Kia Cerato 2009 Review

About our ratings

OVERVIEW

Kia says its new Cerato is primed to take on the might of local small sedan segment leaders, Corolla, Civic and Mazda 3 -- and in the process change perceptions and fortunes of the Korean brand Down Under.

Heard as much before?  Yes, so have we, but after driving what on first impressions amounts to the best Korean car ever to come Down Under, this time we're prepared to take the K brand's statement on face value... Yes, it's early days but, the new Cerato really is THAT good...

Smartly styled, well equipped and above all displaying a build quality and 'completeness' that has been lacking in previous Kias, the new Small Car segment entrant certainly appears to have the wherewithal to attract 'open-minded' buyers to the brand.

As such, the sedan-only range (for the time being -- a hatch is 12-18 months away -- more here) has been labeled a "transformational" model by Kia's local executive team.

"It's going to help shift the perception of Kia from being affordable transportation through to being more appealing, technically advanced, fun-to-drive, great styling, plenty of features and still great prices," Kia Australia National Marketing Manager, Steve Watt told the Carsales Network on the occasion of the Cerato's launch in Melbourne late last month.

According to Watt, most people don't realize Kia has moved on from the 'run of the mill'...

"Our task in launching this car is to help people re-evaluate our brand, help them understand where we've gone... It [Cerato] heralds a brand new era for Kia," he says...

PRICE AND EQUIPMENT

That "brand new era" nevertheless kicks off at a familiar price point -- Kia's bullish, not insane... And, it's a very competitive price point at that. Just $10 short of $19,000 buys you the entry-level but well-equipped five-speed manual Cerato S sedan ($18,990). An extra $2000 will score you the four-speed auto version.

Kia's value for money play means the base model four-door includes six airbags (including curtains), four-wheel antilock disc brakes and a six-speaker fully iPod compatible (AUX 3.5mm and USB connections) audio system. Also standard are power windows (rear included, unlike some cars at this price), power mirrors (which are heated to boot), manual aircon, active front headrests, keyless remote central locking and speed-sensing auto door locks.

The SL's 15-inch wheels are steel, though come replete with attractive alloy-look trims and surprisingly competent 65-series Kumho Solus rubber.

Though stability control is not standard on the base Cerato, it's available in an option pack that bundles this life-saving technology with traction control, cruise control and steering wheel audio controls at a modest $1000 premium. Premium paint (ie: metallic) is another $300.

The top of the range Cerato SLi gets the full safety/convenience suite (as detailed above) and is priced from $22,990/$24,990 for the manual and auto respectively.

Spec upgrades over the base model include attractive 'double-five' spoke 17-inch alloy wheels, rear park assist, auto headlamps, climate control air and Kia's new 'Super Vision' instrument panel which includes a trip computer and graphical rear park assist display. A first at this price point? We're pretty sure it is...

The SLi also gets an upgraded stamp of cloth trim, fog lamps, more chrome and leather trimmed wheel and gearshift gaitor among other goodies.

A final measure of local Kia product planners' confidence in the Cerato's added appeal will be a special order leather interior and sunroof pack that will add a further $2500 to the sticker price.

MECHANICAL

Much of this confidence is based on the fact that about all that's carried over from the outgoing Cerato is the name -- and Kia even gave consideration to dumping that. In the end, the fact the main alternative option available to Kia Oz (Forte) was even less desirable determined the 'steady as we go' approach.

Badge aside then, the new Cerato shares little with the outgoing model. There's an all-new platform and a new generation powerplant -- neither are shared with any Kia (or Hyundai) product (Yet!).

That's not to say Kia hasn't availed itself of the corporate tool box. Drawn from the same engineering gene pool as the Euro-focused c'eed (and i30), the Cerato uses much of the modified McPherson strut front architecture of the Euro hatch, though combined with a new torsion beam rear suspension.

The simpler rear suspension is cheaper to build and frees up boot space but theoretically doesn't allow the same handling finesse as the 'proper' independent rear-end deemed necessary for the Euro-market c'eed. That said, the good news is that the Cerato's set-up is well fettled (more in ON THE ROAD below).

Lessons learned in designing and building the c'eed also benefit the Cerato's main structure. The new sedan-only body-in-white (BIW) features extensive use of high strength steels to create a stiffer, stronger and more crashworthy structure, the company says. Kia claims the BIW's rigidity is enhanced by "a hoop structure around the central pillar area designed to offer better occupant protection, especially in rollover accidents". See SAFETY for more below.

