Two significantly similar cars, no doubt about that. Still, each one has something different to offer. Having both cars powered by petrol engines and utilizing the 5-door suv body style within the same 'SUV' segment, the only major difference here really is their wheel drive configuration (4 x 4 for the SSangYong and front in the case of the KIA). The first one has a SSangYong-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 128hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 100hp engine designed by Hyundai.

Both vehicles got tested by European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), with the SSangYong being a slightly better choice apparently. Moving further on, let's take a closer look at some additional safety-related facts. Both vehicles belong to the suv segment, which is generally a very good thing safety-wise, but that fact doesn't break the tie between the two cars. Furthermore, if we'd like to consider vehicle mass in this context too, which we definitely should, Tivoli offers a considerable difference of 21% more metal.

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that KIA does have a slight advantage, all the models observed together. That's the official data, while our visitors describe reliability of SSangYong with an average rating of 4.4, and models under the KIA badge with 4.6 out of 5. Unfortunatelly, I don't have enough insight that would allow me to comment in more details on the specific models level. That apart, owners of different cars powered by the same engine as Tivoli rank it on average as 3.0, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.1 out of 5.

SSangYong is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 1.6 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 175 kilometers per hour, 3km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy an obvious choice would be Stonic, averaging around 5.5 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (51 mpg), in combined cycle. That's 38% difference compared to Tivoli!

KIA appears just a bit more reliable, although the difference is truly marginal. The most important thing when deciding between any two vehicles should always be safety, both passive and active. In my opinion, everything taken into account, Tivoli beats the other contender by far, making it the best choice without even considering other things. It all continues in the same direction, with SSangYong being considerably quicker, thus putting more smile on driver's face. It does come at a cost though, and that's the fuel consumption... It's really tough to make a final decision here, but if I'd need to, I'd say KIA. Anyway, that's the most objective conclusion I could've came up with and it's based solely on the information found on this website. Aspects such as design, practicality, brand value and driving experience are there for you to measure them out. Also, you could use the oportunity to find out which car, everything taken into account, would be the perfect choice for you in the eyes of the virtual adviser™, out of 12.000+ vehicles we currently have in our database.