2019 Kia Cerato vs 2020

What's the difference?

The drive-away pricing and big features list makes the Cerato great value, and then there’s the practicality and warranty. Also, you have choice between something a little hardcore or more comfortable.
 
To me, the Sport Plus is the sweet spot in the range. The leather seats, dual-zone climate control with rear air vents, proximity key and heated seats clinch it.
 
The Kia Cerato could be the smartest choice you’ll make this year. Or there’s the Mazda MX-5. 

Kia’s Cerato GT looks great, feels great, and is a blast to drive. The drawback? It tries so hard to be a performance car but perhaps falls a tad short to be considered alongside something like Skoda’s RS range.

And that’s okay. Considering the price, it’s still a fantastic and well-equipped little sedan well worth your consideration, especially if you’re looking for a compelling drive experience.

What a time to be alive: small cars have never looked better. Have you seen the new Ford Focus or the Hyundai i30? Even the current Toyota Corolla looks sexy.

But does the same go for the new Cerato? The sedan is certainly attractive, but the hatch looks hot from some angles and not from others. The hatch has whiffs of BMW X4 around the tail-lights, although its side profile is not as pleasing as the sedan’s. 

Both have the same angry Kia face with signature ‘tiger nose’ grille, while all grades in both body styles have the glossy black diffuser and lower bumper with integrated exhaust.

And that’s a bit of a tip for you right there. See, despite there being four grades and a $12K price difference between the entry level and top-of-the-range Cerato, the difference in styling is almost zilch. 

Really, the only way you can tell the difference visually between an S grade and a GT is the wheels and exhaust (the S has hub caps and one tail pipe, not two). 

All Cerato hatches have that same body kit, including the roof top rear spoiler. The Cerato sedans don’t miss out – they have a little boot lid spoiler.

If it came down to it, I’d say the sedan is a better-looking car than the hatch.

The cabins are also almost identical although the cloth seats in the S and Sport aren’t as premium looking or feeling as the leather ones in the Sport + and GT, and there are other similarly luxurious elements on these grades such as the push-button ignition and soft-touch plastics. Have a look at the interior photos, I took them myself.

What colours can you get your Cerato in? There are 10, but one ('Sunset Orange') is exclusive to the GT. 

Only one is a non-cost option, too – it’s 'Clear White'. The rest are premium paint colours and will cost you extra. You can have 'Aurora Black', 'Gravity Blue', 'Horizon Blue' (which was the colour of my S hatch and looks great), there’s also 'Runway Red' (that was the colour of my Sport hatch and it was hard to keep looking clean), 'Steel Grey', 'Snow White' and 'Silky Silver'. No green and no yellow.

The Cerato is a small car, but not the smallest Kia – that’s the Picanto and it’s tiny. Nope, the dimensions show the Cerato hatch to be 4510mm end-to-end, while the sedan is longer at 4640mm. Both are the same height at 1800mm tall, but their widths are different with the hatch being 1445mm across while the sedan is 5.0mm narrower.

Korean cars have gone from poor imitations of Japanese rivals to the forefront of design in their respective price brackets. Kia is now well ahead of the curve, designing bold and dashing cars which are quite unlike others on the market.

The biggest surprise when it comes to the Cerato is the fact that the sedan, to my eyes, is miles more appealing than its hatch counterpart.

This is a vehicle with serious presence. It stands apart from rivals like the curvy Mazda3 and derivative Toyota Corolla by cutting a chiseled angular silhouette.

Everywhere you look there’s something interesting, be it the widening front spoiler with detailed grilles and air dams, its swept back LED eyes that rake up the bonnet, the fancy alloy wheels, or my personal favourite touch, that oh-so-resolved boot.

I’d say it’s better looking than Hyundai’s Elantra, and gives consumers something to think about before they settle on the once leading Mazda3.

Certainly, it cuts a profile far more appealing than most SUVs.

Inside is swish, too, the culmination of years of improvement emanating from the Korean brand’s design department now heavily staffed by Germans.

The chiseled look continues with strong contours running from the dash into the doors, and a satisfying sense of symmetry throughout.

