We tested the top-spec Hyundai Staria Highlander, and despite its van underpinnings, it still drives like a car and has the luxury of a limo, space of a people mover and all the safety kit to protect your family.

Value for money

The Staria has three model grades: the base Staria, Elite model, and top-spec Highlander. All models are available with either a 3.5-litre V6 petrol engine front-wheel drive, or a 2.2-litre turbodiesel four-cylinder all-wheel drive which will set you back an extra $3000.

The Highlander price tag $66,500 jumps to more than $72,000 with the on-road costs and will be a stretch for the average family budget, but the Staria has a more affordable starting price of $48,500 plus on roads.

Traditionally the lower models of its predecessor, the iMax, were used by the car rental industry. In the future, the Staria is likely to continue this tradition. Conversely, the more luxurious Highlander will be the workhorse of the hotel airport transfer and business and large limo market.

The Staria’s safety package is probably the best in the van market at present. It has all the usual suite of airbags, plus a centre airbag which inflates between the front seat occupants to give added protections in side impact crashes.

Dynamic safety includes autonomous emergency braking; a lane-support system which consists of lane-keep assists, departure warnings and emergency lane keeping; and blind-spot monitoring.

The Staria is backed by a five-year unlimited-kilometre warranty, while servicing costs are capped at $360 a year or 15,000km.

Design and function

In a somewhat bland van market, the Staria with its standout design which includes a horizontal LED light strip across the front, is sometimes likened to Robo Cop.

Although it has a its origins as a cargo van, the Staria has contemporary styling. The most obvious design feature is the amount of glass, with a front windscreen and extra-large side windows delivering excellent vision for the driver and other occupants. However, lots of visibility can also mean a lot of hot South Australia sun can shine through the windows, so the pull-up blinds on the side windows are a major asset. The Staria also has dual sunroofs that can be covered by blinds to keep the heat out.

Internally, the amount of space and light in the cabin will delight your senses. The Staria is a genuine eight-seater for adult, with enough room for luggage in the cargo area. If the rear seat isn’t being used, it can be folded forward to create even more cargo space. There are ISOFIX child-seat anchors on the outboard second-row seats and top-tether anchors. However, there are no child-seat anchors in the third row.

There’s plenty of storage, from the three-tier pockets on the front door to the almost small Esky sized storage in the middle console and drawers under the front seats.

The cabin has large cup holders, USB outlets, a wireless phone charger and a mobile phone pocket in the back of the front seats. If you need more carrying capacity, you can put a trailer on the Staria, as it has a towing capacity of 2.5 tonnes across the range.

Driver comfort was front and centre for the van’s designers with heated and cooled front seats in the Highlander. Steering wheel controls are intuitive and easy to use, while a 10.25-inch digital display assist the driver. There’s also a very useful blind spot video feed when you flick on the indicators.

The driver can control the automatic opening side doors and tailgate from switches that are close at hand.

I really liked the passenger view camera. A wide-angle camera sits above the second row, providing mum and dad up front a clear view of the kids in the back.

The Staria also has an exterior surround view monitor where it uses four cameras to give the driver a 3D bird’s eye view of the car’s exterior.

As you’re leaving the car, the rear occupant alert feature is designed to prevent drivers from unintentionally locking their children or pets in the car. The system detects occupant entry via the rear doors and prompts the driver with a cluster warning message to check the rear seats when they open the front door after parking.

The side doors sensor can be set so that is detects you with the smart key within a metre of the door and automatically opens which is ideal when your hands are full of parcels or kids. There are also open and close buttons on the Smart Keys so the doors can be operated remotely.

The top ledge of the front doors make for a comfortable arm rest, although it would have been nice if they also had fold-down arms for long trips. Getting into the Staria requires a bit of a step up into the cabin which makes the grab handles a useful addition.

On the road

The Staria in the perfect car for long trips thanks to the space and other passenger comforts. It also handles country road undulation exceptionally well because of is multi-link suspensions.

The Staria is built on the Hyundai Santa Fe SUV platform which accounts for the improved cabin comfort, better ride and handling qualities.

The smart cruise control maintains a safe following distance to other vehicles in front making for a more relaxing drive on long road trips. You can also lock the Staria into four-wheel drive mode as well. This is especially useful if you’re driving through snow or require constant traction on all four wheels instead to relying on the vehicle to send torque to the rear axle as required.

The gear selector is a push button arrangement which is easy to use, even when you’re making a three-point turn. The 2.2-litre diesel is flexible and lopes along at highway speeds, and if you aren’t happy with the way the eight-speed automatic transmission is managing the engine, you can intervene with steering-wheel mounted paddle shifters.

Summary

The Staria is the space master of the people mover market and its combination of modern style, ease of driving and value will make it a hit with South Australian families.

The specs