Ssangyong Kyron two-litre EX road test

By Steve Orme on Apr 21, 09 11:53 AM

Apparently four out of every ten pound coins in your purse is a forgery

There are two major attractions to coin counterfeiting. We rarely study our shrapnel, whereas most are inclined to take a closer look at paper money. The other is the simplicity of the pound coin's design.

The Queen's head is simplistic, and Welsh leek reverse or even the Scottish Krankies device, has little detail to master.
Even he wording lends itself to replication. Elizabeth is not a difficult name to spell and as there have only ever been two of them on the throne there is a 50-50 chance of getting the right one.
According to those who know, forgeries also often have shallow milling or poor finish but so do old coins. I've got one in my hand now that has clearly been in circulation some time; the Queen is bald and the two lions rampant look more like a pair neutered Manx cats.
On top of that they are easy to get intro circulation. All that is needed is a pensioner and a supermarket queue: "I've got the right money love, here's six ones and you give me ten shillngs and I'll give you these Nicaraguan stamps and five pee." Is anyone really going to look? No.
I really don't know why we make such a fuss. A copy, so long as it is a good copy, seems not to bother us.
We have, after all, come to embrace cars from the Far East which were once as alien to European tastes as a tasty snake supper.
Take the Ssangyong Kyron. A 4x4 crossover, it is visually a reasonable replica of a Mercedes M-Class. And I doubt Mercedes bosses are too upset because they are selling the Koreans their gearboxes.
The turbo charged two-litre, five-speed manual common rail diesel EX version goes head to head with Kia's Sorento and the Hyundai Santa Fe. It is also badged M200XDi. Er, that's not meant to suggest something is it?
Well equipped with leather upholstery, Kenwood music, ABS, hill decent control, ESPand air conditioning among the features this is an able, part time 4x4 towing option with a lot of torque and the ability to tug 2.3 tonnes. It also does 45mpg. Performance? Look, even if it looks German you won't be caravanning round the Nürburgring.
On the motorway the Kyron is fine but its B-road ride quality is lacking.
The Kyron is huge, bags of room for five and a massive boot that is only let down by a tailgate which oddly seems to be cast from lead.
So where's the downside? Look at it this way. The Kyron has been around since 2006 and it's interior even longer. This is a finish and style Kia and Hyundai have long since progressed beyond. In particular I draw your attention to the hand brake and wonder when Captain Jack Sparrow wants his cutlass handle back.
On the other hand you get what you pay for and at £19,495 this Kyron seriously undercuts its competitors. But as Harold Wilson said, this does not mean the pound in your pocket is worth any less.