SA Road Tests

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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. I drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under real-world South African conditions. Most, but not all, the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.

My most recent drive is on the home page. Archived reviews and opinion pieces are in the active menu down the left side. Hover your cursor over a heading or manufacturer's name and follow the drop-down.


We grandly go where we haven’t gone before: 2016 Kia Grand Sedona 2.2 CRDi SXL

Space at a price

Posted: 11 March 2016

The numbers
Base price: R705 995
Engine: 2199 cc, chain driven DOHC, sixteen-valve, four-cylinder turbodiesel
Power: 147 kW at 3800 rpm
Torque: 440 Nm between 1750 and 2750 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 13.6 seconds
Maximum speed: 190 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 9.7 l/100 km
Tank: 80 litres
Luggage: 960 – 2220 – 4022 litres
Ground clearance (min.): 171 mm
Maximum braked towing mass: 2000 kg
Warranty: 5 years / 15 000 km; with 3 years roadside assistance
Maintenance plan: 5 years / 100 000 km
 
Sedona, Grand Sedona or Grand Carnival - whatever local distributors across the world choose to call it - is truly grand. That’s both in terms of size; over five metres long and almost two metres wide, and in reference to its standard equipment. 

Even its lowliest trim level, EX, has almost everything you need so it’s little wonder that Cars.com and PBS’ Motorweek voted the top-spec,’ petrol-engined, version their Ultimate Minivan last September.
 
We get two engines, two seating configurations and three trim levels here. The only transmission on offer is Hyundai-Kia’s in-house eight-speed automatic. We got to try a top spec’ SXL with 2.2-litre common rail, direct injection diesel that had seven seats rather than the optional eleven.

All models have disc brakes at each end, associated safety kit, independent suspension all ‘round for decent road holding and comfort, six airbags and ISOFix. Then there are electric windows, heated mirrors, Bluetooth, central locking with impact sensing unlock, parking sensors, satellite controls, lumbar support, automatic lights with welcome function, air conditioning in the back, cruise control and high performance dampers.

SXLs add leather upholstery; warmed steering wheel; music centre upgrade with eight speakers and a 4.3-inch LCD screen. If you prefer fancier, you could specify a bigger, tablet monitor for R8102-00 extra. There is a rear-view camera; 12-way electrically adjustable front seats with memories; an electrochromic interior mirror; power folding for those outside; front fog lights; HID headlamps with washers; smart entry with pushbutton starting; automatic defogging for the windscreen; a powered USB socket for recharging; powered tailgate and sliding doors; blind spot detection with lane change assist and cross traffic alert, and a two-part sun roof.

Among the features that probably impressed those American testers are the side doors and rear hatch. Apart from obvious accessors like switches on the key fob and internal buttons, the doors must be the world’s easiest to use. Pluck a side door’s handle once and it opens the rest of the way by itself. A gentle nudge (but why bother because there’s a “close” button on the door frame) shuts it again. Simply walking up close to the hatch, provided the smart key is on your person, unlocks it so that a gentle touch causes it to rise.

Once inside, passengers can reach the third row by walking between the two second row chairs, although if they really insist it’s easy enough to tumble-fold one forward so it stands up and out of the way. And – drum roll please – the rearmost seats accommodate grown-ups. Not only is there enough head space but knee room, even with a centre-row chair pushed all the way back, is ample. Four cup holders serve the lucky three sitting there.

Second row people wallow in luxury with aircon vents in the roof and a full set of controls. That’s temperature, fan speed and vent direction. The seats are warmed of course. A USB plug is provided for passengers’ use and there’s plenty of storage space for incidentals.

Should you be making use of the rearmost chairs, the luggage parks in a bin that’s 1.24 metres wide, 500 mm fore-to-aft and 330 mm deep. It holds a fair quantity of parcelware but with the seats folded down into the cavity you are left with an almost flat expanse between 1.3- and 1.5 metres long and 1.22 wide. Folding the second row turns it into a small pantechnicon.

Having found the jack and tools in a dedicated compartment and a bag for a dirty flat, the next mission was to find the spare wheel. It’s not under the loading cavity. Nor is it slung pickup style beneath the rear bumper. Admitting defeat, we checked the manual. The spacesaver emergency wheel is under the body, but next to the right rear door, where one accesses it via the tried and true winding-down-with-wheel spanner technique. If wearing heels and skirt, you probably should pack trainers and overalls.

How does she go? With 147 kilowatts and 440 Newton metres, the feeling is of big, effortless power that nothing can faze. The gearbox is butter-smooth and kicks down with barely a thought. It’s comfortable on dirt and it handles far better than a big family transporter is expected to. This is what all seven-seaters should be like. Our only concern is that all this space comes at a price; it’s huge, so be careful between gate posts and when parking.

Test car from Kia Motors SA press fleet



What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.
Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.

I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material. If I ever place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with that vehicle at least once already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.

Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. As quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so they can see I do actually exist.

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