Kia Cerato 2004 Review

What we liked
>> Plenty of equipment for the price
>> Refined engine with decent power
>> Smooth automatic transmission

Not so much
>> Poor handling
>> Excessive body roll
>> Harsh ride over sharp bumps

OVERVIEW
Kia has made its mark in Australia by selling cheap cars. Kia would call it value for money and if you look at the sort of levels of equipment versus price, it could be right. Its biggest three sellers the baby Rio hatch and sedan starts at $14,990 drive away, the V6 seven seat Carnival people mover costs from $29,990 drive away and the Pregio van suits plenty of tradies' pockets priced at $22,500.

But where it hasn't had the same sort of success is with its small car that sits in the hugely competitive market alongside Toyota Corolla, Holden Astra and Nissan Pulsar. Formerly known as Spectra, Shuma and Mentor, Kia's multi-monikered but always ordinary small sedan has now been replaced by an all new model the Cerato.

This car, says Kia, will finally give it some degree of sales substance in the segment and it is priced according to the Korean's manufacturer's philosophy. As the only maker to still regularly offer drive away pricing, the Cerato undercuts the opposition by about $3000 starting at $18,990 including on-roads.

Just the one sedan model is on offer at present, with a choice of auto or manual gearboxes with the five-door hatch not due to arrive until October 2004.

FEATURES
This might be an all-new car for Kia, but underneath it shares much of its hardware with Kia's Hyundai parent's offering in the same segment, the Elantra. Under the bonnet is a 2.0-litre engine driving the front wheels, inside it will seat five and it comes with plenty of gear.

But that said, the Cerato is longer, wider and more spacious than its predecessor and although still relatively anonymous, it looks a lot better too. It was styled in-house by Kia and is more conservative and refined than the Elantra and different enough that you are not likely to confuse it with its Hyundai sibling.

Given Kia's point of difference is price, it is also particularly well endowed with standard equipment. Remote central locking, air conditioning, power windows and mirrors, cruise control, and a six-speaker CD audio system are all on the list. There are nice big cupholders in the door bins and centre console and a small lidded storage box between the front seats.

On the first glance, the quality of the fit and finish of the car seems to have improved a bit too with a decent dash layout although over the course of our drive, there were a few squeaks and rattles emanating from the rear.

COMFORT
Inside, the Cerato offers a sizeable cabin with good leg and headroom in both the front and rear, although obviously three adults across the rear would be a bit of a squeeze. Initially the front seats felt a bit flat and firm but over the course of the drive proved reasonably comfortable.

What wasn't comfortable was the ride though. Over the smooth surfaces of the freeway, it was fine but come across any sort of short sharp irregularity - even small expansion joints in concrete road surfaces - and you would feel them through the seat of your pants.

These would also come through the cabin with a resounding crash that was probably more of a result of the fact that general noise levels are actually quite good. The cabin is pretty quiet at most speeds so when you do come across a rough surface, you are going to notice it.

SAFETY
On a straight safety equipment front, the Cerato would appear to be about average in the class with standard dual front airbags, five three-point seatbelts with pre-tensioners and load limiters on the front.

What isn't on offer, however are anti-lock brakes as apparently the cost of full compliance would have meant pricing the car higher and the offer of it as an option was also too expensive given the anticipated small level of take up. Should you really want it - and although the brakes are discs all round, they do tend to grab so ABS wouldn't go astray - it can be delivered on special order for $850 if you are prepared to wait three months for your car.

Safety isn't just about equipment though and while the car's chassis setup might not be unsafe, it certainly doesn't inspire any confidence.

MECHANICAL
For Kia, the 2.0-litre engine under the bonnet is new and from a mechanical standpoint, it is one of the few areas that we can give the thumbs up. With 101kW and 182Nm, it is a strong, smooth and surprisingly refined engine with enough urge to get the 1300kg Cerato off the line or pulling away to overtake with reasonable enthusiasm.

The $2000 optional four speed automatic is smooth shifting although it sometimes resists the urge to kick down to second - despite being an electronically controlled adaptive unit - and with the car's peak torque not kicking in till 4000rpm, this can dull the performance.

Standard transmission is a five-speed manual that although gives you the benefit of being able to choose when you shift gears and push the engine higher into the rev band, it is rubbery and a little ill defined with a clutch pedal that has a particularly high take up point.

Steering is power-assisted rack and pinion and the car sits on a MacPherson strut front and twin-link rear suspension with anti-roll bars at both ends.

COMPETITORS
The big guns in this segment of the market are the Toyota Corolla, Holden Astra, Mazda3 and Nissan Pulsar - none of which you will get on the road for under $20,000 so Kia has a clear advantage on price over the mainstream Japanese players.

