Hyundai Staria Lounge facelift
Over four years old it may be, but the Hyundai Staria still looks like something from another galaxy. Time is still time, though, and the Korean carmaker has seen fit to give the MPV/van a facelift in time for 2026. There are Cargo (two-, three- or five-seat commercial van), Tourer (nine- or 11-seat MPV) and Lounge (seven- or nine-seat MPV) versions – we Malaysians are obviously more familiar with the latter two configurations.
The Tourer is priced from 35.02-39.99 million won (RM97k-110k), including a 36.59 million won (RM101k) 11-seat 1.6 Turbo Hybrid variant, while the Lounge goes for 44.99-50.21 million won (RM124k-139k), including a 47.05 million won (RM130k) seven-seat 1.6 Turbo Hybrid variant. Meanwhile, the Cargo is priced from 32.59-38.2 million won (RM90k-105k), and even this utilitarian fellow has a 34.9 million won (RM96k) five-seat 1.6 Turbo Hybrid variant.
Let’s start with the looks. The slim front DRL strip used to be in three pieces (in Malaysia, all three pieces light up on the seven-seater for an unbroken line; on the 10-seater the middle piece is blank) but now it’s one continuous line regardless. Also, Hyundai says ‘STARIA’ is engraved on the DRL’s sides, which we can’t really see from these photos.
New (top row) and old interiors; premium (left) and regular variants
That new grille with lots of dashes reminds us of the much-smaller Stargazer. The Lounge gets a chromed, more rectangular grille while the others get a slightly rounder, unchromed one. The grille-integrated headlamps appear to be unchanged – located within rectangular surrounds on the Lounge and rounder pods on the Tourer and Cargo. Hyundai hasn’t provided a rear shot yet, so it’s anyone’s guess if there are changes to the back.
But never mind, step inside to a totally redesigned interior! More horizontal dashboard, more rectangular screens (now 12.3 inches compared to 10.25 before), new infotainment system, more physical buttons as opposed to touch buttons, new steering wheel with Ioniq-style four dots, redesigned centre stack. Previously the centre air vents were awkwardly placed on either side of the centre screen (and not in line); now they’re united under the centre screen.
As before, there are two different gear selection methods. The regular Staria continues to use a conventional gear lever but the Lounge (analogous to our seven-seater) has changed from push-button gear selection to a more intuitive Ioniq-style column twist gear selector. There’s now a ‘boarding assist’ steering wheel – this should mean a wheel that retreats into the dashboard to ease driver entry and exit.
Hyundai Staria Tourer facelift
In Korea, the Staria facelift will have 1.6 turbo hybrid petrol and 3.5 litre LPG powertrains (bye bye long-serving 2.2 litre turbodiesel). Since the chances of us getting the LPG are practically zero, let’s look at the hybrid – 180 hp and 265 Nm of torque sounds just like the engine used by the Tucson and Santa Fe hybrids, so we can safely assume a 65 PS/264 Nm electric motor, a six-speed auto and a 235 PS/367 Nm total system output. A maximum fuel efficiency of 13.1 km/l is touted.
Ride and NVH should be better, too – Hyundai says the front suspension now has a more rigid connection between the body and the sub-frame, and the latter’s bushings “enhance the response to road shocks, which allows for more stable control of body movement in high-speed and straight-line driving situations.”
Hyundai Staria Cargo facelift
The Cargo model has an improved rear damper valve with an increased degree of freedom of damping force, while the range-topping Lounge’s rear suspension features hydro bushings to improve shock absorption and reduce vibration. There’s thicker sound insulation material in the bulkhead, and more sound-absorbing materials have been added to the vehicle’s rear and lower sections.
Available tech includes walk-away lock, digital key, built-in front and rear dashcams, multi-zone voice recognition and standard ADAS functions such as forward collision avoidance assist (intersection oncoming car/frontal oncoming car) and rear side collision avoidance assist (forward exit). ACC and lane keep assist are of course available on higher models. Our pre-facelift Staria recently got CKD’d – explore here.
