Dads may profess their love for sports cars and sedans all day but when transport gets demanding, there is one category of vehicle that fathers will undoubtedly turn to: the full-size van. After all, you can’t squeeze six people (or even less) into a sports sedan, and packing luggage into a conventional trunk will require Tetris-champion levels of skill. The alternative is a very attractive one: roll up in a van, throw everyone and everything in, and just drive off. With the current generation of vans, you can even maintain a generous serving of style and technology to go with the comfort and convenience.
A case in point is the all-new Hyundai Staria. It’s safe to say that Hyundai Philippines would not be as successful if not for the previous generations of Starex vans. These were large and spacious vehicles that were also efficient to operate. Hyundai saw fit to replace it with a van with a big dose of futuristic styling and the latest tech features, and thus changed the name, too.
The Staria looks sleek and compact in photos, and it’s only when it rolls up that you can appreciate its size. The Staris measures 5253mm in length, and has a square 1970mm height and width. Wheelbase is a generous 3273mm. The footprint may be challenging for small garages, but the underground parking spaces we tried fit the Staria just fine with a bit of extra maneuvering. The size pays off with a large and spacious interior.
We tried the 11-seat automatic version. Its dual sliding doors open up to an expansive interior. Seating is in four rows:3+3+2+3. The front cabin actually seats three: driver with up to two passengers beside him. Then the main cabin has a three-row bench, then a pair of captain’s chairs, then another three-row bench at the rear. What makes the 11-seater quite useful is the flexibility of the interior. If you’re transporting 8 or fewer people, you can fold the rearmost seat to be a divider of sorts between passengers and luggage. All of the main-cabin seats are mounted on rails. This allows you to slide them fore and aft according to passenger and luggage requirements. A trip to the airport, say, would mean that you’ll sacrifice some legroom while still being able to load large suitcases at the back. The handles to fold and slide the seats are mounted logically and ergonomically, so configuring the cabin is a breeze.
So is driving the Staria. The head of the family—and that could be mom, as well as dad—won’t have to relegate the driving duties to the chauffeur. Thanks to the huge front windows, light controls, and, most importantly, automatic transmission, driving the Staria feels as effortless as driving a modern SUV. Just remember to give allowance the long stretch of vehicle behind you when turning.
Powering the Staria is a 2.2-liter turbodiesel engine. It produces a modest 177ps, but the 430Nm is enough to quickly accelerate the Staria in town and on the highway, even with a full load of passengers. The 8-speed automatic transmission is smooth and unobtrusive, matching well with the engine. The powertrain is also commendably quiet. Disc brakes at all four corners help haul the Staria down from speed.
The 11-seat version is a middle variant, but it still includes a 360-degree monitor that’s especially useful when parking or maneuvering. Activate the turn signal and the digital gauge cluster shows the view from a rear camera, to help eliminate blind spots and snagging on curbs. Front and rear parking sensors further help when backing or going into a tight parking space. Higher variants of the Staria include more safety features like lane keeping assist and forward collision avoidance. The Staria 11-seater does include wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto for easy phone pairing.
Perhaps the most polarizing feature of the Staria is its futuristic styling. I personally love the form-follows-function silhouette. The sci-fi touches like the single light bar up front and the twin LED stacks at the rear make me feel like I’m about to head to the starship Enterprise rather than go for a school run or to the grocery. School runs and groceries are the stuff of everyday life, though, and that’s where vehicles like the Hyundai Staria shine.