The materials have taken a jump from the previous Cerato, too, now less clinical and hard-wearing, and a little more crafted to create an interesting and ergonomic environment. I'm a particular fan of the media set-up, flat-bottomed steering wheel, and rotary vents.

Look closely and you will find hard plastics and other little giveaways that this is still a car built to a strict price. Things like the holdover analog handbrake and padded but firm materials for your elbows show areas where improvements are yet to be made.

Still. Bravo. This is an excellent cabin design which I was more than happy in for hours on end.

You can get the Cerato as a four-door sedan or a five-door hatchback. They’re the same size, but which do you reckon has the biggest boot? The hatch? Nope.

See, the Cerato hatch’s boot has a luggage capacity of 428 litres and the sedan’s boot space is 502 litres.

Thing is, the hatch is the more practical of the two because of its tailgate which opens high and gives you a big aperture and you can fold those rear seats down to open up the cabin as a cargo area.

Another practicality win for the hatch is the segmented storage area under the boot floor. The sedan doesn’t get this which is a shame because it’s like a big bento box for wet clothes or muddy shoes. 

Storage throughout the cabins of both the sedan and hatch is excellent with two cupholders in the fold-down rear armrest and another two up-front, while the centre console bin is deep (there’s a USB charging port in there, too) and the shelves under the dash were a great place to plonk my wallet and phone. Also hiding in there is a USB charging port, a USB media port and a 12-volt outlet. That top shelf under the dash in the GT also doubles as a wireless charging pad.

Room for people is also outstanding. I’m 191cm tall, and mainly all limbs, yet I had no elbow or legroom issues up front and I can even sit behind my driving position in both the sedan and the hatch with about 20mm of space between my knees and the seatback.

The Sport Plus and GT have directional air vents in the second row, but the lower grades don’t get these. That’s something I find pretty frustrating – my four-year-old sat for two weeks in the back of the Cerato S and Sport through the killer summer of 2019 and it was hot back there.

Cabin practicality is usually cooked into Kias, even with the effort applied to their ever-improving design.

Our Cerato GT had big cupholders in the centre console, a smallish armrest console box with no amenities in it, small trenches in the doors integrated with a small cupholder, and a large storage area under the climate controls.

This area was clearly suited to hold more than just a single phone, and our GT comes with another phone-sized shelf with a wireless charging bay to boot.

Full marks for connectivity, too, with dual USB ports, an auxiliary port and a 12-volt power outlet available. Notably missing is USB-C, but we think it will be a while before this standard becomes a requirement.

There’s a smallish glove box on the passenger’s side and a sunglass holder in the roof.

The Cerato’s driving position is generally very good and very adjustable, with an electric driver’s seat. You will have to crouch down a little to get in, due to this car’s relatively low ride height and roofline.

Rear seat passengers get more room than expected, with plenty of airspace for my knees behind my own driving position, and plenty of headroom, too.

The front seats have hard plastic backs on them (good for kids) although amenities are limited to four cupholders and directional air vents. There are no power outlets for rear passengers at all.

The boot is huge at 502 litres (don’t let anyone tell you an SUV has a bigger boot than a sedan – most don’t) and looks a bit basic with simple carpet trims.

There are two quick release leavers for the split-fold rear seats which is a nice touch, and a space saver spare wheel under the boot floor.

This is the most expensive Cerato you can buy, the top-spec GT, wearing a before-on-road cost of $33,490.

Value for-money might depend on how much you like driving, as we’ll explore in the driving section of this review, but its direct rivals are the Mazda3 G25 Evolve sedan ($31,090), Toyota Corolla ZR sedan ($33,635) or perhaps even a European alternative like the Skoda Octavia Sport sedan ($35,290).

Regardless, the Cerato’s equipment at this price is formidable. Included are 18-inch alloy wheels, an 8.0-inch multimedia touchscreen with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, built-in sat-nav and DAB+ digital radio support, and leather-appointed seat trim.

There's also a 4.2-inch colour screen in the instrument cluster, a wireless phone charging bay, LED headlights with adaptive high-beams, an auto-dimming rear vision mirror, dual-zone climate control, heated and ventilated front seats, and a flat-bottomed sports steering wheel.

