Kia Rondo 7 2008 Review

What we liked
>> Attractive styling
>> Credible build quality for the price
>> Very space-efficient design

Not so much
>> Four-speed automatic
>> Lack of low down torque
>> Diesel could make all the difference in this sort of vehicle

Overall rating: 3.0/5.0
Engine/Drivetrain/Chassis: 2.5/5.0
Price, Packaging and Practicality: 3.5/5.0
Safety: 2.5/5.0
Behind the wheel: 3.5/5.0
X-factor: 3.0/5.0

About our ratings

OVERVIEW
Kia first introduced its passenger car range to the Australian market in 1997. Life for the Korean brand has not been a bowl of cherries since. Between the Asian economic crisis and Kia's subsequent acquisition by Hyundai, an initially lacklustre product range, the Carnival head gasket issue and 'musical chairs' distributorship, it's a wonder the company still has any sort of presence in this country.

Yet despite that, Kia is moving up in the world. The company's product range is increasingly well regarded. In offroad SUVs, the Sorento has a growing following and the current Carnival is a favourite of the peoplemover set, balancing value and refinement in a package that does its level best to combine style and practicality.

That's the present. In the future, if we ever get to see some of the designs emanating from Kia's German styling studio, the brand's image should improve even further.

The new Rondo is a car styled in the manner of the more conservative global look applied to the current Sorento and Carnival -- none of that new fancy Euro styling here. However, it's not a fussy style and should appeal to a broad spectrum of buyers, including the Rondo's target demographic of young families and 'empty nesters' with a need to transport the grandchildren.

Kia previously marketed a mini peoplemover from the late 1990s -- during those formative years when products were practical and built down to a price, rather than being stylish and refined. That earlier vehicle was the Carens.

The Rondo is still sold in markets other than North America under the Carens name. As with the original model, the Rondo (actually marketed here as the 'Rondo 7'), is a small car with the interior spaciousness of a typical compact SUV and three rows of seats.

Kia has priced the range from $24,990 for the LX manual. This variant is the only one available with a manual (five-speed) transmission. Automatic transmission is also available in the entry-level grade, for a $2000 premium ($26,990).

A further $2000 over the cost of the Rondo LX auto moves buyers up to the level of the Rondo EX auto ($28,990). The flagship Rondo EX-L is priced $3000 beyond that at $31,990.

Metallic paint, priced at $350, was the one option at launch, but within days of the launch, the company announced that side-impact (thorax) airbags for the front seats, side curtain airbags and active front-seat headrests can be specified as a $990 option for the LX and EX grades. The full suite was available in the EX-L from day one.

Only four colours are available and they're best described as monochromatic: Clear White, Urban Grey, Black Cherry and Fine Silver. The good news is that from June production, the Rondo will also be available with Moonlight Blue and Tomato Red. From that same running change, Urban Grey will be replaced by Titanium Silver.

Standard features for the base-grade Rondo LX include: air conditioning with outlets for the second-row seating, CD audio system with auxiliary input jack, 15-inch steel wheels, heated and electrically-adjustable exterior mirrors, electric windows, dual front airbags, remote central locking, cloth trim, four-wheel disc brakes with ABS and EBD. Stability control is also standard.

Building on the basic LX specification, the Rondo EX adds the following items: remote (steering wheel) audio controls, roof rails with crossbars, additional chrome trim for the grille, side mouldings and door handles, front foglights, 17-inch alloy wheels, premium cloth trim and leather trim for the steering wheel and gear-changer.

In addition, the flagship Rondo EX-L is fitted with sunroof, leather trim, side-impact airbags, side curtain airbags and climate control air conditioning.

MECHANICAL
Kia isn't exactly breaking the mould with the Rondo. It's quite conventional, other than the packaging.

Rondo takes its cues from the mid-size Magentis. Sitting on a 20mm shorter version of the Magentis platform, the Rondo gets a 2.0-litre four in place of the Magentis' 2.4-litre. It also misses out on the sedan's five-speed automatic -- making do with a four-speeder. Curiously, Kia claims to have no immediate plans to drop the five-speeder into the Rondo.

