SsangYong Musso review (2016-on)

We appreciate that the driving experience may not be a major priority for buyers looking for a budget pickup, but it should still be noted that the SsangYong Musso really does struggle in this area.

On the plus side, the new 178hp 2.2-litre turbodiesel engine is relatively refined: if you’re just cruising along you’ll hardly hear it, and it only really exhibits that classic diesel rattle if you’ve got it wound right round to the top of the rev-counter.

Plenty of power, limited feedback

More importantly, as the 400Nm torque rating suggests, it can cope with plenty of weight. We’ve tested it unloaded, with a hardtop, and with 600kg of bagged gravel on a Euro-pallet in the back – and it simply shrugged-off the latter. Though the optional automatic gearbox perhaps helped smooth out this difference, the Musso certainly isn’t short of performance.

Unfortunately, it most certainly is short of feedback through the steering and feel through the brake pedal. You might not think this matters, but the steering issue makes it difficult to position on the road precisely – especially with the additional load, which increases the amount the Musso leans over in corners – while the numb brakes make it difficult to stop smoothly.

Very poor ride comfort

These are not the Musso’s biggest problem, however. The Musso’s biggest flaw is the way it rides. This is a strange mixture of wallowing softness yet sharp shuddery unpleasantness whenever the road surface becomes anything less than marble smooth. It’s quite extraordinary to find yourself bouncing along as if on a waterbed, yet wincing whenever you encounter a bump in the road.

And this is at sedate, everyday speeds, not being driven like a rocket.

Just to quantify the shakiness – or prove you aren’t imagining it – you can watch the manual gearlever vibrating almost constantly. Or if you’re sat in the back (where the ride comfort is better, incidentally), with no-one in the passenger seat, you can watch that entire seat shaking about.

As you might expect, with 600kg onboard, the loaded example was slightly more settled. But we would still find it difficult to tolerate day-to-day, and regardless, it surely isn’t practical to drive a pickup fully-laden all the time.

Choice of gearboxes

It’s a shame, as SsangYong’s commercial vehicle versions of the Rexton and Korando SUVs are more than acceptable to drive, and the standard six-speed manual gearbox is actually quite pleasantly engineered in the Musso. The optional six-speed automatic is smooth and changes gears rapidly under manual control, but is often indecisive when left to its own devices.

We have not yet tested the Musso off-road, but with electronically switchable four-wheel drive (two-wheel drive, plus high- and low-range four-wheel drive), it should cope with moderately rough stuff. The preceding Korando Sports was reasonably impressive in this area.

With no sidesteps and 195mm of ground clearance, it’s a long way up into the Musso’s cab (and therefore also an even more noticeably long way back down). Once on-board you’ll find the interior floor is also quite high, resulting in a rather straight-legged seating position – making it a bit of a shame that there’s no reach-adjustment for the steering wheel.

The steering wheel does adjust for height (rake), but only seems to lock into a limited number of positions within its arc. Despite this, at 5ft 11in we were able to make ourselves reasonably comfortable – just take your time on the test drive to make sure it’s suitable for you.

New dashboard, clear instruments, limited practicality

The dashboard is completely new for the Musso, and has an attractive circular theme throughout. Though the materials aren’t all the greatest quality, clearly some care has been taken to make this an inviting environment rather than a drab utilitarian one. The dials and controls are all very clear – although the angle of the indicator and windscreen-wiper stalks is unusually high, which may catch you out at first.

More of a shame is that some of the detailing hasn’t quite been thought through – the off-kilter controls for the heated front seats (standard on the higher EX grade) and headlight level-adjustment on the centre console are likely to do your nut in if you’re even slightly OCD. The door bins are also awkward to access, being narrow and impeded by the door panel armrests; in fact, if you’re looking for lots of in-cab storage this probably isn’t the truck for you.

The rear doors are large which makes for easy access, but while the rear seat backs are comfortably angled and not overly upright as they are in some pickups, legroom is limited.

Standard equipment

The Musso SE comes with the following items of standard equipment:

• Leather-look seats with driver lumbar support
• Front and rear electric windows
• Cruise control
• Electric, heated door mirrors
• Manual air-conditioning
• CD player with iPod and Bluetooth connectivity
• 18-inch alloy wheels (silver) and full-size spare wheel
• Loadbed liner

The Musso EX adds the following:

• Leather seats with electric adjustment for the driver
• Heated front seats
• Power-folding mirrors
• Automatic lights and wipers
• Automatic air-conditioning
• Seven-inch touchscreen with reversing camera
• Gloss black 18-inch alloys
• Roof rails

Sat-nav and DAB radio are available via an optional infotainment system.

The Musso is cheap to buy – and should be reasonably cheap to run.

For starters, it comes with a five-year, unlimited mileage warranty, covering all major mechanical and electrical components. The servicing intervals are relatively short, however, falling every 12,500 miles or 12 months – whichever is sooner. SsangYong doesn’t have a huge number of dealers, but their coverage is growing, and costs are generally modest.

Similarly, the new engine might be larger than the old 2.0-litre unit in the Korando Sports but it’s also more efficient, with claimed fuel economy now up to 40.0mpg for the manual gearbox, and 37.0mpg for the optional automatic. Anything in the 30s will be a good result in real life.

CO2 emissions are 186g/km for the manual, 202g/km for the auto. It meets the Euro 6 emissions standard without using AdBlue, so that's one less expense to worry about compared with some larger rivals.

SsangYong may be a small brand in the UK, but it has a reputation for producing robust products and, at least superficially, build quality seems to be improving with every new model.

The old Korando Sports pickup was by its most successful commercial vehicle, too, and appears to have proven durable. Since the Musso is largely the same underneath there is no reason to expect this new model to be any different.

However, the 2.2-litre motor is new to the pickup, and although it’s also used in SsangYong’s passenger cars, it was only introduced early in 2016 so at this stage we can’t comment on its long-term reliability.

That said, the Musso’s five-year, unlimited mileage warranty should offer reassurance against any uncertainty.

There’s no Euro NCAP crash test score for the Musso (nor the Korando Sports), and it isn’t available with any of the modern active safety aids some rivals are now fitting.

However, you do get dual front airbags (for the driver and passenger), active head restraints (aim to reduce whiplash in event of a crash), Anti-lock brakes with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD), and electronic stability control with anti roll-over protection.

A reversing camera comes as standard on the higher-spec EX model.

Alarm and immobiliser as standard

On the security front, an alarm and immobiliser are fitted as standard, and the remote locking system includes the tailgate. SsangYong offers an optional hardtop or hinged chequerplate cover for the load area.