Kia Cerato
06-February-2009
- Vital Stats
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$18,990 - $24,990
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Un-leaded
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4.5 metres - huge! Long!
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4
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The Kia Cerato
AutoChic was recently invited up to the Yarra Valley on a drive day to check out the all new Kia Cerato.
Australian Open Tennis fans will have seen the fun and quirky TV commercial, featuring (apparently Aussie) actors playing German and Japanese car execs angsting over covert information about the new Cerato,- spitting in German “something’s going on at Kia!”
Well, sure … but really, what’s all the fuss about?
We’ve said it before, but Kia is kicking some serious butt in the car market right now. The reason? They’ve mastered the combination of great value for money along with accessible design.
Design
The Cerato is the first offering of designer Peter Schreyer, who was commandeered from Volkswagen by the Kia team to put a major emphasis on design for Kia. The result? A sensatonal car priced at $18,990 which rivals the likes of Toyota, Honda and Mazda in features, design, power and safety. In fact, I once owned a Honda Civic, and this car is very reminiscent, and has many of the design elements you might see on a Civic or Toyota Aurion.
How it Drives
So how did it drive? We tested the 4 cylinder 2.0 litre in both manual and auto (with the predictable extra grunt of the manual). The roads up to the Yarra are very windy and are interspersed with gravel. Note: you want to make sure you’re not prone to motion sickness if you want to open it up a bit. It’s a great, powerful little car, and it’s a tight little number on corners.
It’s a great cruising car, but also handles remarkably well, and is best-in-class powerful, especially in overtaking some of the pokier male motoring journalists...
Best Car for Girls Who …
Girls who will love this car are girls who do a fair bit of highway driving, and those who want compact fuel efficiency but also want to have a little more car around them than what the micro-cute cars offer. it’s a great choice – and for couples, perhaps with one child (or a dog!) this is a great little car with big heart. It hits that ‘middle market that Honda and Toyota have dominated for so long. It’s kind of got it all: very competitive price, small/medium advantages (space, performance), fuel economy and great looks as well as outstanding safety features.
Features and Functions - Things we liked:
* Sportsmatic manual-shift
* The new Kia steering wheel
* Great safety features – 6 airbags, 4 wheel disc brakes, ABS, brake assist, stability control (in the SLi range only, however can be added with a low cost option pack for the Cerato S)
* Roomy - the front seats accommodate those of us with long legs and plenty of “elbow room”!
* Lots of cupholders and storage bins
* Great looking grille and back end … a head-turner – helps that the designer comes from a VW and Audi background … so it’s a bit like getting a really good Fendi knock-off!
* Kia’s outstanding 5 year unlimited km warranty – fully transferable to a new owner
* Auxilliary input for audio – great stereo! MP3 compatible CD player with power bass. As well there’s a USB audio input the iPod compatibility
* Very quiet interior ride, very little wind noise
* Central controls in a new
* Class leading 415 litres of storage in the boot
* Electric heated outside door mirrors! Cool!
* Enviro-friendly (though no diesel version at this point unfortunately) An impressive 4.5 stars in the Green Vehicle Guide
* A convenient “Super Vision” with rear parking assist display
* 9 classy colours from Santorini Blue to Metal Bronze and more!
The Cerato might just be the model that turns the Kia brand up 5 notches, and turns around public perception. And why not? They’ve built a class-leading car with the Cerato, and they’ve done it for a price that previously you could only dream of …
THAT’S what’s going on at Kia!
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