The Kia Syros, named for an island in the Mediterranean sea, has made its global debut, and the Korean brand has revealed nearly every detail of the new compact SUV, other than the price tag. While bookings for the Syros will commence from January 3, the price reveal and delivery details will be announced early in February. When it arrives, the Syros will not only take on Kia’s other compact SUV, the Sonet, but also the likes of the Skoda Kylaq, Mahindra XUV 3XO, Tata Nexon, Hyundai Venue, Renault Kiger, Nissan Magnite and Maruti Brezza. We put the nine compact SUVs together, on paper, to see if the Syros has an edge.

Kia Syros dimensions vs rivals

Like others in this segment, the Syros ducks under the four-metre mark in terms of length. Barring the Mahindra XUV 3XO with its 1,821mm width, the Syros is wider than the rest its competition, including the Nexon by a 1mm margin. The new Kia compact SUV’s tall-boy stance sees it stand taller than all its rivals by a decent margin, except for the Maruti Brezaa, which is 5mm taller. In terms of wheelbase length, the Syros has the third-longest one here, 50mm less than the Mahindra and 6mm less than Skoda’s Kylaq. As it stands, the Syros is among the larger compact SUVs here, which bodes well for the space on the inside.

Maruti Suzuki’s Brezza has the largest fuel tank among its compact SUV rivals, while the Syros, Kylaq and XUV 3XO are the only ones here with 17-inch alloy wheels, at least on their respective top-spec trims. It should be noted that while Kia quotes a 465-litre boot for the Syros, making it the largest one here, this figure (and the Kiger’s) is measured from boot floor to roof, while the other measure from boot floor to parcel tray. Still, the Syros’ boot capacity is larger than the Kylaq’s claimed 446-litre, from boot floor to roof, which translates to 360 litres from boot floor to parcel tray.

Kia Syros engine and gearbox vs rivals

As we’ve reported before, the Syros shares its engine options with the Sonet, and, incidentally, the Hyundai Venue as well. However, the new Kia does not get the 83hp, 1.2-litre petrol engine, and the Syros range starts with the 120hp, 1.0-litre turbo-petrol. Compared to its turbo-petrol rivals, the Syros sits in the middle of the lot – above the Nexon and equal to the Venue and Sonet – with the XUV 3XO with the 131hp TDGi engine leading the pack. The Magnite and Kiger are the least powerful models here, whether one selects the naturally aspirated or turbo-petrol versions. Maruti’s Brezza is available with a 103hp, 1.5-litre petrol engine, which is among the least powerful models in this comparison, but just above the Nissan and Renault.

All the models here get a manual transmission as standard, though the Sonet stands out for offering an iMT unit, which is essentially a clutchless manual gearbox. The Tata Nexon offers the largest number of gearbox options as, depending on the variant, there’s a 5- and 6-speed manual, and a 6-speed AMT and a 7-speed dual-clutch auto.

Kia is among the carmakers that continue to offer a small diesel engine, and, again, the Syros shares its 1.5-litre four-cylinder unit with the Venue and Sonet. The Korean’s diesel engine makes 1hp more, but 10Nm less than the Nexon, while the XUV 3XO is, again, the most powerful of the lot. Interestingly, the XUV 3XO is the only one here with an AMT gearbox option, while the Venue is the only one here to be manual only.

For a more definitive verdict, we’ll have to wait until February for Kia Syros prices to be announced; we expect it to be in the Rs 10 lakh-16 lakh, ex-showroom, region. For now, Kia’s new compact SUV seems to have what it takes to be at par with its competition, at least on paper.  

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