Kia Magentis 2006 Review

WHAT WE LIKED
» Impressive equipment list
» Comprehensive passive and active safety
» Spacious interior and boot

NOT SO MUCH
» Leather-trim seats 
» No external release on boot
» Cassette player in audio head unit

OVERVIEW
You could see and feel Japanese cars progress in the 1980s. And Korean cars are on the same trajectory. Hyundai's Sonata and Grandeur are obvious examples. Ditto Hyundai-owned Kia's recent offerings.

For good reason, the Rio is strong in the light car segment. And, while the previous Carnival's dominance of the people-mover market obviously was due to its rock-bottom price, the new-generation Carnival -- in Grand Carnival guise especially -- deserves to sell well.

Now, Kia's Magentis has marched up to the mid-size D-segment gate. The new generation of the already-honest Optima is a subtly bigger and better car than its predecessor. To our eyes, it looks good, too. Mind you, it's not a head-turner. But it's not unattractive, either. And it's not a clone of the stablemeate Hyundai Sonata it's so closely related to (in case you didn't know, Kia is a subsiduary of Hyundai).

Importantly, the Magentis has been launched here with a generous complement of safety features -- both passive and active -- and creature comforts. Like the impressive current Sonata (and Mitsubishi's 380 it will compete against), the Magentis also brings an industry-leading 130,000km/five-year warranty.

Kia's Australian management recognises that what the new Magentis doesn't have is a strong nameplate in the mid-size sedan market segment. Especially against the likes of the Mazda6, Toyota Corolla, Honda Accord Euro, Mitsubishi 380 and, yes, even stablemate Hyundai's Sonata Kia's marketing men fancy the new Magentis is up against.

And, that's a bit of a shame. Because in a lot of ways the new Magentis is better than that. We're not saying it's up there with the Japanese yardsticks just yet. But this car definitely is another stride in the right direction.

Build quality is improved, too. That's evident from the consistency of the reduced panel gaps, to the quality of the paint -- sparkly metallic is a $250 option -- and even the way the doors shut with a reassuring "thunk". Things like the gas strut bonnet lifters and proper articulated boot hinges also show that Kia hasn't cut corners.

Yes, the Magentis shares some of its mechanicals and equipment with its stablemate Sonata, but it sits on a slightly-shorter platform, and comes with a 2.7-litre V6 rather than the Sonata's 3.3-litre V6.

For its first new model launch since taking over Australian distribution of its vehicles in March this year, Kia is offering two petrol engine choices in the Magentis -- 2.4-litre inline four-cylinder and the 2.7-litre V6 -- in three equipment levels.

There's a 2.0-litre turbo-diesel engined Magentis available in Europe, which would be a hot-ticket item here right now. Kia's Australian management recognises that fact and says it's working towards getting the car here.

So, for now the entry level Magentis EX combines the petrol four-cylinder engine with a five-speed manual gearbox, cloth seats, 16-inch alloy wheels and a truly impressive safety and equipment package. Kia's bypassed the four-speed auto available with the car in Europe and has instead offered as optional its five-speed automatic with Tiptronic-style sequential shifter.

That entry-level car arrives at $25,990 with manual gearbox and $27,490 with the auto.

The EX-L (for 'Luxury') spec four-cylinder comes only with the auto but delivers more features and equipment (see below), sits on 17-inch alloys and weighs in at $29,490. And the flagship V6 EX-L ups weighs

The EX-L four-cylinder and auto is $29,490, and the top-shelf V6 EX-L costs $31,490. Plus on-roads, of course.

Both engines run on 91-octane unleaded and Kia claims combined fuel economy of 8.1 L/100km for the manual 2.4-litre (8.6 L/100km with the auto), and 9.3 L/100km for the V6-auto EX-L.

Cruise control with steering-wheel-mounted controls is standard across the three-level range, as are automatic headlights, five-function trip computer, air-conditioning (manual in EX; climate-control in EX-L four-cylinder and V6), quality six-speaker CD/MP3 player, again with wheel-mounted controls (and, funnily enough, with a cassette player), in-glass radio antenna and 60:40 split rear bench.