The 2.0-litre 'Theta' four-cylinder petrol engine features four valves per cylinder with a silent chain drive for the double overhead cams and variable valve timing. A square design (bore and stroke both measuring 86.0mm), the engine nonetheless feels peaky and, for a vehicle that is designed to haul mass (even if the 'mass' comprises your kids and the grandparents), it produces both power and torque at relatively higher engine speeds. Peak power of 106kW occurs at 6000rpm and the maximum torque figure of 189Nm arrives at 4250rpm.

Fuel consumption in combined cycle testing as per ADR81/01 is 8.4L/100km for the LX manual or 8.6L/100km for the Rondo with automatic transmission. CO2 emissions are 201g/km (manual) or 206g/km (auto).

Drive is conveyed to the front wheels via the five-speed manual transmission in the base Rondo LX or the abovementioned four-speed automatic with sequential-shift facility. This is optional for the LX but is the only gearbox offered in the EX and EX-L.

Cornering, ride and braking are handled respectively by hydraulically-assisted rack-and-pinion steering, front MacPherson struts, multi-link IRS, ventilated front disc rotors and solid rear discs.

The turning circle is 10.8m with the 15-inch steel wheels fitted to the Rondo LX or 11.0m for models fitted with the wider 17-inch alloys.
PACKAGING
Kia's designers have done a great job finding a clean, uncluttered corporate style for the Rondo. The coefficient of drag is 0.32Cd, which is a good result for a car that's designed to maximise internal space.

As well as looking neat and straight-forward, the styling makes allowance for a largely unobstructed field of vision, contributing to pedestrian safety and making light work of reversing the car.

The styling is also quite deceptive. Standing alongside the Rondo, one is struck by its compact external dimensions. It's very much a case of filling the corners of the box, to use a metaphor recently related to us by Ford's Scott Strong. The curvier a car looks -- according to the Ford stylist -- the further the style lines seem to gravitate away from a hypothetical box in which the car would fit. As a consequence, curvier cars tend to look smaller.

The Rondo, being a fairly bulky and angular design, fills out the corners of the box and looks relatively larger than it is, until you step up close to it.

Yet it's not all illusion. The Rondo is certainly very commodious inside and the impression of spaciousness is given a further leg-up by the elevated seat mounting, which facilitates easier access to the comfortable seats.

There's plenty of head and legroom in both the front and sliding second-row seating. The third-row seat will accommodate two average-sized adults as long as the second row seats are adjusted forward far enough. The headroom in the third-row seat is adequate for adults under 180cm.

Your choice is this: two adult couples of average size in second and third rows or one significantly taller couple and two smaller occupants (up to about mid-teens, for example) for a relatively short trip. There are other permutations as well, of course -- including the small child in the centre seat position of the 60/40 split-folding second row seats.

Since the Rondo will be mainly purchased by families, the car's seating should be more than adequate until the family is ready to upgrade to a larger MPV anyway.

The Rondo's luggage volume measures 184 litres with all three rows of seats upright or 898 litres with the third row folded flat -- in a 50/50 split fold -- and the seats are very easy to fold flat with just the one hand, thanks to the pull straps at the rear.

Kia tells us that with the third-row seat folded flat, the Rondo will accommodate four golf bags with ease.

In respect of cabin ambience, the plastics were of a decent quality and feel, taking into account the pricing for the car.

Kia has installed a Nissan-style curry hook near the glovebox and some buyers will welcome that with the same level of appreciation as for the car's 10 bottle- and cupholders.

SAFETY
For a car priced below $25,000, but able to seat up to seven occupants, the Rondo presents a fairly convincing safety case from an active safety viewpoint. It's fitted as standard with traction control, ESP (stability control), ABS and EBD. This last feature is particularly important in the Rondo, given that the difference in payload from driver-only to full load might be a variance of 400kg or more and the weight distribution will be biased more to the rear with a full payload.

However, the safety argument is not entirely compelling once one looks at the passive safety features. The entry-level variants are equipped with just dual front airbags as standard. Attaining the extra piece of mind afforded by active front headrests, side-impact airbags and side curtains will cost the buyer an extra $990 in the LX and EX models, although these items do come as standard in the EX Limited model.

Front seatbelts are fitted with pretensioners and are height-adjustable. Both second and third row seats come with individual headrests. All seatbelts are lap-sash -- as they should be!
COMPETITORS
Based on the pricing of the Rondo and its seven-seat capacity, it's hard to come up with direct competitors. There's the Mitsubishi Outlander, which can be specified with a third-row seat, but that's actually an SUV and would be more expensive -- both to purchase and to run.