The GT specifically picks up several performance enhancements over the rest of the Cerato range, going some way to earning the GT badge, including larger front brakes, multi-link rather than torsion beam rear suspension, the aggressive sports bodykit, and an overhauled powertrain which we’ll touch on later in this review.

The Cerato is available in a wide array of 10 colours, of which only 'Clear White' is free, and ‘Sunset Orange’ is exclusive to the GT grade. Our car, as pictured, is in ‘Horizon Blue’. All optional colours come in at $520.

On the balance of price/features then, we’d say even this most expensive Cerato is impressive.

So, you can get a Cerato S, a Cerato Sport and a Cerato Sport Plus, but only the top-of-the-range Cerato GT is the true sporty one in the family.

The GT has a 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol making 150kW/265Nm. It’s a great engine and Kia has given it a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission for quick shifts.

The rest of the Cerato line-up shares a 112kW/192Nm four-cylinder petrol engine. If you want a manual gearbox, then you can only have it with the base grade S, otherwise the six-speed automatic, that is standard in the others, does the shifting for you.

Both are good powerplants, the 1.6-litre is smaller but more powerful and responsive and uses less fuel. How much less? Which we’re just about to get to. 

The GT grade is the only Cerato in the range powered by a new 1.6-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine which produces an impressive-for-the-segment 150kW/265Nm.

It also does away with a six-speed torque converter auto, featuring a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic instead .

As mentioned above, the GT with its 1.6-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder is the most fuel-efficient member of the Cerato family and after a combination of open and urban roads Kia says you should see it using 6.8L/100km in both the sedan and hatch. 

When I tested the GT at its launch in January 2019 the trip computer said I was using 7.6L/100km after driving the hatch on mainly country roads and 8.4L/100km in the sedan on similar open roads.

As for the other grades Kia says the combined fuel consumption for the S, Sport and Sport Plus grades with their 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engines and six-speed auto is 7.4L/100km. My own testing in the Sport hatch saw me measure bang-on 7.4L/100km (measured at the petrol pump), while the S hatch did 8.6L/100km (also measured at the bowser).

A manual gearbox is available on the S and Kia says you should see it using 7.4L/100km in the hatch and 7.6L/100km in the sedan. Along with that good mileage it's nice to know both engines are also happy to run on regular unleaded petrol.

The Cerato GT’s claimed combined cycle fuel consumption number is 6.8L/100km against which I scored an amazing 7.0L/100km.

To be fair, while I was driving it, there was very little traffic on the roads, and it did involve a solid freeway stint. Still, it’s impressive that the Cerato can score so close to its claimed consumption number after almost 600km of testing.

Kia says you can fill even this turbo Cerato’s 50 litre fuel tank with regular 91RON petrol.

This is simple. There are only two types of Cerato when it comes to driving. There’s the fast and hard one, or the comfy and easy one.

If you’re looking for a Cerato which is pretty quick and has great handling, then it’s the GT for you. The catch is, the GT’s ride is firm and jarring over potholes and speed bumps.

If you’re looking for something which has a comfortable ride and is fuss-free to drive then the S, the Sport and Sport Plus are for you.

See, Kia set out to make the GT a bit more hardcore – it has a more powerful engine, firmer suspension (the torsion bar set-up in the other grades was swapped for a multi-link system in the rear of the GT), it also sits lower and rides on 18-inch wheels with low-profile Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tyres. The result is a hatch which is knocking on the door of Golf GTI territory.

I drove the GT in hatch form at its launch on twisty country roads and it felt planted, with excellent body control and impressive grip. The only thing lacking was more grunt.

This chassis is now so good it feels like it’s in search of a more powerful engine to match it. The steering also felt a bit ‘lumpy’ in places. Still it’s accurate and not a deal breaker.

That lumpy steering feel is also present in the S, Sport and Sport Plus, too but it becomes irrelevant because these grades don’t have the performance bent of the GT. Instead they have a ride which is composed and comfortable, with an engine that provides plenty of oomph for highway cruising, overtaking and city sprints – especially when you select 'Sport' mode which sharpens throttle response.

And while they don’t have the handling and agility of the GT, I was impressed by how controlled and planted the Sport felt when I tested it over the route I normally take sport cars on.
 
