New KGM Tivoli review

There are a few reasons you might be unfamiliar with the KGM Tivoli. Firstly, for most of its life it was called the Ssangyong Tivoli. Secondly, there are lots of small SUVs from better-known brands vying for our attention.

A light facelift has given the Tivoli a new front end and the range of engines and trims has been condensed to just one combination – essentially the previous range topper.

For similar money, you could have a Renault Captur or Skoda Kamiq while spending a little more gets you into Ford Puma territory, putting the Tivoli up against one of the UK's best-selling cars.

So can the KGM Tivoli tussle with those big names and succeed or does it deserve to be confined to small SUV anonymity? This review has the answer...

The KGM Tivoli's 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine produces a very respectable 161bhp and is turbocharged, helping it feel strong low down in the rev range. We don't have official 0-60mph figures, but it feels punchier than the Renault Captur TCe 90.

The standard six-speed manual gearbox has quite a long throw but is otherwise slick and precise in its shifts. You can upgrade to an automatic gearbox but it's rather lethargic in its responses so we’d suggest sticking to the manual.

Every Tivoli has front-wheel drive. Unlike some rivals – including the Dacia Duster – it's not available with four-wheel drive.

Whether you’re pootling around town or driving on a country road, the Tivoli thumps over imperfections, and its poor body control jostles you from side to side in your seat. The Renault Captur and Skoda Kamiq manage to iron out bumps better, all the while staying more level over them.

On motorways the Tivoli’s ride smoothens out, proving comfortable yet fairly planted. However, that’s really the only scenario where the Tivoli impresses.

Tight corners and roundabouts reveal a high degree of body lean in the Tivoli, while grip levels aren’t very high. Sure, the Citroën C3 Aircross and Dacia Duster are also relatively relaxed in their handling, but neither is quite as poor as the Tivoli.

The steering is heavy by modern standards. The hefty feel inspires some confidence when turning in to a corner, but unfortunately it's counteracted by an inconsistent response. What’s more, if you stomp on the accelerator pedal you have to keep the wheel from tugging left and right in your hands as the car struggles to put down power.  

The Seat Arona and Skoda Kamiq provide a much more cohesive and confidence-inspiring driving experience, and the Ford Puma is much more fun to drive.

The 1.5-litre petrol engine is reasonably refined at low revs but becomes boomy beyond 3000rpm and decidedly coarse above 4000rpm. There’s also a noticeable amount of road, suspension and wind noise – with buffeting around the pillars in particular. The rival Skoda Kamiq is a much quieter cruiser.

The Tivoli's accelerator and brake pedal are quite sensitive, making it hard to drive smoothly sometimes. On the plus side, the brakes do at least offer good stopping power.

“Unrefined is how I’d describe the Tivoli’s driving experience.” – Oliver Young, Reviewer

The Tivoli's driving position is unusually high-set, even with the seat in its lowest setting. The steering wheel offers a good range of adjustment and you can move it up or down, in or out.

Some small SUVs – including the Ford Puma, Volkswagen T-Cross and Volkswagen T-Roc – have lumbar adjustment, which isn't available on the Tivoli. Its seat doesn't hold you very firmly through corners, but it is soft and comfortable for long trips.

The Tivoli's 10.3in digital driver’s display has some configurability and the graphics are of a good quality, although the display available with the Skoda Kamiq is even sharper. 

We’re glad to see the Tivoli gets a dedicated panel for the climate controls – unlike the Ford Puma, which piles them into the infotainment touchscreen. It’s a shame, though, that the buttons are touch-sensitive rather than physical. Sometimes you have to take your eyes off the road to make sure your prod was successful.

If one of your motivations for buying an SUV is to gain a lofty driving position, the Tivoli will be a little disappointing. Despite the high-set seat, you don't feel as high up as in a Citroën C3 Aircross or Dacia Duster. Still, you get a relatively unobstructed view of the road ahead thanks to the slim front pillars.

It’s a little less open at the rear. The shallow rear window and wide rear pillars hinder the view of what’s behind and over your shoulders – the Kamiq has a much more open glass area to see out of when you're reversing. Fortunately, the Tivoli comes with a rear-view camera plus front and rear parking sensors.

The Tivoli's touchscreen, which measures 9in, has pretty dated graphics and a rather confusing menu lay-out.

On the plus side, you get a few touch-sensitive shortcut buttons either side of the screen, plus you get Android Auto and Apple CarPlay so you can bypass the KGM software by using your smartphone apps.

The Tivoli features some squidgy material on the dashboard, doors and armrests so it feels a tad more premium next to the scratchy-plastic-filled Dacia Duster.

