Kia Cerato 2015 review

Kia is determined to stay ahead of the pack. The South Korean automobile manufacturer recently set its rivals on their backsides with the most comprehensive warranty around. The seven-year unlimited kilometre warranty is bolstered by a seven-year capped-price service program and seven year roadside assist.

Now Kia has taken to its most popular model, the Cerato, to add even more appeal to an already well specified small car. The MY15 Cerato S Premium sits between the S and the Si grades, and comes in four-door sedan or five-door hatch guise.

The S Premium adds satellite navigation, rear view camera, 7-inch touch screen, 16-inch alloy wheels, auto headlamp control, DVD player and more for a keenly priced $24,590, only $2300 over the entry-level automatic.

The new Cerato S Premium carries all the advantages of the S model, including 1.8-litre GDi engine, six airbags, ABS anti-skid brakes, Electronic Stability Control, tilt and telescopic steering wheel, six-speaker audio system with remote control, Bluetooth streaming and hands-free, cruise control, front and rear parking sensors, trip computer, air conditioning, 60:40 split fold rear seat, power windows and keyless remote.

The 2015 Cerato upgrades see satellite navigation as standard in S Premium, Si and SLi while the six-speed manual transmission is available only on the S model. All other grades have the six-speed automatic as standard. Si and SLi models in sedan and hatch continue to offer the 2.0-litre GDi engine.

Styling

Not much has changed. And why should it, the Cerato looks as fresh these days as it was when the present model hit our shores two years ago. Created at Kia's Seoul design centre under the direction of Kia's Chief Design Officer, Peter Schreyer, Kia says its European lines are designed to portray 'dynamic muscularity' and provoke an emotional response.

A wide, low stance and distinctive concave door contours promote a no-nonsense sense of a sporty vehicle, while the addition of front and rear quarter glass panels gives the car a sense of spaciousness and improves visibility by eliminating blind spots. The MY15 S Premium adds new 16-inch wheels.

Inside, the new model accommodates a dash-mounted 7-inch touch screen among driver-focused instruments and controls within easy reach. However, such is the angle of the screen it is susceptible to reflection in bright sunlight and annoyingly loses clarity.

Infotainment 

The addition of satellite navigation, rear view camera and DVD player, all accessed via the 7-inch touch screen, puts the Cerato S Premium ahead of the small-car field.

The computer itself goes to great depths to deliver an amazing array of information including fuel economy, temperatures (in Celsius and Fahrenheit), distances (in miles / kilometres and their shorter measures).

However, it is with speed that the electronic brain begins to show off, going beyond metric and imperial measure, with equivalents in knots (US), knots (UK) and for the frustrated fighter pilot among us, a Mach figure, which as you can imagine at Cerato speeds, forms a long line of zeroes behind the decimal point.

There's also a trip monitor, calculator and Help function, if the technology becomes too much.

Engine / Transmission

The 100kW 1.8-litre Nu MPI engine in the S Premium is mated with a six-speed automatic transmission with two modes – fully automatic or Sport. The selector gate is a straight P-R-N-D arrangement, with Sport mode engaged by moving the lever towards the driver when in D mode.

For city driving, fully automatic mode is ideal, while Sport mode allows for clutch-less sequential manual gear changes – one ratio at a time – for greater driver involvement. Steering wheel-mounted paddles are not an option.

Safety

As well as the use of high-strength steel in the body, active safety technology includes Electronic Stability Control and Vehicle Stability Management that works with the ESC to provide 'corrective' steering inputs in tricky road conditions.

The new S Premium comes standard with six airbags including dual front airbags, front side airbags and side curtain airbags offering head protection to both front seat and rear seat occupants.

Driving

Having broken my right ankle 18 months ago, every car I drive becomes a measure of my recovery and the Cerato S Premium produced a pleasing result. The floor-mounted accelerator pedal was fitted, says Kia, to follow the natural movement of the ankle, providing stress-free operation. It did.

Indeed, unduly heavy pedal pressure had the ultra-responsive engine firing the car off the mark with surprising haste, which probably went some way to the 1.8-litre motor returning a surprisingly high fuel consumption figure of 10 litres per 100 kilometres in city driving, while recording a much more satisfactory 4.8L/100 km on the motorway.