More importantly, the S, Sport, and Sport Plus are easy and enjoyable to drive. I clocked up hundreds of kilometres in the S and Sport and found the seats to be wide at the base and supportive around my back, and they could be adjusted to find a great driving position.

Kia tunes most of its cars for Australia roads and the job its local engineering team has performed on these lower grade Ceratos is outstanding – the ride is compliant and comfortable and the car has good body control over bumps and corners.

If I could change anything it would be to improve visibility in the rear corners – those tiny porthole-like windows aren’t big enough.

With the Cerato GT’s newfound whiz-bang turbo engine comes dollops of driving engagement, but at a certain cost.

This is a fun car to accelerate in. The little engine makes a satisfying grumble when you put your boot into it and can make use of its peak torque from just 1500rpm.

It’s spritely enough to cause a break in traction off the mark, and with seven ratios available from the dual-clutch transmission, is more than happy to kick down a notch for an overtaking maneuver, even at freeway speeds.

The dual-clutch is fast, but has a few niggles at low speed. It can occasionally be indecisive, or get caught changing the wrong direction, but does well to keep up where it counts.

The steering seems immediately oddly heavy for a car this small, and it is to the point of being artificial. I'm not a huge fan.

It's direct and accurate in the corners, but constantly had me wondering how much of what I was feeling was real. At low speed the extra weight imposed by this electric system is a bit annoying.

The suspension, too, goes a little too far in the performance direction. I know a Kia warm sedan has something to prove to naysayers, but does it need to be so punishing?

The firmness inspires confidence when you’re in the corners but proved to be quite uncomfortable and noisy on poorly sealed roads.

Spend too long on this type of terrain, as I did, and you’ll start to notice the chassis constantly jiggling about, too firm to be settled at any speed.

Perhaps this is still what separates this Kia from, say, the Skoda Octavia, which I found to be firm but forgiving on similar surfaces.

Regardless, if you like driving to have fun, this is a car for you. The on-board tech proved to be wonderful for long freeway drives, too, with the adaptive cruise control and LED headlights surprisingly intuitive and easy to use. Full marks there.

On the topic of active cruise control, the Cerato is equipped with an impressive suite of active safety features, especially at this full-fat grade.

Included is auto emergency braking (AEB - works at freeway speeds and detects pedestrians and cyclists), blind spot monitoring, lane keep assist with lane departure warning, rear cross-traffic alert, driver attention alert, active cruise control, and adaptive high-beams.

It also scores front and rear parking sensors, a relatively high-res reversing camera, six airbags, the expected stability and brake controls, as well as three top-tether and two ISOFIX child-seat mounting points.

This Cerato has amongst the most impressive active safety suites in the segment and avoids the issue of having some items as optional extras as the rest of the range.

Unsurprisingly, higher spec Ceratos hold maximum five-star ANCAP safety ratings.

The Cerato is covered by Kia’s seven-year/unlimited km warranty. Most carmakers are only just making the move to five-year warranties, but Kia has had this offering in place for years. The Cerato also comes with seven years of roadside assistance.

There’s also seven years of capped price servicing. Kia recommends you service the Cerato S, Sport, Sport Plus annually or every 15,000km. You can expect to pay $275 at the first service, $469 at the second, $339, $623, $309, then $596 and finally $328 for the seventh.

It’s good to know that after seven years of regular servicing you can expect to pay no more than $2939.

As for the GT Kia recommends servicing it every 10,000km or annually. Servicing is capped at $282 for the first service, $476 for the next, then $346, $630, $317, $604, then $640 for the seventh.

The aftercare Kia offers is outstanding and so the Cerato gets full marks for its cost of ownership.

Brand-new engines or not, Kia still covers its entire range with its leading seven-year/unlimited kilometre warranty coverage.

We’re surprised no others have stepped up to the plate in this segment, with SsangYong exclusively offering SUVs and utes and MG seeing no business case to bring in its MG6 sedan for the time being.

Kia’s coverage also involves seven years of capped price servicing and up to eight years of roadside assist provided you stick to the brand’s servicing schedule.

The schedule involves servicing the Cerato GT once a year or every 10,000km whichever occurs first and costs between $282 and $640 for a yearly average over the seven years of $471 which is not particularly cheap.