I still remember the car stereos of my youth – the way the buttons would half-stick in the cold, the swallowed cassette tapes, the static roar between stations. And the sense of magic when the music began: Paul Simon’s Kodachrome, the J Geils Band’s Centerfold and Supertramp’s Sister Moonshine. Driving with music is one of life’s great joys.
A few Fridays ago I loaded three fellow music journalists into the deep belly of a SsangYong Rexton W and set off for Letchworth Garden City – not a rock’n’roll hotspot, admittedly, but the town to which one of us recently relocated, and a decent album-length’s drive from London. My plan was that we would review the Rexton’s stereo, but somewhere between sat-nav setting and the town’s borders, we fell to talking – about music, the media, men, mutual friends. And so vast is the distance between the two of us in the front, and the two in the back, that putting on the stereo would have meant practically zero chance of hearing what anyone else was saying.
The Rexton is not simply a large car, it is big-boned and bonny – a seven-seater 4x4 sitting high off the ground. I’m taken aback by its proportions, in much the same way as when I meet someone’s unfeasibly large baby.
Driving such a contraption is a little like being one half of a pantomime horse, in that you’re never quite sure where you end or begin, but also because its steering is wishy-washy, its automatic gears given to sudden jolts and its ride quality lollopy. That said, its size makes you a dominant presence on the road, but for such a sizeable beast it takes the UK’s tiny first roundabout (found here in Letchworth) with ease. Plus it has parking sensors. And the stereo.
The next day I sit in a side street and listen to Supertramp. I listen in the driver’s seat, the passenger seat, the rear seats, as Breakfast In America plays on a loop. It’s like standing in an empty nightclub, waiting for the dancefloor to fill, but with its Kenwood MP3 CD player, RDS radio, Bluetooth and six speakers, the sound is good throughout, solid and crisp and robust.
And it is in its robustness that the Rexton prides itself. This is a cheap, sturdy bruiser of a car; it’s not elegant or attractive, but still I take a shine to it, the way you might to a well-meaning yet slightly oafish acquaintance. I imagine it happily tumbling around off-road, over rough terrain, oblivious and spirited, the radio turned up loud.
Ssangyong Rexton W
Price From £19,944
Top speed 112mph
Acceleration 0-60mph in 9.9 seconds
Combined fuel consumption 32.8mpg (30.1 for top range)
CO2 emissions 229g/km (for the basic, 250 for the one I tried, which was the top model)
Eco rating 3/10
Cool rating 4/10
On the stereo Breakfast In America by Supertramp
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