Kia Cerato Koup 2009 review: road test

After unexpectedly launching the novel Soul, Kia is again chasing the youth market with a pretty and price-competitive coupe based on its Cerato sedan. The Cerato Koup comes to Australia in September with a 2-litre engine and a price that could start around $25,000.

It is Kia’s first two-door coupe and reaffirms Kia’s attention to move along a younger and more dynamic path compared with the more traditional and mature, family-friendly road being used by its associate company, Hyundai.

Kia international public relations manager Michael Choo says the company has changed its brand positioning first set in 2005. “Previously it was a nice car at a reasonable price and now it’s an excellent car with special value,” he says. “We have no intention of hanging around at the lower end of the car market ladder. We now aim to climb the premium ladder with an accent on youthful and dynamic features, so moving away from the direction being taken by Hyundai.”

The Cerato Koup uses the Cerato sedans 2650mm wheelbase though the body is 50mm smaller and the roofline is 60mm lower. Korea will make it with at least three petrol engines — 1.6, 2.0 and 2.4 litre four cylinders. It could even get a V6.

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But Australia — for the moment — gets only the 2-litre with the choice of a six-speed manual or four-speed automatic gearbox choice. Later, a six-speed automatic will be available. The 2.4 will only be sold in the US. However, pressure on Kia at the Koup’s launch may make it available in other markets, including Australia.

Kia claims the Koup’s firmer suspension and different steering tuning makes it a sharper drive than the sedan.

Driving

No surprises that the Cerato Koup shares many driving similarities with the Cerato sedan on which it is based.

But there has been some effort placed on firming the ride to improve handling and give the Koup a better relationship with the asphalt. For one, it has less bodyroll through the corners and the steering appears to be sharper.

The differences are marginal but go a long way to convey the impression that the experience of driving a Koup has, or may have, an element of excitement.

This is enhanced by the tactile sense of seats with good lateral support and the visual sense of the Koups sports nature reflected by the two-tone dashboard — red and black in the test car’s case — and leather stitched seats.

And then it all stops.

Australia from September gets the Koup with a 114kW 2-litre engine and the choice of a five-speed manual or four-speed auto. I drove the auto and unfortunately that while it is a good general purpose package, it is short on any thrill and for someone in a hurry, will see-saw between disappointment and frustration.

Thankfully there is some reprieve in the sequential manual mode of the gearbox that will allow the free-revving engine to sing out each gear. Using the box manually also improves performance into and out of corners which, in turn, reveals that it’s not a bad little handler.

Kia quotes a 0-100km/h time of 9.3 seconds and economy of 7.5 litres/100km for the manual transmission models. The auto is claimed to accelerate to 10km/h in 10.5 seconds and get 7.6 l/10km Spirited driving with three adults aboard through the mountainous area south-east of Korea’s capital Seoul returned 10.2 l/100km, so Kia’s data for a single-occupant car is plausible.

But it all could be better. Kia is sending a 2.4 litre (an engine that is also used in product as diverse as the Jeep Patriot, Mitsubishi Lancer Aspire and Hyundai Sonata) to the US market in the Koup. Australia needs the same engine, preferably with the forthcoming six-speed automatic or six-speed manual. Then the pretty and eye-catching shape of the Koup will have some muscle.

In saying that, the success of the Koup will be driven by marketing and the styling will probably sell its socks off.

It will seat four adults (because it shares the wheelbase with the generous cabin dimensions of the sedan) and only tall occupants in the back will hit their heads on the roofliner.

All other features are similar to the sedan, though the dash is better arranged and the boot is a fraction shorter. The fold-down split rear seats make it flexible for cargo.

Kia Australia expects to sell the Koup for around the $25,000-$27,000 mark

You’d buy this for its style, not necessarily its power.