Brakes are four-wheel disc (280mm front; 262mm rear) and steering is conventional hydraulically-assisted rack and pinion. Kia claims a 10.78m turning circle for the 17-inch wheeled SLi. The SL turns about 450mm tighter.

As noted above, the Cerato S rides on 15-inch steel rims and 195/65 R15 tyres while the 17-inch alloy equipped SLi gets 215/45 R17 rubber. Both boast a full-size spare -- a fifth alloy on the up-spec model.

Underbonnet it's all-new. Cerato debuts Kia's all-new new Theta II 2.0-litre variable valve timing DOHC fuel-injected four-cylinder engine, as well as a revised five-speed manual transmission and new four-speed auto.

With 115kW at 6200rpm and 194Nm at 4300, Kia claims the 'in-class' performance high ground for the new powerplant. Euro IV-compliant, the Theta II engine features variable inlet cam timing and all-alloy construction.

Mated to the five-speed manual, the powertrain scoots the Cerato along 0-100 km/h in 9.3 seconds and returns a combined ADR fuel figure of 7.8L/100km. This is frugal enough to score the Cerato a 4.5 star rating in the Australian Government's Green Vehicle Guide.

The four-speed Sportsmatic automatic transmission version is a touch slower (0-100 km/h in 10.5 seconds) but just 0.1L/100km thirstier.

The new tranny uses a lightweight flat-profile torque converter which Kia claims not only makes for a more compact gearbox, but also a more efficient one. Electronic controls deliver a degree of 'adaptivity' to the gearbox to accommodate for varying driving styles, the maker says.

Alas, all the electronics in the world can't narrow the gaps between the four fixed ratios. Though Kia boasts of the new Sportsmatic gearbox that "a high top gear ratio ensures reduced fuel consumption and quieter cruising at high speeds", on the road the gap between second and third gears is sometimes too wide for even the peppy 2.0-litre four to bridge without histrionics.
 

PACKAGING

The new Cerato is 30mm longer, 40mm wider and 10mm lower than its predecessor and rides on a 40mm longer wheelbase. Its more purposeful stance is in part explained by the massive increases in track when compared to its predecessor -- the front track is 62mm wider than the pigeon-toed outgoing model and the rear track is up 79mm!

At 4530mm in length, the car is 10mm shorter than the Honda Civic and 20mm under Toyota's Corolla sedan. It's substantially longer than the 'bobtailed' Mazda3 four-door (4475mm) but just 25mm longer than Hyundai's C-segment sedan, the rather uninspiring, Elantra.

The new Kia's wheelbase (2650mm) matches the Hyundai and of the cars listed above, only the Civic's (2700mm) is longer.

Hunkered down over these generous dimensions is a well-resolved cab-forward, dare we say, Honda-ish new body. With wide 'box-style' front guards, there's undoubted focus on the front end and what will increasingly become a calling card for the brand -- the new 'Schreyer Line' grille.

Referencing Kia's global design boss, Peter Schreyer, the grille is said to represent a "tiger's roaring force". Penned by the ex-Volkswagen Audi Group design leader, the grille features top and bottom centre 'fillets'. It will eventually find its way onto the pointy end of all Kias .

In side elevation, the new Cerato has strong wedge-like character with a high boot line that's punctuated by a profile reminiscent of rear lip spoiler. Kia claims a drag coefficient of 0.29 -- better than class average. The wedge look is accentuated by a belt line that has an interesting kink to it just behind the wing mirrors. It's a fine look for a sedan.

Thanks to the rear suspension design and the wedge shape, the boot delivers a useful 415 litre capacity. With 60:40 splitfold rear seats there's a degree of amenity delivered that at least in-part makes up for the lack of a five-door variant.

By way of comparison Honda claims a 376 litre boot capacity for the Civic and Toyota 450 litres for the Corolla. The Mazda3 sedan is just one litre shy of the Kia.

While Kia champions the Cerato's rear's shoulder room and easy access -- the latter in part thanks to wide-opening rear doors and at very straight C-pillar to rear sill line -- it's still a touch narrow (in overall width) for three adults (we're still in the small car class, remember).

