Test drive Kia Cerato
After the generation change, the Kia Cerato sedan has grown in size, well equipped and suspiciously similar to the Stinger. And now it is one of the most beautiful cars in the class.
Hyundai-Kia chief designer Peter Schreier has long been bored with the same questions about what made him leave Volkswagen. Nevertheless, the specialist who developed the design of the Audi TT always politely replies that, in the first place, he was bribed by the opportunity to start from scratch. Indeed, in the middle of the XNUMXs, the exterior of the cars of the South Korean brand was as insipid as funchose, to which nothing was added except boiling water.
Mark urgently needed a face of her own - and she had it. First, the cars were put on the so-called "Smile of the Tiger", and then Kia sensationally shot the Stinger model, after which the Koreans lost the right to produce boring cars.
It is with the "Stinger" that the design features of the fourth generation Cerato sedan have something in common, which makes it one of the brightest representatives of the segment. With the flagship "Gran Turismo", the new Cerato has a lengthened hood, a shorter rear end, and front pillars shifted by 14 cm towards the stern, which gives the sedan a fastback body shape.
The lights are now connected with a solid red strip, which makes the Cerato appear wider. In addition, the designers under the direction of Schreier added aggression to the bumpers, and also used cruciform elements in the headlights, which have become another trademark of the new Kia cars.
The similarity with the "Stinger" can be traced in the cabin, where deflectors appeared in the form of aircraft turbines. The multimedia display with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto support has been replaced with a separate tablet with an eight-inch trapezoidal touchscreen display, which is familiar to us from the new Hyundai crossovers and cars of the premium Genesis sub-brand.
The rest of the interior resembles the new Kia Ceed in the top-end version: the same multifunctional steering wheel, glossy elements in the trim, an air conditioning control unit and an automatic transmission selector knob. Between the analog dials there is a 4,2-inch customizable TFT Supervision display, which can display various information about the operation of the car's systems, fuel consumption, power reserve and speed.
The sedan has very comfortable seats: in the top configuration, they are covered with leather, and the driver's seat has electrical adjustments with a memory function, which, however, are not available for the front passenger. The back of tall people will be somewhat cramped, but they have additional USB sockets and air vents at their disposal.
With the new Ceed, the fourth Cerato also shared a platform called K2, where the engineers, however, used a transverse beam instead of a five-link suspension at the rear. The subframe was attached to the upgraded silent blocks, and the engine stood on new aluminum supports.
The wheelbase of the Cerato remains the same - 2700 millimeters - but the car itself has increased in size. Due to the increased front and rear overhang (+20 and +60 mm, respectively), the length of the sedan increased by 80 mm compared to its predecessor, to 4640 mm.
Thanks to this, the boot volume has increased by 20 liters and can now hold up to 502 liters of cargo. The sedan's height has increased by 5 mm (up to 1450 mm), which frees up some head space in the first and second rows.
A more rigid structure and an informative steering wheel filled with a pleasant weight allow you to accurately fit the car into the bends of a narrow serpentine in the Croatian province. The suspension, although it sometimes catches irregularities, but does it quite smoothly - without noticeable shakes.
But the engines remained the same as those of the third generation sedan. The base Cerato is offered with a 1,6-liter Gamma aspirated, developing 128 hp. and 155 Nm of torque, which is combined with both a six-speed "mechanics" and an automatic transmission of the same range.
However, the most popular version, as before, should be a modification with a 150-horsepower (192 Nm) two-liter naturally aspirated unit of the Nu family and an automatic transmission. This combination accounted for up to 2018% of the predecessor's sales in the first half of 60. Engineers slightly optimized the gearbox by changing the gear ratio, which affected the dynamics of the sedan - the claimed acceleration from zero to “hundreds” increased from 9,3 to 9,8 seconds.
These, of course, are far from the most impressive figures, although it cannot be said that the sedan is outrageously slow. The "machine" and the engine have an excellent understanding, but the latter noticeably loses interest in fast acceleration at speeds over 70 km / h. For measured city driving, the dynamics of the wave is acceptable, but overtaking on the highway already has to be considered in advance.
The most powerful version of the sedan has a smart system Smart, which allows the driver to entrust the electronics to independently choose the optimal settings of the units, adjusting to the driving style and driving conditions. Sharply pressed the accelerator - the transmission was delayed, the engine made a noise, and the inscription "Sport" appeared on the screen. Released the pedal while coasting, and the system automatically switched to Eco Diet Mode.
It is a pity, but the fourth Cerato in Russia did not have a 1,4 liter turbo engine with a capacity of 140 forces in a cheerful combination with the "robot" that the soplatform "Sid" has. Thus, Kia marketers are trying to separate the two models into different classes - the new sedan is positioned as a more high-status alternative to the European and youth Ceed. However, in South Korea, the model, which is sold there under the name K3, will have a "charged" GT version with a 204-liter supercharged 1,6-liter engine. However, the possibility of such a version appearing in our country is very vague.
The Kia Cerato is available in five versions starting at $ 13. According to the good Korean tradition, the car is already well-equipped in the base: six airbags, tire pressure monitoring systems, dynamic exchange rate stability, assistance when starting up on the rise, heated front seats, windscreen washer nozzles, multimedia with six speakers and air conditioning.
A car with an automatic transmission will cost $ 500 more, and a sedan with a 150-liter 14-horsepower engine costs at least $ 700. The next Luxe trim has, for example, rear parking sensors, separate climate control, an electric cabin heater and a heated steering wheel (from $ 14). The Prestige trim level (from $ 300) offers an eight-inch multimedia touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a rearview camera, a drive mode selection system and heated rear seats.
The Premium trim ($ 17) is only available with two-liter engines. The equipment of such a car is complemented by LED headlights, a second USB port, a wireless charging station for smartphones, keyless entry, as well as a blind spot monitoring system and a function of assistance when leaving the parking in reverse. The top version Premium + with a leather interior and an electrically adjustable driver's seat starts at $ 000.
The main rival of the fourth Cerato will remain Skoda Octavia, which continues to hold the lead among compact sedans and liftbacks - in the first half of 2018, the Czech model accounted for up to 42% of sales in this segment. In the middle configuration, the Ambition with a 150-horsepower engine and a DSG Octavia (from $ 17) costs almost 000 more than the Luxe-version of the Korean with a two-liter atomizer of the same power and automatic transmission (from $ 2). But the balance of price and equipment of the new Kia Cerato, good handling and, of course, bright appearance are too good a combination.
| A type | Sedan |
| Dimensions (length / width / height), mm | 4640/1800/1450 |
| Wheelbase, mm | 2700 |
| Curb weight, kg | 1322 |
| engine's type | Gasoline, R4 |
| Working volume, cubic meters cm | 1999 |
| Power, h.p. at rpm | 150 at 6200 |
| Max. cool. moment, Nm at rpm | 192 at 4000 |
| Transmission, drive | 6АКП, front |
| Maximum speed km / h | 203 |
| Acceleration to 100 km / h, from | 9,8 |
| Fuel consumption (horizontal / route / mixture), l | 10,2/5,7/7,4 |
| Cargo space, l | 502 |
| Price from, USD | 14 700 |
