Unless you have jumped into a taxi in one of the larger towns or cities in Ireland recently then you probably won’t have come across the Hyundai Montana. And here in Ireland there really isn’t that much call for vehicles with more than seven seats outside of the taxi business. But are we missing a trick?
A family event in Cork required lots of seats and lots of space, but when you go beyond seven people your options are few. The problem, too, with a lot of seven seaters is that with all the seats in place there is no luggage space. That is why the Montana makes a lot of sense. Based on a van, the Montana will sit eight adults in comfort, but not only that, behind those eight seats there is a useful amount of luggage space. Styling-wise the boxy shape isn’t all that attractive but jump inside and there is a decent car-like driving position.
You get air-conditioning, an auxiliary port for your iPhone or iPod and comfy seats up front which make you, temporarily forget that you are driving something that is more than five metres long. The Montana uses a strong 2.5-litre diesel engine that pulls strongly but isn’t all that quiet, but it means the car is well capable of holding motorway speeds. This 170hp unit has lots of low-down torque and pulls strongly. It doesn’t feel fast, 0-100km/h takes quite a while, 14.5 seconds to be exact but when you consider that this vehicle weighs more than two tonnes then it doesn’t appear to be all that bad. In-gear acceleration isn’t bad and this is what makes it a very useful motorway mile muncher. The handling isn’t all that bad either.
Like a van, it is at its best when it is fully laden with people and luggage. Carrying people and their stuff is where the Montana really excels and you get eight full-sized seats that will suit any size of adult and there are even Isofix points in the second-row of seats. There is also a massive luggage space behind these eight seats.
There are drawbacks – negotiating city traffic can make you a little nervous due to the enormous bulk and it can be difficult to cope with the Montana’s raging thirst – a Dublin to Cork round trip cost the guts of €100 in diesel and if you do buy one it will cost you €1,050 per year in annual road tax. However the Montana is less than €40,000 and that makes it a bit of a bargain.