That said, there are still plenty of dark, cheap-feeling plastics everywhere and none of the panels, buttons and switches feel super-robust. As such, plenty of rivals, including the MG ZS and Nissan Juke, surpass its quality, with the Audi Q2 and Lexus LBX doing so by a mile. 

“I would have liked the Tivoli's seat to go lower but I was otherwise able to find a good driving position and the seat was comfy.” – Oliver Young, Reviewer

Getting in and out of the KGM/Ssangyong Tivoli is easy because it has wide-opening doors. Once inside, you’ll find that space is good. The front seats offer plenty of room for taller people, with generous leg room and lots of head room.

Storage provision is decent too. Each front door pocket is shaped to hold a 1.5-litre bottle of water at its leading edge, with a narrow section behind it, suitable for a map or small umbrella.

The centre console comes with a tray for a smartphone in front of the gearlever, and just behind it there are two cupholders. Extra storage is available in a cubby under the front armrest and the decent-sized glovebox.

The Tivoli's boxy shape and high roofline make it more spacious in the back than most of its small SUV rivals, although the Skoda Kamiq has a bit more rear head or leg room.

With the Tivoli's front seats slid back, six-footers in the rear will be fine. Even a third passenger won’t feel too cramped because of the generous width of the rear bench. The central floor hump is low so there's plenty of foot space.

All three seats have adjustable headrests, there’s a folding armrest in the middle seat and the two outer seats can accept a child seat with Isofix mounting points. The pockets moulded into each rear door will fit a 1.5-litre bottle of water, and on the back of each front seat there’s elasticated webbing for maps and papers.

There’s no height adjustment for the front passenger’s seat, even as an option, and adjustable lumbar support doesn’t appear anywhere in the spec list either.

The rear bench can’t be slid forwards to extend boot space, as it can in the Renault Captur and VW T-Cross, and there's no ski hatch, which you can have in the VW T-Roc. As with most of its rivals, the Tivoli's backrest folds down in a 60/40 split.

At 427 litres in volume, the Tivoli’s boot is bigger than the one in a Seat Arona or Skoda Kamiq (both 400 litres) but smaller than in a non-hybrid, front-wheel-drive Dacia Duster (517) or a Ford Puma (456 litres). Still, the Tivoli can take a child’s buggy or a set of golf clubs. The boot is a regular square shape with a wide aperture for easy access.

Dropping the rear seats leaves a hefty step in the load bay, and because there's no height-adjustable boot floor to level that out, it's awkward sliding long, heavy loads on board. 

“My family is slightly above average in height, and four of us fit into the Tivoli just fine.” – Oliver Young, Reviewer

To buy outright, the KGM Tivoli is more expensive than the Dacia Duster, MG ZS and Renault Captur but cheaper than a Ford Puma or Toyota Yaris Cross. It's predicted to depreciate more quickly than all those rivals.

The Tivoli’s petrol engine isn’t particularly economical on fuel by small SUV standards. Officially, it can average 39.6mpg with the standard manual gearbox or 36.4mpg with an automatic. The Skoda Kamiq 1.5 TSI 150 officially averages 47.8mpg, while hybrid car rivals including the Yaris Cross often up that beyond the 60mpg mark.

What’s more, during our time with an automatic Tivoli (which mostly consisted of easy-going motorway journeys), we averaged a woeful 32mpg.

The Tivoli is available in just one trim, called K40. It comes with a generous amount of kit, including automatic headlights, automatic windscreen wipers, keyless entry and start, power folding mirrors, dual-zone air-conditioning, leather seats (heated in the front), a heated steering wheel and tinted rear windows.

The options list includes a wind deflector kit, a detachable tow bar and a dog guard.

KGM (previously Ssangyong) did not feature in our 2024 What Car? Reliability Survey and neither did the Tivoli so we don't have data on how dependable it will be.

We can tell you that it comes with a competitive five-year, 100,000-mile warranty, beating most rivals (which offer three years). Hyundai matches KGM with five years of cover, Kia gives you seven and Toyota's class-leading warranty lasts for up to 10 years if you use an official dealer for annual services.

The Tivoli comes with a generous amount of safety equipment as standard, getting seven airbags, forward collision warning and automatic emergency braking (AEB). You also get lane-departure warning and traffic-sign recognition. Theft protection is covered by a standard alarm and engine immobiliser.

Euro NCAP rated the Tivoli four stars out of five for crash protection, but that was in 2016 and the rating has now expired. The model probably wouldn't get four stars in today's tougher tests, and even back then it was criticised for having poor areas relating to adult, child and pedestrian protection.

“The Tivoli was one of the cheaper small SUVs, but because the range has slimmed down to essentially the range topper I’m afraid that’s no longer the case.” – Oliver Young, Reviewer