Jenny reviews the latest 2022 Kia Stonic. A small affordable subcompact SUV from Kia. The Stonic is meant to be one of these tiny SUVs that seem to be all the rage these days – basically, a jacked-up mini city car.

Those are very much bound by their price tag. Things get even more limiting when you take into account that the one I have here is the misleadingly titled Sport trim.

However, what most people who are not car journalists often fail to recognize is that most people actually need affordable, simple cars to do their daily errands while providing a reasonable amount of tech and comfort perks and modern looks.

There are two engine options in the Kia Stonic. The more powerful turbo version that we tried in the Stonic GT-Line last year it’s the one to choose for more oomph, but even that one is not really sporty. It’s a 1 L 3-cylinder turbo petrol with 74 kW and 172 Nm of torque. There are two redeeming features for a Stonic with this engine, the first one being a 7-speed dual clutch it is connected with and the second one being a wonderfully wide torque curve that runs from 1500 to 4000 revs that makes the best of the available push in everyday conditions.

Kia Stonic driveaway pricing starts at just under $25k for the S in manual. This sport in Auto will set you back just over $28k.