Kia Cerato driving impression

Dubai is an interesting place. An oasis that sprang from the desert, seemingly overnight, is now one of the leading cities in the world mentioned in the same breath as New York, London and Tokyo. While it may be an exciting destination for many reasons, including shopping, wadi (dune) bashing and the ability to ski in the desert (albeit indoors) it is not ideally suited as a motoring launch venue, the reasons which I will explain later.

I happened to be in the most cosmopolitan of the United Arab Emirates for the international ride-and-drive event of the Kia Cerato. In this regard Dubai seemed fitting. Like the host city, Kia has gone from being a little-known brand that was a fringe player a few decades ago to being a fully-fledged, mainstream automotive manufacturer that is on the rise and cannot be discounted by any of its competition.

Many may have noted the new-model onslaught that Kia has conducted over the last half a decade or so, launching 30 new or facelifted models up to the end of 2012. Well, the Korean carmaker isn’t about to lift off the gas just yet as 51 new or revised products are set to debut between now and 2016. The all-new Cerato is only the second offering – following on from the heavily revised Sorento unveiled late last year – of the new-model barrage we can expect.

The Cerato is a very important model in the line-up as Kia officials admit that the bulk of its sales, nearly 28 per cent, takes place in the C-segment (read: VW Golf, Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic).

Stylish new proposition

One cannot ignore the recent aesthetic shift in Kia’s product range, due in no small part to design director Peter Schreyer’s efforts to take the brand into a more stylistically appealing arena. This new Cerato continues the bold styling ethos as expounded in models of late.

Assistant manager of international communications for the Kia Motor Corporation, Jungwook Wi: “We are very aware that our design competency is a large part of our (current) success factor.”

Kia’s now familiar ‘Tiger Nose’ snout adorns the new car framed by bold HID-equipped headlamps, featuring LED daylight running lamps, which bear more than a passing resemblance to its larger sibling the Quoris.

In profile there is a pronounced wedge shape amplified by a rising belt line that stretches from the front doors’ leading edge to the taillamps. Lower down on the flank there is an interesting bow-shaped curve that breaks the car’s visual heft. The LED taillamps, too, seem oversized and occupy a large percentage of the rump.

Overall the shape is low and flat, creating a distinctive appearance in a class that is dominated by the staid Corolla.

Improved interior quality 

Jungwook Wi commented at the event that 2013 marks Kia’s shift from quantitative to qualitative growth. In fact the company, which has experienced significant growth despite declining worldwide auto markets – has targeted a meagre one per cent increase in total sales for 2013.

Part of the shift upmarket, as it were, can be felt and seen inside the new Cerato. Several areas, especially contact points for front occupants, have been paid very close attention. The door trim and outer arm-rests have been given the soft-touch treatment, as have parts of the facia. Some areas, however, are still adorned by flat, hard plastics.

As we can expect in SA, the vehicles on the launch were fitted with leather seats, which in most models featured electric adjustment on the driver’s chair.

Class-leading space and technology

This new model boasts a wheelbase that is 50 mm longer than its predecessor. According to Kia, this has resulted in the new Cerato featuring class-leading head-, leg- and shoulder-room especially for the front occupants. There is also best-in-class 421 dm3 of boot space, not bad considering that a full-size alloy spare is housed below the boot board.

Other  key areas in which Kia plans to usurp the competition are standard features and technology. The cars on the event featured every conceivable extra with which a Cerato can be equipped. Some are common to other products in the class, such as the dual-zone climate control or the keyless start. Others, however, are unique to the Kia in the C segment inter alia: driver selectable weight settings for the steering action (Comfort, Normal or Sport), heated steering wheel rim, seat warmers front and rear and seat cooling for the front, rear air vents, 10-way adjustable electric driver’s seat with two memory settings, auto de-fog for the front windscreen, six-sensor park distance control with rear-view mirror camera display and Electronic Stability Control (ESC).

South African buyers can probably expect many, but probably not all of these on top spec Ceratos.

Two engine/transmission options

Initially Kia will offer the Cerato with its usual two engine variants a 1,6- and 2,0 litre. The smaller unit develops 95 kW and 156 N.m of torque at a high-ish 4 850 r/min. The larger engine produces 118 kW and 194 N.m at 4 800 r/min. Two petrol-fed, four-pots can be matched with either a manual or automatic transmission both with six ratios.

There was no mention of when a diesel-powered derivative can be expected.

On the road

And for the all-important question “how does it go?” I have to return to my intro. As I said, there are many reasons to visit Dubai, but great driving roads/conditions is not one of them. Firstly, there is a draconian police force – none of whom speak English – who can choose to arrest you at a moment’s notice for the smallest infringement, or so we were told. This necessitated a convoy test drive with chaperones interspersed to keep a check on speed and ensure no one headed the wrong way round a traffic circle…

Apart from that, the roads are of exceptional quality making accurate ride quality evaluation  a difficult task. The MacPherson strut front and torsion beam rear suspension only had to deal with the odd cat’s eye as we changed lanes.

Not only are the road surfaces better than most racetracks in South Africa, but as this city was built in a desert the roads are arrow-straight for long stretches. The closest we got to any form of dynamic evaluation were roundabouts.

I will only be able to accurately ascertain the manner in which a Cerato rides and behaves in a more conventional (local) environment.

In SA soon

Kia’s all-new Cerato will be available in SA towards the end of May with the same engine/transmission line-up as described above. As for the trim level and pricing; local representatives did not reveal too much. Price-wise, an educated guess would involve  a 3-5 per cent increase on those of the current models.

Specifications:

Model: Kia Cerato 1,6-litre
Engine: 1,6-litre, four-cylinder petrol
Power: 95 kW at 6 300 r/min
Torque: 157 N.m at 4 850 r/min
0-100 km/h: 10,1 seconds
Fuel consumption: 6,5 L/100 km
CO2: 154 g/km
Top speed: 200 km/h
Price: n/a
Service or Maintenance plan: n/a
Service intervals: n/a