That said, thanks to generous legroom front and rear (Kia claims "best-in-class" front legroom for the Cerato) and beltline 'kink', the cabin has an airy, spacious feel to it. Sight lines are good too...

With tilt and reach adjustment for the wheel, drivers seat height adjustment (tilt rather than true height adjustment, in truth) and long seat rails, the driving position accommodates little and large. There's a proper left footrest for the driver and even with a near-180cm driver in place, there was enough rear legroom to accommodate his/her twin in the rear.

Plastics, while still on the hard-side (there's little 'give' in elbow and knee touch points), have a quality look to them with classy graining (the 'pattern' moulded into plastics) and good matching (or appropriate contrasting) across the different internal surfaces. We'd rate the Cerato's interior ahead of, say, the current Subaru Impreza, but behind the soon to be released updated Mazda3.

The Mazda3 comparison might also be raised when it comes to describing the interior -- especially the tightly-hooded instrument cluster (though it's a single eyebrow, rather than the new Mazda's 'double bubble'). The centre-stack on the other hand is less beholding to the Mazda's layout. It's a simple, relatively clean design that Kia says will also become a trademark of its interiors.

It's by no means a 'perfect' interior and there are some glitches -- for example, we couldn't find in-cabin releases for the splitfold rear seats (though the remote releases located in the boot work well) and 'nice to haves' like a damped glovebox and grab handles and rear door pockets are absent -- but overall it's a very pleasing environment, especially given the sub-$19K starting price.

If anything buyers of the SLi may feel a little hard done by when they sit in a Cerato SL -- save for the flasher instruments, there's little to separate the 'bogger' from the top-of-the-range.

Both variants benefit from what Kia claims is a significant amount of focus on noise, vibration and harshness (NVH). We can report across a wide range of surfaces, the Cerato was commendable hushed -- not adjectives we'd have used in the same sentence as 'Kia' all that very long ago.

Kia points out that measures such as the use of sound-absorbing materials in hollow sections of the bodyshell, hydroformed and isolated front and rear sub-frames for mounting the suspension, acoustically optimized panels (including "a double-curved surface floor panel"), substantial attention to the engine bay acoustics and upgraded weather and sound seals on the doors, all contribute to "significantly reduce" NVH levels.
 

SAFETY

Though we're disappointed Kia hasn't delivered stability control standard across the Cerato range from day one, at least it's available as an option on the base car... And coupled with the other items included in the SL option pack (see PRICE AND EQUIPMENT above) it's a reasonably priced option at that.

The SLi gets stability control (coupled with traction control), however, and six airbags are standard across the range, as are active front headrests, front seatbelt pre-tensioners and antilock four-wheel discs with electronic brake force distribution and emergency brake assist.

Most of the launch test fleet was fitted with stability control. The system is switchable and we can vouch that its calibration seems well matched to the Cerato's relatively sporty ride/handling balance.

The system also acquitted itself well on the sections of dirt included in the launch loop. The same can't be said for all the stability control calibrations out there even in this day and age.

As the Cerato is not earmarked for the European market, Kia has not offered it to EuroNCAP for testing. The carmaker expects that the local ANCAP organisation will test the car in due course. It claims the Cerato will deliver "at least four star" crash test rating.
 

COMPETITORS

Cerato launches into an active segment with plenty of brands and models competing for buyers' dollars. In terms of small sedans, we've already mentioned Civic, Corolla, Mazda3 and Elantra, but you can also add Ford's Focus, Holden's Astra and Viva , Mitsubishi's Lancer, the Nissan Tiida, Subaru's Impreza and even the Proton Persona to the competitive set... And then there are the hatch equivalents of most to the above!

Overall, small cars are the largest single segment of the Australian new car market and the most hotly contested in terms of retail offers. For success Kia will need to ensure that Cerato is not only priced well from an RRP standpoint, but also from a showroom floor transaction price.

Kia has traditionally appealed to private buyers and the Cerato should bolster that position. That said, the brand will be looking for fleet sales of the new Cerato.

Nevertheless, Kia Australia is reluctant to commit to sales volumes for the new Cerato. The company says it's aiming for around 4000 Cerato sales for 2009. Though this is around double what the outgoing Cerato achieved in 2008, it equates to barely two months' volume for the top-selling small sedan models Down Under.

