Cadenza -- a Whole New Kind of Kia

If you've been following Kia over the last 20 years, you remember those first cars. I tested a 1994 Sephia and it was pretty basic. It had everything you needed but absolutely nothing extra. It felt like a knock-off previous-generation Toyota Corolla. However, unlike the Hyundai Excel a decade earlier, it wasn't really bad. It was just plain.

Well, of course, we all know the story. Over the years, Kia's models not only proliferated but improved significantly with each generation. Now, it's time for Kia to introduce their "Lexus." It's called the Cadenza, and a fine flagship it is.

There's no compromise here. There is exactly one model -- Premium. It's big and it's beautiful. And, it's full of all the good stuff -- standard. You get a navigation system and a 550-watt Infinity stereo with 12 speakers, including subwoofer. You sit on leather seats and hold a beautiful leather and wood wheel, bask in full climate control, and much more.

1994 Kia Sephia

The Cadenza is motivated by a 3.3-liter V6 that puts out 293 horsepower and 255 lb.-ft. of torque under the shapely hood, all driven through a six-speed automatic with SportMatic manual paddle shifters. Yet, it drinks regular gas. The EPA gives it ratings of 19 City, 28 Highway, and 22 Combined. I averaged 19.5 mpg. The EPA Green scores are 5 for Smog and Greenhouse Gas -- midpack.

It's a great thing that Peter Schreyer, the former Audi designer, is in charge of how Kias look. When I parked my Smokey Blue Cadenza test car next to my wife's Liquid Blue Metallic Audi, you could see some similarities. The proportions are just right, neither boring nor overstyled. While the German brands today are abandoning their formerly conservative, handsome look for something more exuberant, the Cadenza wears the look of a classic BMW, Audi or Mercedes. It looks expensive.

Inside, the car lives up to its impressive body, with the right look and feel. The heated steering wheel has the top third of wood, the rest leather. It's always fun to turn a steering wheel and have a different-feeling handful. It is definitely a luxury touch. Everything is there, including an illuminated console bin, sumptuous leather seating, and the perfect blend of textures and materials.

My tester featured both of the two available option packages. In case the standard amenities aren't enough for you, order the Technology Package and get Advanced Smart Cruise Control, where you can follow the car in front at a set distance (and automatically slow down when that driver does). You also get Blind Spot Detection, a popular feature that probably prevents hundreds of accidents every day. This package includes "Hydrophobic" front door windows, which stay clear when the rain hits them. I wasn't able to test that feature, thanks to some fine late summer weather.

The Luxury Package fills in what the standard package lacks. Get a panoramic sunroof, upgraded leather trim, a ventilated driver's seat with electric seat cushion extension, and an electric rear sunshade. The Supervision meter cluster performs a little light show when you turn on the car. The number dividers for the speedometer shoot out from the center of the gauge and assemble along the ring of the meter. I never got tired of watching the show. An image of the car winks its headlamps at you, as if to say "Hi." There's a little musical tune, too.

It wouldn't be a great car if after all that equipment, it was a bore to drive. Luckily, it's not. The 3,668-pound car drives like it's lighter, yet sails happily along the freeway in cruise mode. The sport-tuned suspension, along with the 19-inch wheels and tires from the Technology Package made the car feel planted and ready for anything.

My car, as a benefit of containing these packages, had the optional white leather interior and no extra cost. You don't see those every day, and I'm sure you'd want to take care with it, but it illuminated the cabin and felt very posh.

With the packages, this car really has everything you could want. I was sure there must be some flaw, and I did find one tiny problem. I set the otherwise divine audio system to NOT change volume with road speed, but it insisted on doing it anyway, so I worked the knob a bit when commute traffic speed varied. But that's it.

The price is $35,900, including shipping, for the single model. Add in the two packages and you'll be at $41,900. That may be the only problem the Cadenza will have to solve. Are there enough buyers for a $42,000 Kia? I think if enough people actually sample the car, after their disbelief fades they may see their way to signing some papers and participating in the remarkable Kia success story.

Kia Forte - Another Advance for Compact Korean Cars

The folks at Kia have done as promised, and updated all their cars over a short period of time. The latest newcomer is the third-generation 2014  Forte, filling the compact role between the smaller Rio and larger Optima.

Competing in the compact sedan market is a real challenge, battling longtime leaders such as the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla, but this new Forte seems well equipped for a good fight.

Designed in Kia's Irvine, California design studio (but built in Korea), the new car has an energy and excitement about it -- always welcome in a segment where affordability and practicality are often the main purchase considerations As I've said about other new Kias, the products all benefit from the enlightened design sense of Kia's chief, Peter Schreyer, best known for his beautiful Audi designs. There's no reason not to make every car look good.

