Ssangyong Rodius review

Aimed at the sort of buyer who's looking for value and space the Rodius is certainly a bit left field. In its home market it's available as an 11 seater, but in the UK it's only offered with seating for seven. That means there's a fair bit of space in there, and it's comfortable, too. Its size makes it less relaxing to drive though, it's wide and long and the ride and handling isn't the sharpest either. It wallows about on its soft suspension making for a choppy ride. Power comes from a 2.7-litre common-rail turbodiesel with 163bhp. It's mated to an automatic transmission and although all come with ESP (Electronic Stability Programme) as standard you're unlikely to ever be pushing it hard enough to ever need it, though its reassuring that it's there for any emergency manoeuvres.

Being a budget orientated machine the interior is functional rather than pretty. But it's not the interior styling that everyone's talking about, as the Rodius is something of an odd looker. 'Odd' is perhaps being rather kind, too, as it's been described by many as one of the world's ugliest cars. For a manufacturer without much brand penetration it's never likely be anything but a tiny seller as a result. Its unconventional rear is said to resemble the open deck on luxury powerboats, however if the rest of the boat looked like the Rodius we'd scuttle it. It may be big and cheap, but there are far, far better cars out there new or used.