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By
EWAN KENNEDY
4 September
Kia Australia, now under direct control of the
factory, is undertaking a huge sales push at the moment. Cerato is the
Korean maker’s small-medium model and comes very well equipped, with
items that are often listed as extras by other makers coming as
standard.
You not only get power windows and door mirrors
and a six-speaker CD stereo, but also cruise control, a rarity in
this class.
Kia Cerato began its Australian career as a
single model, with one engine and a four-door sedan body. A
five-door hatch has recently been unveiled and is the subject of
our road test this week.
While the styling of the sedan is pretty
conventional, the rear end of the hatch has a bit more to attract
it to potential buyers. It’s certainly no sports model, but has
the sort of look you’ll be proud to see in your driveway.
The first thing most notice about the Cerato is
that it’s surprisingly spacious inside. That’s because it is
taller than average. The extra height means those in the front
seats take up less horizontal room, so they don’t have to adjust
the seats back as far as usual. Making for good legroom and
headroom in the back for two large adults, three if they don’t
mind rubbing shoulders. You should find that three pre-teen
children can be carried with few territorial hassles – no
promises, though!
Boot space is good with all the seats in use and
the volume can be substantially increased by folding down the rear
seat backrests. These are released by using levers at the front of
the boot. Interestingly, this seat-back arrangement is also used
in the Cerato sedan, though its somewhat shallow boot opening
doesn’t make it as versatile as the hatchback.
Handling is safe and predictable although you
really wouldn’t say there's anything sporty in the way Cerato
feels. The steering is rather light and understeer starts to set
in at speeds not much more than those achieved by the average
driver. Better tyres would probably help and are well worth
considering when the first set starts to wear down. Indeed, if you
think of yourself as a keen driver it may even be worth trying to
do a deal with the salesperson before you agree to buy the car as
new.
There’s a more solid feel to the car than from
any previous small-medium Kia. It cruises comfortably at motorway
speeds and rough Australian backroads don’t knock it around
overmuch. Try the latter for yourself, though, if you are going to
be doing a lot of travelling on typically poor bush roads.
Cerato comes with plenty of performance thanks
to the use of a bigger than average engine for its class. The
2.0-litre engine is reasonably smooth in its output and has good
torque from about 2000 rpm upwards. It’s not all that happy to
rev but, as we said before, Cerato really is aimed at the person
looking for transportation, not for the revheads.
A bigger engine doesn’t have to mean increased
fuel consumption. Our test manual Cerato typically used seven to
nine litres per hundred kilometres in the country and 10 to 11
litres per hundred around town. Motorway driving at 110 to 120
km/h routinely saw the consumption drop below seven litres per
hundred kilometres.
Build quality in Kia's factory is improving in
leaps and bounds. The body of the Cerato is generally tight in its
margins and nice and neat where the lines converge. The paint job
is good, being free of any blemishes worth mentioning. The
interior still has some parts that don’t fit quite as well as
they should, but the problems are verging on trivial compared with
what we saw in Kias only a generation ago.
Kia's new Cerato five-door hatch is well priced,
comes with an excellent array of standard equipment and now comes
with yet another appealing feature – a warranty that lasts for
five years or 130,000 kilometres, whichever comes first.
AT A GLANCE
MODEL RANGE
Cerato 2.0-litre four-door sedan - $17,990
Cerato 2.0-litre five-door hatch - $17,990
FEATURES
ABS Brakes: $850 option
Air Conditioning: Standard in both models
Automatic Transmission: $2000 option
CD Player: Standard in both models
Central Locking: Standard in both models
Cruise Control: Standard in both models
Driver Airbag: Standard in both models
Passenger Airbag: Standard in both models
Front Side Airbags: Not offered
SPECIFICATIONS (Kia Cerato 2.0-litre
five-door hatch)
ENGINE:
Capacity: 1.975 litres
Configuration: Four cylinders in line
Head Design: DOHC, four valves per cylinder
Compression Ratio: 10.0:1
Bore/Stroke: 82.0 x 93.5mm
Maximum Power: 105kW @ 6000rpm
Maximum Torque: 186Nm @ 4500rpm
DRIVELINE:
Driven Wheels: Front
Manual Transmission: Five-speed
Automatic Transmission: Four-speed
Final Drive Ratio: 3.842:1
DIMENSIONS, WEIGHT AND CAPACITIES:
Length: 4340 mm
Wheelbase: 2610 mm
Width: 1735 mm
Height: 1470 mm
Turning Circle: 10.1 metres
Kerb Mass: 1253 kg
Fuel Tank Capacity: 55 litres
Towing Ability: 453kg (850kg with braked trailer)
SUSPENSION AND BRAKES:
Front Suspension: Independent, MacPherson struts, anti-roll bar
Rear Suspension: Independent, twin link, coils, anti-roll bar
Front Brakes: Ventilated disc
Rear Brakes: Disc
PERFORMANCE:
0-100 km/h Acceleration: 10.5 secs
Standing 400 Metres: 17.1 secs
FUEL CONSUMPTION:
Fuel Type: Petrol 91RON
Fuel Consumption - Combined Cycle (ADR 81/01): 7.6 L/100km
STANDARD WARRANTY:
Five years / 130,000km
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Marque Publishing Company
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