Kia Syros vs Compact SUV Rivals : The Kia Syros, named after an island in the Mediterranean Sea, was introduced last week, its costs starting at Rs 9 lakh ex-showroom. SUV deliveries are set to start in the coming days. The Syros will rival the Kia’s own Sonet and other compact SUVs such as situation Skoda Kylaq, Mahindra XUV 3XO, Tata Nexon, Hyundai Venue, Renault Kiger, Nissan Magnite and Maruti Brezza. On paper at least, we pit the nine compact SUVs against eachother to see if the Syros has an upper hand.
Kia Syros prices vs rivals
Kia Syros vs rivals: prices (in lakh)
SUV 𬋝yros 𬋝ylaq 𬋝xon 𬋝rezza XUV 3XO Venue Sonet Magnite Kiger
Price 9-17.80 7.89-14.40 8-15.59 8.34-14.14 8-15.56 7.94-13.62 8-14.85 6.12-9.24 6-11.23
With regards to the entry-model and long-range-high-end variants, the Syros is the most expensive of its kind compared to its competitors. Positioned above the Sonet, which retails between Rs 8 lakh to Rs 14.85 lakh, the Syros is about Rs 1 lakh and Rs 2.95 lakh more expensive, respectively. Note that the Kia Syros has a variant HTK starting range unlike the Sonet which has HTE variants as the starting range. It finds no GTX and X-Line variants yet, too. Of this, the Kiger is still the most affordable, at Rs 6 lakh.
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Dimensions Kia Syros vs rivals
Syros Kylaq Nexon Brezza XUV 3XO Venue Sonet Magnite Kiger
Length (mm) 3995 3995 3995 3995 3990 3995 3995 3994 3991
Width (mm) 1805 1783 1804 1790 1821 1770 1790 1758 1750
Height (mm) 1680 1619 1620 1685 1647 1617 1642 1572 1605
Wheelbase (mm) 2550 2556 2498 2500 2600 2500 2500 2500 2500
Ground clearance (mm) – 189 208 – 201 – – 205 205
Boot space (litres) 465 360 382 328 364 — 385 336 405
Wheel size (inch) 17 17 16 16 17 16 16 16 16
Fuel tank (litres) 4545454842454040
As with the rest of this class, the Syros’ length ducks under four metres. Apart from the Mahindra XUV 3XO (1,821mm), the Syros is wider than all of its rivals (just 1mm thicker than the Nexon). The Syros is the tallest among all competitors besides the Maruti Brezza, which is 5mm taller, owing to its tall-boy stance. With regards to wheelbase length, the Syros has the third longest of them all, measuring – 50mm shorter than the Mahindra and also 6mm shorter than the Skoda Kylaq. As it sits the Syros is one of the larger compact SUVs here and it seems the size translates into good space on the inside.
The Syros, Kylaq and XUV 3XO are, however, the only three top-spec variants here to offer 17-inch alloy wheels in their respective top trims while the Brezza boast over the largest number of fuel tank capacity in comparison to others. Kia states that Syros’ boot is 465 litres (largest here). The Renault’s figure is measured to the roof, whereas the others measure to the parcel tray.
Engine and gearbox of Kia Syros vs competitors
Kia Syros vs rivals: petrol engine
Syros Kylaq Nexon Brezza XUV 3XO Venue Sonet Magnite Kiger
Type 3 cyls turbo 3 cyls turbo 3 cyls turbo 3 cyls NA 4 cyls NA/3 cyls turbo 4 cyls NA/3 cyls turbo 4 cyls NA/3 cyls turbo 3 cyls NA/3 cyls turbo 3 cyls NA/3 cyls turbo
Displacement (cc) 998 999 1199 1462 1197/1197 (TGDi) 1197/998 1197/998 999/999 999/999
Power (hp) 120 115 120 103 111/131 83/120 83/120 72/100 72/100
Torque (Nm) 172 178 170 137 200/230 114/172 114/172 96/160 96/160
Transmission: 6-speed 6-speed 5-speed/6-speed 5-speed 6-speed 5-speed/6-speed 5-speed/6-speed 5-speed 5-speed
Number of gears 7 6 6/7 6 6 7 7 5 5
As we’ve stated in our previous reports, the Syros is powered by the same set of engines, that is the 120hp, 1.0-litre turbo-petrol of the Sonet and Hyundai Venue; the 83hp, 1.2-litre petrol engine is not part of the offering. In comparison to the rest of its turbo-petrol opponents, the Syros lands right in the middle – above the Nexon, on par with the Venue and Sonet, and below the XUV 3XO that pumps out 131hp from its TDGi unit. Both the naturally aspirated and turbo-petrol versions of the Magnite and Kiger are the least powerful of the group. Maruti’s Brezza also comes with a more powerful 1.5-litre petrol engine rated at 103hp — slightly more than both the Nissan and Renault.
The standard transmission is manual across all variants of the Sonet, though it is notable in that it offers an iMT unit as well. The Tata Nexon offers the widest range of gearboxes with a 5- and a 6-speed manual, a 6-speed AMT and a 7-speed dual-clutch auto on offer, depending on the variant.
Kia Syros vs competitors: diesel power unit
Syros Nexon XUV 30 Venue Sonet
Type 4 cyls, turbo-diesel 4 cyls, turbo-diesel 4 cyls, turbo-diesel 4 cyls, turbo-diesel 4 cyls, turbo-diesel
Displacement (cc) 1493 1496 1497 1493 1493
Power (hp) 116 115 117 116 116
Torque (Nm) 275 280 310 285 285
Transmission 6MT 6MT 6MT 6MT 6iMT
Transmission 6AT 6AMT 6AMT - 6AT
One brand that still offers a small diesel engine is Kia, which shares its 1.5-litre four-cylinder unit with the Venue and Sonet for the Syros. The Koreans’ oil burner 1hp more but loses out on 10Nm against the Nexon, whereas the XUV 3XO is again the most powerful in this list. Also interestingly, the XUV 3XO has an AMT gearbox only on offer while the Venue is the only manual-only car of the bunch.