KGM Torres review

Driving position 

One of the biggest benefits of an SUV is the driving position. In the KGM Torres, you sit nice and high up with a wide view of the road ahead and behind you. 

There’s plenty of customisation in the eight-way power-adjustable seat of our Torres K40 AWD model – this seat is only available in the top-spec K40 trims though.

The steering wheel is easy to adjust for both reach and rake, but it didn't quite go high enough or far enough out for our liking.

We do have to say, three-stage heated and cooled seats at the front and heated rear seats are a nice touch that even some more premium models don’t even get. 

Tech and features 

Often, the problem with a budget SUV is the lack of attention given to the interior. But to be fair to KGM, it uses high-quality materials such as leather for the seats and copper-coloured trim for the dashboard. 

However, there are also lots of cheap, scratchy plastics dotted about, which is a bit of a shame, even if it is to be expected.  

Sitting in the centre of the dashboard is a 12.3-inch infotainment screen, which is grainy to say the least. It lacks the clarity of other screens in cars of a similar price, and it’s very slow to use.  

And while it does have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, it’s wired-only, and we found it can sometimes take a few tries to recognise your phone. 

Thankfully, all models benefit from a rear-view camera, though it’s not the most high-definition. There’s no front camera, but at least you get front parking sensors as standard. 

Other useful tech includes a wireless phone charger, several USB-C ports and interior mood lighting. 

Engines and power 

For starters, all KGM Torres models get the same turbocharged four-cylinder 1.5-litre petrol engine. In a car of its size and weight, it doesn’t sound like a lot at all.  

It often struggles to get up to motorway speeds when joining from a slip road, and the six-speed automatic gearbox doesn’t like to be rushed. But you do get used to it after a while.

We did hundreds of motorway miles in the Torres. When it’s at cruising speed, the engine calms down into its groove, but 0-62mph does still take 10.8 seconds. 

Around town, the engine is a little more refined, though acceleration is still sluggish at low speeds, so make sure to prepare ahead of time. And in our test car, we had an occasional auto start/stop issue, plus no clear way to switch it off when it was working. 

While we’re on that, you have to flick the switch for reverse twice every time (unlike a single press in every other car), which can be a bit of a faff. 

On a twisty British B-road, the Torres’ 163hp (and 260Nm of torque) is as you’d expect. It isn’t particularly sporty, and why should it be in an SUV?  

Handling and ride comfort 

We found the Torres’ ride quality to be sub-par – fidgety at low speeds and wallowy on England's poor-quality roads. And despite the all-wheel drive system of the K40 AWD model, acceleration felt quite grabby at times. 

Due to its height, there's quite a lot of lean into the corners. It basically feels a bit like a pickup truck.

There’s also a fair bit of play in the steering, which is a bit unsettling at motorway speeds. 

Boot space 

The KGM Torres gets a 703-litre boot which has underfloor storage and a spare wheel – a rare find in a new car today. 

This boot is plenty for most people, and it even goes up to 1,662 litres when you fold down the rear seats.

For comparison, its Hyundai Tucson rival has a 620-litre boot, whereas the Škoda Karoq has a 521-litre boot, so the Torres competes with seven-seaters such as the Audi Q7 and SEAT Tarraco on practicality. 

Rear seats 

Another area where the Torres shines is rear-seat space, which is very good. The roof is high up and there’s lots of knee room behind the front seats, so even taller passengers will be comfortable. 

Plus, in K40 AWD trim, the two rear outer passengers get two-stage heated seats – something even some posh SUVs don’t get. 

Storage solutions 

Interior storage is decent in the Torres – again, playing to its size advantage. 

At the front, there are deep door bins, decent-sized central cupholders, a large centre console and storage underneath that for phones, wallets, etc. 

In the back, there are seat-back pockets for phones and well-sized door bins again. 

If you need this KGM for family use, it’s perfect. 

Towing 

Even though our car came fitted with a towbar, we didn’t use it, but it's nice to know the Torres is capable.

Being the top-spec K40 AWD model, it can tow a maximum braked trailer load of 1,500kg and 500kg for an unbraked trailer. 

The tow bar’s max load is 85kg. 

Safety 

Like all new cars, the KGM Torres comes jam-packed with a whole host of different safety features. 

It gets a lane departure warning system, driver attention alert, hill start assist, rear-cross traffic warning, smart high beam and blind spot detection, to name a few. 

However, the lane-keep assist is overly intrusive and causes the entire wheel to turn corners by itself. It’s so strong, we found ourselves turning it off the second we turned the engine on. 

The same goes for the speed limit warning, which has four very loud ‘beeps’ and even occurs when the car thinks you’re speeding but in fact has read the signs wrong, i.e. 30mph on the motorway or 80mph in a 40mph zone – yes, really. 

It’s a bit of a pain to turn off too, with lots of menus to search through before getting there. 

Fuel economy 

Fuel efficiency is where the Torres really lacks. Because it's not a hybrid and only a small engine lugging around a 1,618kg (kerb weight) family SUV, it drinks a lot of fuel. 

At least KGM is honest about this and claims the Torres K40 AWD will return a combined 31.1mpg, but in our 500-mile test, we saw 30.4mpg on average – mostly on motorways at between 50mph and 70mph. 

The front-wheel drive Torres K30 is a little better with a claimed 33.2mpg (combined), but it’s still disappointing. 

Reliability 

Being built in South Korea, the KGM Torres is overall a very reliable car, as most KGM models are. 

Every new Torres comes with the same five-year/100,000-mile warranty (whichever comes first), beating the industry-standard three-year warranty.