen and it would have been better if there were physical buttons for those too. If the car depends too much on screen displays for infotainment and driver display, then there is a need for a Blue Light filter as well and yes the Syros has taken care of that. Wireless Android Auto and Apple Carplay comes standard in all variants including the base variant HTK which is good, Sun Blinds for all door windows are standard too. Voice Assistant that activates by saying “Hey Kia”. Kia Connect 2.0 smart features that include - Voice Controlled window functions, Find My Car alarm system, Surround View monitor and OTA Software updates which is segment first allowing automatic updates of 16 controllers without requiring dealership visit. Wireless Phone Charger at the front with 2 type-C ports at the back and a Smart Air Purifier with AQI display. Few things which are absolutely necessary but only the premium brands offer, atleast in India - One touch up/down for not just the driver window but all the 4 windows, and Sun Wisers that can be extended as well for the comfort of tall passengers. Customers today want good features in their cars, its importance is unfortunately more than the engine and performance but, having a feature rich car gives a sense of luxury and pride, its a status symbol strong enough to stand against the more premium car brands. Kia very well acknowledges this fact and so since day 1 it has ensured to provide a car loaded with technology. The Syros is carefully placed between the Sonet and the Seltos, so Kia has made sure to offer more than the Sonet for sure but a little less than the Seltos, this was a brilliant move by the Korean brand to dig deep in the industry and reap the profits.
Safety
One of the most important point aspect in a car is its safety, safer the car better it is for the passengers in case of any accident or any dangerous road. Better late than never the Indian customers are acknowledging the fact and demanding more sturdy and heavy cars with lots of tech for safety to ensure their protection. This is where Kia was lagging behind with its Seltos and Sonet which received frequent complaints from buyers. Competitors like Mahindra, Tata, and even some of the western brands like Skoda and Volkswagen are already leaps and bounds ahead and now even Maruti Suzuki is working on improving the safety after getting much criticism. It is high time that Kia should focus on safety with the Syros, and with more upcoming projects in the future. Level 2 ADAS is available in the Syros but unfortunately its only in the top variant, 6 airbags are standard though but its not specific to just the Syros, all the cars in India now must have 6 airbags as its made mandatory by the government. Rear camera and a total of 12 parking sensors, 6 at the front and 6 at the back, coupled with a 360 degree camera so its easy to park the Syros in tight spots. Rear camera and parking sensors are standard for all variants its just only the top variant get 6 sensors in the front but other variants only get 4. Hill Start Assist Control, Electronic Stability Control and an Electric Parking Brake with auto-hold for added safety. The Syros does score 5-star in the Bharat NCAP rating for both the adult and the child safety but we can discuss the point system difference of the Bharat NCAP from Latin NCAP or the Global NCAP and how easy it is to get 5-star in Bharat NCAP some other time.
Conclusion
The Syros has been available in the market for the past few months now, some buyers are appreciating the comfort the car offers and the others like the tech and features. Through the Syros, Kia wants to capture the urban rich audience who don’t have much parking space in the city areas and care more about if the touch screen is high definition rather than caring for what is inside the bonnet. Even with a peppy engine, the Syros fails to deliver in terms of performance. With a price tag of ₹17 lakhs for petrol and ₹18 lakhs for diesel ex-showroom Delhi, the Syros is a feature rich car but, it's not really sporty, not really a family getaway car and definitely not an off-roader, this is at best a comfortable yet luxurious car to take you from home to office and back. A city car which follows the ideology of compact from the outside but spacious from the inside, easy to park and easy to sail on a typical Indian road. This blue asian marshmallow is a cheaper version of an airplane’s business class at best, if you want to be chauffeured around town, sit and relax while listening to music and don’t mind the price to performance ratio then this is your car. But, if you want good performance numbers and capabilities for a road trip along with features already offered by Kia then I would recommend sticking with the Seltos.