Hyundai Staria 2021 Review

Priced between $48,500 and $66,500 (plus on-road costs), the 2021 Hyundai Staria has acres of cabin space, with room for eight passengers across three rows and an impressive amount of cargo besides.

It’s crammed with clever features and storage systems while vehicle access is very good thanks to dual sliding side doors and one of the biggest tailgates you’ll find on a passenger vehicle.

Unlike its predecessor, the van-based Hyundai iMax, the Korean brand’s new people-mover switches to an SUV platform shared with the Hyundai Santa Fe, which delivers improved cabin comfort and better ride and handling qualities.

There are three model grades – Staria, Elite and Highlander – and all are available with either a 3.5-litre V6 petrol engine driving the front wheels, or a 2.2-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder with all-wheel drive. The latter adds $3000 to the price of all three grades.

Check out our Hyundai Staria pricing story for the full rundown on this new rival for the Kia Carnival, Honda Odyssey, Volkswagen Multivan and Toyota Granvia.

Standard features are generous across the range, headlined at the entry level by 18-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights that illuminate the road well at night, a wireless phone charger, and air vents and USB ports for all three seat rows. There’s also a whopping 16 cup holders!

Indeed, the interior is nothing if not well-equipped for transporting troops.

Mid-spec Staria Elite variants add leather upholstery, power-operated driver’s seat, rear window sun shades and powered anti-pinch sliding side doors. These can be controlled by the driver via buttons in the cockpit, remotely via the key fob, hands-free in certain circumstances or, sure, via the door handle if you’re a traditionalist!

Elite models also gain a larger 10.25-inch central touch-screen and automatic climate control for front and rear zones, plus auto defog and tunnel mode. The latter uses map data to shut windows and switch on recirculating fans automatically when the car heads into a tunnel.

Range-topping Highlander models double down on digital screens with a second 10.25-inch display for the driver, enabling a very useful blind spot video feed when you flick on the indicators. Dual sunroofs and heated and cooled front seats are also part of the Highlander package.

The Staria misses out on the Kia Carnival’s bigger 12.3-inch central screen and swivelling middle row seats, and also falls short of its seven-year warranty.

Instead, Hyundai covers the Staria for five years (unlimited kilometres), while a five-year service plan is available for $1800 (or 75,000km). That works out to $360 per annual service or every 15,000km, whichever occurs first.

There are five exterior colours available, all of them dark – black, blue, brown and two greys – and three leather seat upholstery colours for Highlander models: blue, black and beige. Entry-level Staria models get black cloth seats, while mid-spec Elite versions have black leather.

First, the good news – the 2021 Hyundai Staria comes standard with a lot of safety technology that takes the stress out of driving a long, wide and heavy vehicle.

It also comes with seven airbags extending to all three seat rows.

Under the Hyundai SmartSense suite, standard driver assist safety systems include adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go function, a 360-degree parking camera with front and rear proximity sensors, plus lane following and lane keeping assist.

The parking aids work very well but we found the semi-autonomous steering to be average, occasionally struggling to identify road markings to stay on course.

Other safety systems fitted to all models include automatic high beam assist, blind spot collision avoidance assist, driver attention warning, rear occupant alert, autonomous emergency braking (detecting vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians) and rear cross traffic collision avoidance assist.

Now, the no-so-good news. Even at this top-spec Highlander grade tested here, there’s no head-up display for the driver or flip-out entertainment screen for rear seat passengers.

Sure, a lot of people have phones and tablets now to keep passengers from bickering, but having a one-stop entertainment shop when you’re in a hurry is handy.

Also, the Hyundai Staria only has two ISOFIX and three top-tether child seat anchorage points, which are located on the second-row seats. The Kia Carnival, by comparison, has five ISOFIX and top tether points across both the second and third row.

Weirdly, only entry-level Staria models get wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with the smaller 8.0-inch central touch-screen. The Elite and Highlander models’ bigger 10.25-inch screen – which looks great and is easy to use – is only compatible with wired versions of the popular phone mirroring software.

All models come with a full-size spare tyre located under the body at the back of the vehicle.