However, it is lineball with the Hyundai Elantra although for the latter you will still have to add on-road costs. Line them all up and although the quality of the Korean cars has improved significantly over the past few years, the Japanese still build 'em better and you won't find the dynamics of the Cerato anywhere near the high levels of the Astra or Mazda3.

ON THE ROAD
First a disclaimer. We recognise that most people in the market for this car will be those who cruise the suburbs at sedate speeds never pushing the engine beyond about 3500rpm or the car over 60km/h.

For those, the Cerato offers a good value package that is spacious, looks OK and has a decent donk under the bonnet.

But for anyone that has even an inkling to drive at anything remotely more than sedate, the car has some serious flaws. Straight up, the handling is poor. From the moment you push into a corner still well within the speed limit, there is a distinct lack of feel and feedback from the wooly steering and the car starts to heel over.

Despite the apparent fitment of anti-roll bars front and rear, winding through a country road induces a seesaw roll in the body that after a couple of kilometres is likely to have your passenger reaching for the barf bag.

Without having an in-depth engineering technical knowledge, it feels like the car is significantly under damped which is supposedly to provide a ride comfort bias, however, it doesn't achieve that either. On smooth roads it feels ok although there is a bit of floatiness over undulations but hit some sharp road ruts and you will feel them all the way through your seat.

It is a pity because the engine does have decent get up and go but the chassis and suspension seem to have a mind of their own that in no way provides a car that you can or would want to drive with any degree of enthusiasm.

Kia's biggest selling point is still the price.

7 DAY TEST

BOTTOM LINE: Comfortable, capable transport, at a bargain price. But not for the enthusiastic driver

Such has been Kia's chequered past that, every time we've looked forward to spending a week with one, the results have disappointed.

Kia's Sorento medium 4WD is a case in point; really strong and capable on paper, but a few glaring faults in its ride and handling that marr the rest of the package.

The sharply priced mid-sized Optima sedan V6 also promised much, and to be fair, it largely delivered. But still it is no fun to drive, and we spend far too much time behind the wheel these days to settle for second best.

The Cerato had our hopes up again, especially with that conservative yet classy styling. First impressions are always good: Kia would appears now to have outgrown that typical Korean trait of 'overstyling' its cars like parent company Hyundai does. The Cerato's clean, elegant lines and good proportions give it a thumbs up in our book.

That promise is carried over to the interior, which, it must be said, is cavernous for a small car. Front seat room is ample, as is rear seat room, especially in the legroom department. One area that may cause concern for six-footers is the headroom, but it accommodated our 5ft 9in frame comfortably.

There's plenty of bootspace for a load of groceries or a couple of large travel bags, but the strange spare wheel mould in the floor could become annoying after time. The carpet also needs to be anchored better in the boot to stop it sliding around when putting heavy objects in and out.

On the road the Cerato impressed us solidly - up to a point. It's general behaviour and performance is nothing short of startling given the rubbish the Koreans used to serve up. The engine's plenty powerful for this application, and feels quite willing, especially with that sensitive throttle pedal.

In fact, it is the engine's strong performance that highlights one of the Cerato's two major failings: the Hankook tyres. Our test car came with Hankook Optimo K406 15inch tyres and their performance is a definite lowlight, potentially holding the Cerato back from being a better car.

In the dry the Hankooks are OK, if a little prone to road hum over coarse bitumen. In the wet these tyres can be a real liability. Grip levels are adequate when cornering at normal speeds, providing you're not trying to accelerate at the same time. Attempt any amount of lock - let's say turning from a side street onto a main road with flowing traffic - with a need for acceleration and wheelspin is a real handicap.

Braking, too, is a problem in the wet. As Russell mentioned in our first drive (above) the brakes can grab unnecessarily, and in the wet that is a real hazard - ABS would be a real boon in these circumstances. Shame the Cerato doesn't have it standard, then. One other way to improve Cerato's wet weather performance would be to fit different tyres after purchase, perhaps Bridgestones or Dunlops.

There's also a good chance that better tyres would improve Cerato's bump soaking abilities - one area heavily criticised above. Clearly the Cerato's not trying to be a sports sedan, so its roly-poly ride is not going to be a big issue to suburban owners, and we had little problem over our seven-day test. But the ride quality was harsher than it needs to be over road joins, tram tracks and the like, and hinder what is an otherwise extremely competent, comfortable package.

Overall, we really liked the Cerato in its role as comfortable, well-appointed, well-priced urban transport. With better tyres we would have no hesitation recommending it as a bargain-priced alternative to Corolla, Mazda3 and Pulsar. But if driving's still fun to you, think carefully about the Cerato's dynamic limitations.