Says marketing chief Watts: "The first challenge is to get [Cerato and Kia] at top of mind and get some share of voice. The sales targets are very conservative... [But Hyundai] i30 sells between 700-900 units per month and we'd like to think we could be challenging up in that area. That's our ambition but we need to swing the minds of consumers first and that's hopefully what we're doing with this launch phase [of the Cerato]," Watt said.
 

ON THE ROAD

Not only is the Cerato surprisingly good looking, it's surprisingly good to drive. And we're not meaning to damn it with faint praise.

Kia's product line-up sees Cerato aimed at essentially non-European markets -- enough to ring alarm bells for those of us who appreciate a sporting drive. Sold as the Forte in SE Asian markets and the Spectra in the USA, and with one suspension calibration for its widely differing markets, we'd expected the car to arrive with less than convincing dynamics... Something akin to its unconvincing Hyundai Elantra 'cousin'...We were wrong -- and as noted above, pleasantly surprised.

Though it's a touch unclear whether there was an actual exchange of personnel across the Cerato and Ceed programs, Kia says there were definitely 'learnings' from the Euro-only hatch incorporated into the chassis and suspension calibrations of the four-door. These manifest themselves in a car that exhibits a pleasant blend of handling and ride -- one, that if anything, errs on the sporting side of the coin.

The Cerato's steering is well weighted for a wide range of users and doesn't exhibit any of the remoteness and inconsistent artificial feel of some Korean cars -- including those wearing Holden badges. Turn-in is crisp on sealed surfaces and in normal circumstances the overall balance of the car through corners is commendably neutral.

Sure, you can provoke understeer in extremis, but overall the Cerato is a huge step forward from the dynamics we'd normally associate with a Kia badge. Part of the credit here goes to the Kumho Solus tyres -- they are a real step forward from some of the rubber that has been fitted to previous Kias, Hyundais and the like.

On dirt there's a hint of lift-off oversteer if you're pushing on -- just enough to have the nose point just so and allow you to drive through the bend. 'Normal' driving on dirt will rarely provoke this, but if it happens, it'll be quickly and subtly quelled by the well-calibrated stability control (on models so-equipped).

Whether the surface is loose or grippy, the overall impression of the Cerato is one of good inherent balance. Even the torsion beam rear end rarely gets flustered. Diagonal ridges and sharper bumps in corners might produce the occasionally shimmy or skip, but only at sporting levels of commitment.

To put things in perspective, the Cerato still has a way to go to match the very best small cars in terms of dynamics (read: Focus), but the difference is no longer measured in light years. Only very demanding consumers will be disappointed.

The Cerato's powerplant is smooth, quiet in the most part and fuss-free. There are no harsh steps in the power delivery, though there is more urge (and even a hint of brio) once the tacho needles swings past 4000rpm.

In the manual variant 105km/h has the engine spinning at around 2300rpm in top gear. A downchange to third is required for quick progress, but our launch tester was happy to match the ebb and flow of freeway traffic at these middling revs. We'll have to wait until we get a Cerato for a longer period to comment on fuel consumption. The enthusiastic pace of the launch drive was not really indicative of the figures most owners will register.

The manual seems to be the pick of the Cerato bunch currently, thanks to a spread of gear ratios that better suits the new 2.0-litre four. As we noted above, despite the smarts installed in the new automatic transmission, there are some times when four-speeds just aren't enough.

There's an especially big jump from second to third which was noticeable, for example, when overtaking -- even just two-up. Load four and their luggage into an auto Cerato and the whole plot will be working hard.

It's worth noting too, that moving the auto from the normal drive position across into the +/- area of the gate doesn't activate a sport setting. If you choose to go 'manual', you need to go 'manual' and work the autobox accordingly.

On the open road and across a variety of surfaces, the Cerato was quiet, with a level of refinement we'd not expected. Kia's attention to NVH seems to have paid off.

And there's that sentiment again -- surprise... Kia's slogan 'The Power to Surprise' has to date been rather hollow. That's no longer the case.

As we noted at the very start of this launch review, the new Cerato is a surprisingly good drive, but best of all exhibits the sort of polish that indicates a brand is coming of age.

One swallow does not a summer make, but with this smart small sedan Kia has shown its potential... If the Cerato is an indicator of things to come, we're now keener than ever to see the next instalment...