2024 Hyundai Stargazer X: Is it the star of the MPV segment?

The Hyundai Stargazer was first introduced to the Philippine market in 2022. While it’s nowhere as popular as established nameplates such as the Toyota Avanza or Mitsubishi Xpander, it still has proven itself to be a successful model for Hyundai Motor Philippines (HMPH).

And with markets everywhere (including ours) becoming SUV crazy, every brand has released SUV-inspired versions of their compact 7-seater MPV models, and Hyundai is not one to miss-out on that, hence the Stargazer X which was launched last year.

HMPH wants to show us what makes their own entry into the segment special by taking us on an overnight trip to the province of Pampanga, just a little over an hour north of Metro Manila, showcasing the best that their SUV-fied MPV can offer, but also some hidden gems along the way.

We started the drive’s activities with a quick lunch meet in Makati City. After a quick briefing on our drive route to Pampanga as well as what we can expect from it, we then proceeded to load our bags and equipment into the fleet of Stargazer X units waiting for us outside the restaurant. 

With five people assigned per vehicle, we decided to forego using the Stargazer X’s third-row, instead making the most of its cargo capacity, while cramming ourselves into the first and second rows. Putting together all our stuff in the cargo area was no issue at all, and we still had plenty of extra space to put additional items if needed. It’s also good to note that even if we did have the third row of seats up, we’d still have enough room for our stuff.

It was actually my idea to do what we did which turns out to have been a mistake. I unfortunately had to be the lucky (unlucky is a better way to say it) middle passenger in the second row. Thankfully, it was not so bad as the Stargazer X does offer plenty of lateral room, which makes fitting three average sized adults an easy task. I guess it also helps that I did lose a lot of weight over the past few months.

What made it even better was the Stargazer X’s ride comfort. I was not surprised or anything since we’ve experienced the Stargazer before on a longer drive, and that was very good. The Stargazer X is very similar with just a little bit of a firmer ride thanks to the larger wheels. 

What’s on-point with the Stargazer X is its NVH insulation which I must say is best-in-class. It’s still not as quiet as luxury vehicles, but surely beats-out any of its rivals in terms of road and wind noise, as well as engine noise. This made the ride a lot more relaxing than it would’ve been if we were in any other compact MPV.

A little over an hour later, we arrived at our first stop for the drive, Pampanga Pottery in the small town of Sto. Tomas. As someone who actually grew up in Pampanga and drives there at least twice a week, I never knew pottery was a thing over there. Case-in-point, a short introduction on the pottery industry made us know that it grew popular thanks to the plantitos and plantitas of the pandemic a few years ago. 

Anyway, here we had a unique pot session…pot-painting session. I put the artistic skills I got from way back in my college days taking architecture to the test and I think I was quite successful. 

After that successful pot-painting session, we made our way back to the expressway, braving through Pampanga’s heavy traffic, as well as killing my legs in the process as I once again had to take the middle seat. Thankfully it wasn’t that long as after a little less than an hour, we made it to our place for the night—The Mansion, a boutique hotel located inside The Villages in Clark Freeport, Pampanga. 

To my surprise, I was given a one-bedroom suite all to myself. I’m not a fan of having a large room to myself. Either it gets lonely, or gets scary, but okay. We then had a sumptuous dinner with a selection of Korean food, followed by hours and hours of socials over drinks with industry friends who also joined the drive. A great night for sure.

We haven’t talked about styling yet so here it goes. The Hyundai Stargazer X does not stray too far from the Stargazer with the same spaceship-like design, taking inspiration from the larger Staria minivan. In all honestly, Hyundai did a better job in making the Stargazer X look rugged compared to rivals. It just fits well here and doesn’t look like they tried too hard.

So we get a different front grille, black plastic cladding all around, a more stylish set of 17-inch two-tone alloy wheels, and a neat tailgate spoiler. The interior is also largely the same but with red stitching on the seats. You’ll also notice the piano-black finish for the housing of the instrument cluster and 8-inch infotainment system, but that also comes on the updated Stargazer.

LED lighting is standard except for the front fog lights and rear brake lights which I still find a bit strange, but they had to cut costs somewhere. Oh, an electronic parking brake is also equipped here unlike on the Stargazer.

Moving on with our second day, it was my turn to drive the Hyundai Stargazer X. Finding a proper driving position was not difficult as the steering column offered plenty of adjustment, both for reach and height. Visibility is also excellent thanks to the large windows and windshields.

Once we got moving, it felt very familiar. Well of course since this is powered by the same 1.5-liter naturally-aspirated Smartstream G engine from the Creta and Stargazer. Like in those, it still produces 114 horsepower and 144 Nm of torque, mated to an Intelligent Variable Transmission (IVT), Hyundai speak for CVT. 

What I like about the Stargazer X is how responsive and smooth it is regardless of driving mode. When Hyundai said the transmission was intelligent, it really was. It will find itself causing a bit of a drone-like sound when pushed harder, but you’re not supposed to do that with an MPV anyway. Power is decent though it can definitely use a little bit more to be on par with its Honda BR-V rival which is just a bit quicker and more fun.

Steering is tuned more for comfort and I do wish for a little bit more feedback and weight though I’m not complaining. Meanwhile, its excellent visibility I mentioned earlier, as well as its compact size did definitely help us get through the tight streets on the way to our lunch stop, Kynd Dining, located on the highlands of Angeles City, just outside Clark.

Here we had some more good food that filled our tummies well. Anyway, this lunch stop basically concluded our drive with the Hyundai Stargazer X, as after that, we made our way back to Metro Manila just in time to not join the Friday rush hour traffic.

I’ll be honest, the Hyundai Stargazer X is still not my first choice. While most buyers will love the stand-out and very unique styling, it’s just not for me. Everything else though is done very well and you know that Hyundai definitely has something that can give its rivals a run for their money. It surely deserves five stars, and is a star in the segment that fits the needs for many car buyers these days.