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. Many of the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.

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Basic needs: 2022 Kia Sonet LX manual

All the poetry

Posted: February 24, 2022

The numbers
Price: R285 995
Engine: 1497 cc, DOHC, 16-valve four-cylinder
Power: 85 kW at 6300 rpm
Torque: 144 Nm at 4500 rpm
0-100 km/h: 11.3 seconds
Top speed: 170 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 6.0 l/100 km
Tank: 45 litres
Luggage: 392 litres VDA
Turning circle: 10.6 metres
Ground clearance 190 mm
Towing capacity, unbraked/braked: 500/1100 kg
Standard tyre size: 215/60R16
Spare: 195/65R15
Warranty and roadside assistance: 5 years, unlimited km
Service plan: 4 years, 60 000 km

I thought of writing this as a sonnet, to match the vehicle’s name, but I would need more than fourteen lines to do so. And rhyming in Iambic Pentameter would be beyond my creative ability. Here it is in simple prose instead:
Kia’s Sonet is made in India where it was developed as an entry-level SUV for sale in emerging markets. We get the “export” version. That simply means the bumpers are bigger, bringing its overall length to 4120 mm. Interiors, equipment and everything else remain the same.

There are two equipment levels, LX and EX, and choice of manual or automatic. After driving both EXs I finally got a crack at the entry-level LX with six-speed manual. Frankly, it doesn’t lose much. All that’s “missing” are rear parking distance control, leather steering wheel and gear knob, silver skid plates, alloy wheels, roof rails, side repeater lamps and front fog lights.

I could comfortably live without the rear pdc because there’s a reversing camera anyway. And that’s just as well because the “C” pillars are very wide, making it difficult so see what’s lurking in that blind spot. Roof rails, alloy wheels, side repeater lamps and fog lights are matters of individual preference while purely decorative bits are meaningless in the real world. I have gone beyond 14 lines; told you I couldn’t do it.

The 1500 cc engine is naturally aspirated. That’s both good and less-good. Absence of a turbocharger means less potential for wallet crushing the day after your warranties, factory or extended, expire. It also means that performance is a bit tamer. For example, 120 km/h in top gear requires 3100 revs, somewhat short of the engine’s torque peak at 4500, so roll-on acceleration isn’t great. On the other hand working the box, keeping the revs up and the hippie chick chanting, provides all the poetry anyone needs. And the motor growls so happily when extended.

I hadn’t taken either of the EXs out past the veggie farms to see whether the “Made in India” reputation for good dirt-road behaviour still applied. I duly did so and am happy to report that this unpretentious little SUV blew the shocks off a highly regarded, dual-cab, 4x4 pickup I had driven along there the week before. Do I hear something about commonsense triumphing over marketing hype?

As far as interior comfort goes, the back seat affords plenty of head-, foot- and knee space while amenities back there include repeater vents in the centre console, a powered USB socket, armrest with cup holders, a small phone slot, grab handles and bottle bins. The boot is about 18 cm deep, with a high sill, and the one-piece seatback folds down with quite a big step, but the space is neatly shaped and usable.

The office, meanwhile, provides mechanically adjustable seats with height modulation for the driver, chairs that are nicely supportive if perhaps a little firm; RHD parking brake with reassuring action, easily reached and smooth-acting gear shifter, a medium sized cubby half filled with books, sunspecs box, simple HVAC controls and media buttons, an easily reached resting pad for the clutch foot and just one visor mirror.

Co-pilot approved. Simple poetry, she said.

Test unit from KIA SA press fleet

We drove the EX automatic in 2021

And the EX manual shortly after



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 or goat tracks as well. As a result, my test cars do occasionally get dirty. It's all part of the reviewing process.

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 ever I place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with a very similar vehicle 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. There are no advertisers and no “editorial policy” rules. I add bylines to acknowledge sponsored launch functions and the manufacturers or dealerships that provide the test vehicles.  And, as quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so you can see I do actually exist.

Comments or questions?
Want to ask a question, comment or just tell me you completely disagree with what I say? If you want advice or have a genuine concern, I will be happy to hear from you. All I ask is that you write something in the subject line so I know which vehicle you're talking about.