To make it simple, there are two choices -- LX and EX -- and each has its own engine. The LX uses a 1.8-liter inline four that puts out a respectable 148 horsepower and `131 lb.-ft. of torque. You can get it with either a manual or automatic six-speed transmission. The EX, like my Abyss Blue test vehicle, comes only with the larger 2.0-liter four with 173 horsepower and 154 lb.-ft. of torque. With only an additional 76 pounds between the two cars, the EX is significantly more sprightly.

Driving on freeways and in town, the Forte is hard to fault. It now uses electric instead of hydraulic power steering, but there's still plenty of feel in turns and the car feels solidly on center. The shifts are easy and smooth, and with the Sportmatic setting you can select your own gears if you'd like to feel racier. I would like to sample the manual-equipped car for comparison. The suspension absorbs normal bumps well and there's little squat or dive during braking or acceleration.

I look forward to sampling the five-door version of the Forte, coming out this fall, that offers a turbocharged 1.6-liter engine with 201 horsepower and 195 lb.-ft. of torque -- and a choice of the six speed manual or automatic. With its extra carrying capacity, the five-door could be ideal for many buyers (including me).

The EPA rates the EX sedan (automatic only) at 28 mpg combined (24 City, 36 Highway). Kia ran into some issues over erroneous reporting of fuel economy test scores last year, but these numbers bear out. I averaged 31.8 mpg over a busy week -- beating the EPA. Green scores show a 5 for Smog and a nice 7 on Greenhouse Gas.

As a driver, you spend most of your time inside the car and not outside, so an appealing interior really does matter. This one, considering its market position and price, is a remarkable piece of work. I am coming to the conclusion that Kia, the sibling of Hyundai, is aiming at the Volkswagen/European car buyer while Hyundai is chasing the Japanese car intender. The feel of the design and materials inside the Forte is more subtle and angular than the Hyundai -- less curvy and more sophisticated. The low-gloss plastics don't look cheap, and there is actual padding where you might not expect it.

The dash and doors are scalloped, giving a sense of motion and also of radiating waves. The only thing I've seen like it is the somewhat wacky but amusing interior of the Nissan Cube. The console offers a roll-top compartment perfect for stashing your iPod (and the USB port is right there ready for it). Chrome accents are not overdone and do succeed in moving the feel above utilitarian. Pseudo carbon fiber trim is preferable to fake wood, I guess.

The Forte comes pretty well equipped, with such things as power windows, mirrors and locks and Bluetooth. There are even heated outside mirrors. You can add to it, though. My EX came with the Premium and Technology packages. For an extra $4,900, you get a power sunroof, leather seats (front heated), dual-zone climate control, a navigation system, sharp-looking Supervision gauges, and a whole lot more. The 160-mph speedometer is wildly optimistic, but it seems that all cars are scoping their gauges this way these days.

You can make the Forte a more expensive proposition with the added packages. Mine, with shipping ($800), came to $25,515. Is that a lot for a compact car? Maybe not anymore. The LX starts at  an easier-to-swallow $16,700.

This is a happy story of a nice little car that is helping Kia grow year after year. Their generous warranty and increasingly attractive models have given more buyers a feeling of security about buying the cars and taking them home.

Kia Sorento - Clever Crossover Edges Closer to Audi

I recently spent a week with the heavily updated Kia Sorento crossover. Kia, one of the automotive success stories in the last several years, has given its five-passenger people and cargo hauler a thorough update.

The side body panels of the tall hauler look about the same as before, but the front and rear are updated. Kia is taking full advantage of the fact that its leader, Peter Schreyer, is the former head of Audi design. These cars, which not long ago looked like weak copies of mainstream Toyotas and Hondas, now have their own sophisticated look and feel. Up front, the tiger-nose grille (squeezed in the middle) has taken on a new smilier appearance as part of a sweep that includes the light pods. The lower panel shows another air intake and vertical fog lamps (if so equipped). The taillamps use LEDs so they glow prettily at night.

The interior is reshaped to accommodate a large eight-inch (diagonal) information screen. It displays a wealth of information, as expected in today's information-rich mobile environment. Kia calls it UVO, a "new generation of infotainment and telematics." Yes, you can talk to it and connect your devices at will.

Materials look substantial, despite some implausible wood trim. The convex curves on the dash give it a substantial feel, and the matte surfaces and satin silver trim convey poshness. There is subtle illumination along the door trim that is a surprise.

As before, there are three ascending levels -- LX, EX and SX -- names that sound the same as those for many other brands. The new SX Limited model is just coming out. It offers upscale amenities hardly imaginable in Kias of yore--such things as 19-inch chrome alloy wheels with jaunty red brake calipers outside and Nappa leather seats and a wood-trimmed steering wheel inside. Unlike Toyota, Nissan or Honda, Kia (and sister brand Hyundai) are not creating a a separate upscale brand, but are giving buyers a chance to acquire a super-fully-loaded version of an existing vehicle.

