REVIEW OF THE ALL NEW KIA 'SONET'

KIA SONET

"ALL SHOW NO GO"

"FEATURE LOADED BUT NOT A DRIVER'S CAR"

The recently launched very good-looking crossover, the KIA SONET. After the successive sales of the SELTOS the SONET caught everyone's attention.

Aggressive and appealing face with KIA'S Tiger Nose grille which has a thick chrome border. Bonnet has a large central dome and rises rather prominently on either side. Front looks the most muscular of any Compact SUV & has presence.

As we know nothing is perfect and everything has its own pros and cons, while the front look attracts everyone the rear design fails to do so.The overall look is love it or simply hate it.

 

EXTERIOR

KIA SONET looking handsome with the chrome all over and aggressive tiger nose grill gives it a sporty and a nice touch. 

It has a powerful and bright DRL's which engages only when the handbrake is disengaged.The Drl's doubles up as the indicator.

Coming up the car holds a roof rails which are non functional.

At the rear here the car offers twin fake exhausts and offers you a fake diffuser for the light treatments too, but the light looks pretty nice indeed but the indicators at the rear aren't led's.

Getting the down, it has a large bumper below which is finished in the black and glossy black trim which is available in the GT Line variant.

Front bumper has many cuts & creases and houses 4 parking sensors. It has a full wind deflector at the bottom. GT Line gets a red highlight on the silver insert around the wide air dam.

Overall the Exterior is pretty good in terms of the design.

INTERIOR

As always KIA didn't fail us to surprise this time as well in terms of the interiors. GT Line gets all-black interiors with silver + piano black inserts. We love the floor mats! LED Sound Mood Lamps (ambient lighting) have been provided as well. As expected for this segment, the plastics on the dashboard are all hard. However, their quality is among the best in the segment

 

 The GT line variant gets a flat bottom steering giving it a sporty touch. All the buttons and dashboard looks and feels premium and gives a good touch though.

Instrument cluster has an analogue tachometer on the left + analogue temperature / fuel gauges on the right. The dials are big enough and easy to read, even on the go. A digital speedometer with a 4.2" MID are in the middle. Among the information displayed on the MID is turn-by-turn navigation, tyre pressure monitoring system, average and instant fuel consumption, distance-to-empty counter, a single trip meter & outside temperature.

Talking about the seats and comfort, the front seats are comfortable and the rear cabin is spacious and gives you a good leg room and knee room, the head room maybe a bit uncomfortable for tall passengers at the back. Overall the rear cabin is great and a big thumbs up as most of the car makers fail to concentrate on the rear!! 

Now talking about the KIA's trademark the10.25 inch touch screen infotainment system (smaller than the seltos) is fab!! The 10.25 inch touchscreen with UVO connected tech. User friendly interface with loaded tech having 57 features with UVO tech and voice assist.

Having a twin A/C vents at the rear wont be a problem for the passengers at the rear. The Sonet gets a cabin air purifier  and a perfume dispenser.It also alerts you about the filter usage and when to be cleaned.

The KIA SONET is equipped with Bose speakers. The sound quality is really good, especially by Compact SUV standards.

The regular boot is decent sized,maybe difficult to carry big suitcases.The rear seats can be tumbled and gives you more cargo space.

Having a nice red trim and all black interior the KIA SONET gives you a good big smile

Overall the interior is fab !! 

ENGINE AND PERFORMANCE 

 

Driving the diesel automatic which is a unique combinations of power train.The refinement and smoothness stands apart in this car!! The only thing which disappoints us in this part is the engine hood insulation, which directly affects and makes the whole bonnet freaking hot.

But still you can hear a bit of diesel as you push it. The insulation may have made it inaudible.

In terms of the suspension its on the stiffer side when we compare it its cousin the HYUNDAI VENUE.

Having a well built sporty cabin which doesn't give the same sporty driving experience. There's a weird and suspension noise which can be heard inside the cabin.

Having a sporty flat bottomed steering doesn't make the driving experience sporty, sadly there's no feel and feedback from the steering !!

This car absolutely fails you with the expectations which you have by looking at it.

It looks gorgeous in terms of design but it doesn't offer you the confidence to push the car harder and they have raised the ground clearance and have put the suspension on stiffer side. The grip from the tires and chassis is not in line which is the reason the Sonet doesn't feel so great after getting to the driver seat.

This engine is best for driving in the city and maybe the highway ride may not be good and comfortable as they tires lack the grip and the suspension on the stiffer side and the absence of feel from the steering!!

Many things to be fixed and taken care, hope KIA fixes them in the facelift or any upcoming models !!

STAY TUNED 

THANKS !!

:) 

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