There are some five-seat cars that would provide a similar degree of spaciousness if the ultimate seven-seat capacity weren't important -- but let's face it, it will be important to anyone benchmarking the Rondo against other small cars.

That sidelines the Skoda Roomster, for that very reason.

The Renault Scenic, Grand Scenic and the Citroen C4 Picasso are all more expensive. Even the lowest-priced Scenic (a vehicle that is a smaller package in length than the Rondo), costs more than the flagship Rondo EX Limited.

ON THE ROAD
The Rondo is not a sportscar and nor should it be assessed as one. It manages to offer decent levels of grip in counterpoint to a gentle ride. It's quiet, composed, well built and easy to drive.

Whilst it does feel a little underpowered -- particularly with the automatic transmission -- it offers enough performance to satisfy most likely owners. We didn't have the opportunity to try it with a load of passengers -- and that's the real test. How will it cope with long hills and a load consisting of the kids' sporting equipment and all seven seats occupied?

The Rondo manual was not particularly quick for in-gear acceleration -- especially since the overall gearing is low and should actually aid straight-line performance. At a steady speed of 50km/h in fourth gear, the tachometer was showing 2000rpm. If the gearing were closer to the norm for modern small cars, the manual Rondo would feel a little less spritely than it does.

From having driven both auto and manual versions, it's a case of horses for courses. The auto is almost certainly the better choice for urban owners and the manual will probably suit owners who do more open-road driving.

The manual variant provides an extra ratio for overtaking -- and without the loss of mechanical efficiency inherent in automatic transmissions. Also, this engine really needs 3000rpm on the tacho to build up an adequate reserve of torque.

At higher revs, the engine is relatively free of vibrations, but can be noisy. That's a consequence of the engine being very quiet at other times.

Around town, the lack of a fifth gear in the auto box won't be noticed as badly, but above 60km/h, it's more of an issue. The four-speed unit is also occasionally reluctant to kick down, but it was generally smooth and changed up without undue slurring.

In the manual Rondo LX, the gearshift was a bit slow and clutch take-up was quite high, but the gearshift action is light and easy enough to use, notwithstanding the need for patience from the driver. All the same, the auto is a better choice in the urban environment.

There was a bit of what seemed like induction noise from the engine between 1500 and around 2000rpm with the manual gearbox in fourth gear. The subdued noise was blocked by low levels of wind and road noise once in fifth gear.

On the subject of noise, wind noise from the mirrors was more apparent in the base Rondo LX than in the higher-grade models, suggesting NVH countermeasures have been further developed in the EX and EX Limited variants. However, even the Rondo LX was very quiet in cruise mode, wind noise being the most prevalent source of NVH for all the variants.

In the corners, the Rondo mustered safe, consistent handling, as well as reasonable steering turn-in and response. The steering for the Rondo LX felt a bit slack at the straight-ahead, which is almost certainly due to the tyres fitted to the 15-inch steel wheels of the base model, versus the 17-inch alloys of the Rondo EX and EX-L.

The body can be felt leaning a little in tighter bends, but body roll wasn't bad for the high-riding nature of the vehicle. Overall, the Rondo's cornering provides no cause for concern, relative to the expectations of the car's two target demographics.

The driving position is quite comfortable, although the nice, wide footrest was missed in the manual Rondo LX. One way Kia has found more interior space is siting the parking brake on the floor, as a foot pedal, with a hand-pull release on the dash. Hill starts aren't going to be particularly easy with this sort of set-up.

There's little fundamentally wrong with the Rondo, although a torque injection wouldn't hurt. The Americans already get around in V6 petrol-engined Rondos (with all-wheel drive too!). The good news is a turbodiesel version is on the way for Aussie buyers -- eventually.

And therein lies our one principal misgiving about the Rondo. It's definitely a good package, but it's also still a work in progress. The importer only decided the pricing for the side curtain airbags option in the days immediately after the media launch. There'll be better colours from June, a diesel option within 12 months. Who knows? Perhaps a V6 or five-speed auto further down the track.

As it stands, it's economical, comfortable and represents pretty good value. As with any car, we recommend the side curtain airbag option -- especially if you're a grandparent and you're carrying around your most important payload.

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