My Wave Blue test car was a mid-range EX model, with all-wheel drive. This system, like most on the market, is not for offroading but for safer on-roading, and works completely automatically. In the warm, dry week of my test it was not called to duty, as far as I could tell.

You can select two engines, depending on model, for the Sorento. There's a 2.4-liter. 191-horsepower inline four-cylinder or a new 3.3-liter direct injection V6. My tester had the V6, and with 290 horsepower and 252 lb.-ft. of torque on tap, it propelled the Sorento along seemingly effortlessly. The new electrically-powered steering is lighter and more efficient than the old hydraulic unit, and provides plenty of road feel.

Of course, when you boost engine size and power you step away a bit from fuel economy. My tester was rated at 20 mpg combined by the EPA (18 City, 24 Highway). I averaged 21.5 mpg on my commute traffic-heavy week of driving. The environmental ratings are 5 for Greenhouse Gas and Smog--dead center.

This Korean vehicle is manufactured in West Point, Georgia, alongside the Optima sedan. It's got 50 percent American parts, and the plant and its suppliers supply about 10,000 jobs. This continues to blur the line between American and "foreign" companies.

Having tested many Kias, including three recently, I continue to be amazed at the quality and driving enjoyment they provide, regardless of whether it's the compact Rio sedan or this five-passenger shuttle. The four colleagues I took to lunch in the Sorento had no complaints, and the road feel, steering response, and supple suspension made driving the car alone a very satisfying experience.

Kias are not cheap anymore. This one had a base price of $31,700, and on top of that, the $4,000 Touring Package added a host of desirable features, including a huge panoramic sunnroof, navigation system, Infinity audio system, blind-spot detection, power folding mirrors and liftgate. They even enhanced the driver's seat with ventilation in addition to the heat. Bottom line: $36,550. These cars are becoming Audis in more than just their design!

Kia Rio - Complete Sedan on a Small Scale

Kia has had 17 straight years of annual growth--an amazing record. Coming from nowhere (well, Korea actually), the expanding range of attractive and high-quality vehicles is one of the industry's success stores of the last several years of angst.

The Rio is Kia's entry-level car, but it is hardly plain or spartan. You can choose a five-door hatchback or a four-door sedan depending on your needs, and pick the entry LX, midrange EX or top SX level. I recently tested the SX sedan, and I drove the 2012 SX hatchback last year. My sedan tester, in Signal Red paint, got another upgrade, with the Premium Package, available only on the SX. Imagine, in the smallest car in the lineup, leather seats--heated in front--, power sunroof, push botton start with a smart key, and a well-equipped navigation system. It's mind-boggling how much Kia packs into the little car.

I call it little, but driving around in it is anything but confining. The 101.2-inch wheelbase helps make this smallest of Kias a compact, not a subcompact, ride. The trunk holds almost 14 cubic feet, which was plenty for groceries and bass amplifiers. The rear seats have room for real people, too. There isn't any feeling of sacrifice driving it.

The standard and only engine is a 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine that puts out 138 horsepower. You can order a  manual six-speed in the LX level only. The SX offers paddle shifters on the steering column, just like the expensive cars, for a higher entertainment value. I only used them for a minute and they work fine, but it's not the same as driving a true manual. In this case, the manual is on the LX, I think, to allow Kia to offer a car at a lower price point. Most American buyers won't go for it.

The Rio is the first non-hybrid vehicle outside the luxury segment to offer Idle Stop and Go (ISG) technology. I recently experienced this in a $120,000 BMW, and it's normal for cars like the Toyota Prius. The technology turns off the engine at stoplights, restarting automatically when the driver releases the brake. It can be disconcerting if you don't know it's there, but it saves gas.

The EPA gives the Rio with automatic economy ratings of 28 City, 36 Highway, 31 Combined. I averaged around 26 mpg. It was hard to run a long-term number since the car resets the fuel economy gauge with each gas fill-up, and you need to do these often as the tank is pretty small.

The car moves along fine in traffic, but if you need to accelerate on an incline, you'll hear the automatic downshift, and a lot more sound will emanate from beneath the hood. I was able to keep up with traffic under these conditions but not accelerate significantly. That's one place where the entry role of the Rio is apparent.

The interior, however, does not give an entry-level appearance. The materials are good and fit together well. There is some metallic-looking trim, and in the SX, you get metal pedals--a very sporty-looking feature. The steering wheel tilts and telescopes. In the attractive gauges, including a 140-mph speedometer, the needles do a dramatic sweep across their faces when you start up the car.

The seats are firm and flat, but I got used to them. The seat heaters work well. Placing your hands on a leather wheel and shift knob in this size and level of car truly upgrades the experience.

