• One 2.2-litre diesel engine available
• Four-wheel drive as standard
• Reasonable performance given its size

Diesel engine

If you want a Rexton, you only have one engine choice. It’s a 2.2-litre four-cylinder diesel unit with 202hp and 441Nm of torque. It’s a strong unit, offering lots of low-down grunt, although it does get breathless the higher up the rev range you climb. It may sound like an old van under full throttle, but it does move quicker than its massive dimensions might suggest. Acceleration on the motorway is adequate, with enough left in reserve at a slow cruise to nip past slow-moving traffic in the middle lane.

The Rexton’s standard four-wheel-drive system is good, too. It comes with selectable two and four-wheel drive modes and a low-range transfer box, which means it’s handy off-road. The diesel engine’s lazy, low-speed torque also means the Rexton can pull itself out of ruts from which road-biased SUVs would need to radio for a tow.

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The eight-speed automatic gearbox is a strong pairing to the engine. It’s not the most quick-witted gearbox we’ve ever used, but it does work well with the engine’s natural laziness and would only become flustered when faced with a sudden prod of the accelerator, hesitating momentarily before dropping a gear.

What’s it like to drive?

• Uninspiring on the road
• Firm ride, wayward steering, poor damping
• Impressive off-road, though

Take the Rexton for a drive, and there’s no denying it’s a Musso pickup truck underneath the glitz and SUV facade. In short, it struggles on the road, and lacks the refinement and sophistication of its rivals. The suspension is very stiff, and the dampers aren’t particularly supple, which means the car can’t deal with road imperfections in a composed manner. It may have a fancy multi-link rear suspension setup and double wishbones up front, which are a massive step up from the live-axle unit found in the Musso, but that doesn’t translate into a smooth ride.

Any imperfection sends harsh judders through the cabin, which makes the Rexton tiresome on a long journey. What’s more, despite this stiffness, there’s a lot of body roll, exacerbated by the unsupportive front seats.

Then there’s the steering, which swings from light to heavy and back to light again, depending on how much you turn the wheel. The first 10 degrees and anything beyond a quarter-turn are very light. Anything between that is heavy. This all translates to an unpleasant on-road driving experience.
The front end has a penchant for straying wide on tight corners if travelling a little quickly. It’ll lose grip and push the car to the outside edge of the curve, unnerving if you’re caught out by a tight corner on an unfamiliar country lane.

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A constant vibration comes up through the column and rattles the steering wheel. It’s almost like you can feel the power steering pump working through the rack.

A small saving grace is that these shortcomings all make sense when the Rexton is taken off-road. We were extremely impressed by how it dealt with rough surfaces — its short overhangs and tough four-wheel drive system mean it’ll easily claw through wet grass, sticky mud, and technical cross-axle off-road tracks. It’ll go a lot further off-road than a Kia Sorento or Peugeot 5008.