The Staria hasn’t yet been rated by ANCAP or Euro NCAP.

The 2021 Hyundai Staria is available with a front-drive 3.5-litre petrol V6 engine (200kW/331Nm) that offers significantly more power, but less torque, than the 2.2-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder tested here (130kW/430Nm).

This top-spec diesel-powered Staria struggles somewhat on uphill climbs, requiring more revs than expected to haul its hefty 2325kg kerb weight.

While the all-wheel drive system provides more traction in wet conditions, and should be better for dragging around a trailer (all models have a 2500kg braked towing capacity), the diesel AWD Highlander is about 100kg heavier than the equivalent petrol-powered version.

Granted, the diesel should deliver better economy than the petrol model – as evidenced by the official ratings of 8.2L/100km versus 10.5L/100km on the combined cycle – but I was left disappointed by the oil-burning Staria’s acceleration characteristics.

Our testing also returned a hardly-inspiring 10.2L/100km.

The diesel engine is nothing if not smooth but I can’t help but feel a more potent diesel engine is required. Maybe the 204kW six-cylinder diesel mill from the Genesis GV80 would work? Then again, it would also jack up the price substantially.

The conventional eight-speed automatic transmission is a good unit, shifting smoothly and intelligently most of the time, but at highway speeds it sometimes takes a little longer to drop down gears for an overtake. Which is where the steering wheel paddle shifters come in handy.

Refinement levels when cruising are impressive but under load the diesel engine can get a little loud, which is not ideal when you’ve got sleeping kids in the back seats.

Bigger in every dimension than the previous iMax, the 2021 Hyundai Staria rides on the same new platform that underpins the Hyundai Santa Fe large SUV.

This not only upgrades the drive experience from functional to confident and comfortable, it also delivers a far more luxurious interior concept.

First and foremost, the huge front windscreen and ultra-large side windows deliver excellent vision all round.

Together with a relaxed but slightly elevated driving position, getting around in the Staria feels more like you’re piloting an open-water flybridge cruiser than a conventional passenger car.

All the controls fall easily to hand and at no time did we feel overwhelmed by technology. The blind spot video feeds and advanced driving aids are intuitively engaged, and direct steering ensures you always feel in control of the big rig.

Ride comfort is impressive, absorbing potholes and cracked road surfaces smoothly for the most part, and while Hyundai Australia had input into the suspension tune, the travails of a global pandemic meant it couldn’t finetune the handling.

Even so, the Staria sits flat through corners and has confident driving dynamics.

Beyond its gargantuan length (5253mm), width (1997mm) and wheelbase (3273mm), which can make parking and avoiding clipping kerbs with the rear wheel challenging in tight conditions, the Korean MPV is easy to drive.

The interior is also thoughtfully arranged and highly flexible too. It has excellent incidental storage solutions and easy access to both the second and third row.

There’s acres of room in the second row and even the third row is decent; you can also divvy up the available space given all seats have a fore/aft sliding function.

With all eight seats upright, boot space is still massive, rated at 831 litres. This expands to 1303 litres with the rearmost seats folded down, which is easy to do from the boot. Fold down the second-row seats – which are a bit fiddlier – and you can fit a colossal amount of gear in the Staria.

The new 2021 Hyundai Staria moves to a different beat compared to your run-of-the-mill people-mover, bringing an unashamedly futuristic design to bear without skimping on pragmatism.

The huge panoramic windows deliver excellent views for all passengers, and the interior is well-equipped, incredibly spacious and highly functional.

While it misses out on a few key features, including child seat anchorage points for the third row, the Staria represents a far more resolved and safer vehicle than the iMax it replaces.

This is a thoroughly modern take on the humble family wagon, and behind its spaceship-like looks is a well-executed troop transporter that has plenty of appeal.

It doesn’t push the envelope in the segment, but certainly gives it a nudge.

How much does the 2021 Hyundai Staria Highlander 2.2 CRDi AWD cost?
Price: $66,500 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 2.2-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel
Output: 130kW/430Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 8.2L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 218g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Not tested