Price? The LX with manual transmission starts at just $14,400. The SX begins at $18,500. My test car, though, with the Premium Package and a couple of other small items, came to $21,340. Is that a lot for Kia's entry-level car? Considering the comfort, utility, perceived quality and attractive looks, it could be a deal. And don't forget about that 10-year, 100,000-mile limited powertrain warranty.

Kia Soul - Thinking Inside and Outside the Box

The Kia Soul is a tasty flavor of cube-shaped vehicle that you can buy today. You may already be familiar with the Scion xB, which started this whole box-shaped car segment about a decade ago. Then, there was Honda's Element, a little larger, but still the same idea. The Nissan Cube came along too, in a rounded, fanciful, asymmetrical interpretation.

The idea is that some folks don't care if the car is sexy and swoopy--they want a practical ride that hauls people and stuff, and want to be straightforward and non-nonsense. The original Scion xB (called the bB in Japan) was a youthful fashion statement, and over in the U.S. it became a favorite for tuners and custom shops to play with.

The Soul seems to do the best job, it appears at this writing, of getting the recipe right. The xB has become bloated and uncute in its second generation, and the Cube is, well, kind of wacky. I love the Cube myself, with its strange carpet on the dash, single side wrap-around rear window, and water-in-the-lake ceiling shape. But the Kia is more balanced.

The body is overtly boxy, but also has a wedge quality, looking alert, active and even a little macho. It comes in unique colors, such as Molten (like my tester), Dune and Alien Green. The face wears the Kia tiger-nose (pinched in the middle) grille, and the front light pods are fascinatingly complex. The oversize taillamps in back are chunky and look unlike anything else on the road.

It is quite roomy inside, with a clear view out and more of the tough attitude of the exterior. As Kia has matured (and acquired Audi's former chief designer, Peter Schreyer), the look and feel of its cars has been upgraded significantly. The inside feels crafted, with appealing soft-touch surfaces, in shapes that look substantial but not bulky. There's enthusiasm without overexuberance, so you notice and appreciate the look and feel of the car without having your attention drawn to any odd angle or texture. The instrument panel feels like something from a sports car, but the rest of the car is more of a tall upscale sedan.

The Soul comes as a four-door hatchback only, in three ascending levels: Soul, Soul + and Soul ! (exclaim). My tester, as a top level !  model, had, thanks to the Premium Package, surprisingly luxurious two-tone leather seating among other fine features. Typical of Kias since the beginning, there is a long list of standard equipment--no strippers, but you do get benefits of stepping up to a +, including a move from 15-inch steel wheels to 16-inch alloys, keyless remote, privacy glass, and, most important, a jump in engine size.

The basic Soul has a 1.6-liter inline four-cylinder engine that puts out a competitive 138 horsepower and 123 lb.-ft. of torque. Select a standard six-speed manual or opt for the six-speed automatic. The + and ! get a 2.0-liter engine that bumps horsepower to 164 and torque to 148 lb.-ft.

Interestingly, the fuel economy ratings have just been adjusted, after Hyundai and Kia were found to have released slightly optimistic figures. The original ratings of 26 City, 34 Highway for the 2.0-liter engine with either transmission are now downgraded to 23 and 28 respectively. I averaged 24 miles per gallon. At 2,600 to 2,700 pounds, The Kia scoots along easily with the larger engine.The smaller engine, in a car weighing about 100 pounds less, has economy figures of 2 mpg better.

You can order the Eco Package on the 2.0-liter-engine cars that includes Idle Stop and Go technology that shuts off at lights, along with low rolling resistance tires. It'll get you an extra 1 mpg.

Kias have offered little extras historically to amuse the young crowd. My tester had a setting to add illuminated rings around the speakers in the doors. You can set them for a range or colors--or to have the colors change and pulse with the music! It was an amusing novelty--for a while.

A few little nitpicks. Although the Souls is equipped with numerous sound muffling technologies--and the + and ! get an extra helping--I still heard some road hum on rougher surfaces at freeway speeds.The sunroof in my test worked well but I noted wind buffeting at 30 miles per hour with the windows closed. And, although I appreciated the separate compartment for an iPod, you need a special two-plug cable to use media, and my tester didn't have one.

The Soul is not Kia's least expensive car--that goes to the cute little Rio hatchback and sedan--but prices are definitely affordable. They start at just $15,215, including shipping. The + jumps to $17,475 with manual. The !, with the automatic (the only transmission offered) comes to $20,675. My tester, with the $2,500 Premium Package and the Eco Package ($500), came to $23,675.

It's remarkable that a car like this, aimed at youth, has had significant success with older folks. This baby boomer liked the spaciousness, the ease of entry and exit, easy to fold rear seats that made cargo loading easy, and the quite comfortable seats. 

Kia has seen sales increases for 18 years in a row, and it's easy to see why. Their lineup is completely updated now, and the Soul is just one way to go.