The 2.4 EX-L adds front foglights, telescopic steering wheel adjustment, leather trim interior (including steering wheel and auto shift knob), the aforementioned 17-inch alloys and eight-way power-adjust driver's seat.

To that lot, the top-shelf V6 EX-L adds dual mufflers with twin chrome-tipped exhaust pipes, 'V6' badging and good-looking six-spoke alloys.

Significantly, full-size alloy spares are standard across the Magentis range.

Other range-wide niceties include chromed door handles, remote entry/locking and boot release, two 12-volt outlets (one in the centre console bin, the other in the boot), sunvisor extenders, overhead sunglasses pocket, twin cupholders in the fold-down centre rear armrest, door-mounted boot and fuel filler flap release buttons, two release toggles mounted inside for when you want to drop one, or both sides of the rear bench and an in-boot safety release.  

COMFORT
Like the Sonata it's based on, the Magentis is roomy and airy inside. Both headroom and legroom are good front and rear.

Trim is light-on-dark grey, while seat trim is cloth on the base EX and perforated light-grey leather on the L-spec versions.

The front seats themselves aren't generous in terms of cushion length, although our extended drive in the car showed that they're not an issue in terms of comfort. However, what is an issue -- at least while the leather is new -- is the fact that the cloth-trim front seats on the base EX are easily the more comfortable and supportive. Similarly, the raised centre part of the split rear bench is more tolerable with cloth trim than leather.

Ergonomics are good and, once you've got the hang of them, the steering-wheel-mounted audio and cruise control buttons also are good news.

All-round visibility is good, too, although like most modern cars the A-pillars are fairly bulky and require some getting used to in right-hand corners.

Loading lip height to the huge (420-litre) boot is thankfully low, and the opening appears easily capable of swallowing the four golf bags Kia claims it will carry.

Standard active safety equipment across the Magentis range includes anti-lock four-wheel-disc brakes with emergency brake assist, ESP (Electronic Stability Program) and traction control. And, unlike the Kumho-shod base car, the L-spec cars come shod with Michelin Pilot tyres.

Standard passive safety equipment includes six airbags -- driver and passenger, front side 'bags and deep, full-length curtain 'bags -- pre-tensioner front seat belts, front active head restraints and lap-sash belts all round.

The 2.4-litre four-cylinder engine's maximum power is 119kW at 6000rpm and maximum torque is 221Nm at 4250rpm. Those figures are marginally up on Hyunda's claims for the Sonata's 2.4. Kia claims a 208km/h top speed for the five-speed manual car.

The 2.7-litre DOHC V6 gets constantly variable valve timing and is a more potent version of the engine in the outgoing Optima and current Sportage. Maximum power is 138kW at 6000rpm and 247Nm at 4000rpm.

Funnily enough, four-cylinder Magentis prices aren't too dissimilar to Sonata's, although the Hyundai's V6 models get the bigger engine and heftier pricetags.

As a value-for-money package, the Magentis won't give away much to its better-credentialed rivals.

ON THE ROAD
Much to its credit, Kia in Australia went for the European Magentis suspension tune for our roads, rather than the usually-spongier US tune. And that's translated to a good compromise between ride and handling -- although at this stage we can't comment on the handling of the Kumho-shod entry-level car because we only got to sit in it on the launch. Likewise, there were no manual-gearbox cars at the launch because the first shipment of them isn't due here until mid-September.

Sure, the ride in both the four-cylinder and V6 Magentis can become choppy over badly broken bitumen, but not unacceptably so, and smooth-bitumen ride is really pretty good. Mind you, we suspect the ride in the four-cylinder car with the better cloth seats probably is better than it's translated through the luxury-spec leather-trim models.

The hydraulic steering suits the car, providing positive feedback we got to put to the test on a skid pan set up at the launch to show the benefits of the car's ESP, braking system and terrific Michelins. And, speaking of ESP, the system can be switched off if you prefer to drive that way.

On the road, both engines are reasonably quiet at suburban and outer-urban speeds, although the four-cylinder starts to become coarse when pushed.

We'll have more to report after our first seven-day stint with the car. On the strength of our exposure to the car at the local launch, that's a prospect we're now looking forward to. Again, we don't expect it to trump its mainly-Japanese rivals. But we won't be surprised if it gives them a respectable run for their money.