Ssangyong Tivoli XLV: car review | Martin Love

SsangYong has always served up bumper helpings for budget motorists. Now it's added some flavour, too

Price: 18,431
Top speed: 109mph
0-62mph: 12 seconds
MPG: 62.8
CO2: 117g/km

I heard it before I saw it - a sharp crack like a leather paddle coming down on an outstretched palm. The stone, flicked up by a speeding motorbike, hit the windscreen, as they always do, right in my eyeline, leaving a large disc of frosted glass. Typical" Autoglass, however, was soon on the spot. We disappeared into the service station to drink tea and eat cake while the technician worked in the cold. Later he sent me a customer satisfaction form along with a list of wacky things that have smashed windscreens in the past year: a hippo in a safari park; a misguided attempt to hoover off a parking ticket; and a squirrel falling nut first. My stone chip was boring but at least it was believable. Windscreen sorted, we all piled back into the SsangYong Tivoli XLV to continue our journey.