IT
WEARS ‘CERATO’ ON ITS RUMP, BUT THE 2016 KIA CERATO KOUP IS MORE THAN
MERELY A TWO-DOOR VERSION OF THE FOUR-DOOR SEDAN SHARING THAT BADGE.
Interior
styling is, however, shared between coupe and sedan. But the Koup gets
longer, frameless doors that are the sports car equivalent of long, sexy
legs, while the rear-end boasts a shorter bootlid and racier horizontal
tail-lights.
The Cerato Koup range starts from $24,190
plus on-road costs, but that’s for the underpowered 2.0 litre manual.
It will cost $4000 more to buy the 1.6-litre turbo and another $2200 to
option the six-speed automatic as tested here. That makes for a $30,490
(plus orc) coupe package.
OVERVIEW
The
availability of an automatic transmission and sourcing from South Korea
has saved the Kia Cerato Koup from extinction. Its blood-brother, the
Kia pro_Cee’d GT, has just been killed off because it was manual-only
and made in the Czech Republic.
We mention this because
the pro_Cee’d GT has been hailed for its style and performance, where
the Cerato Koup traditionally has not. And, so far this year (to
November 2015) the pro-Cee’d has outsold the Koup, 371 sales versus 228
units, so clearly the cost for Kia Australia of sourcing from different
factories is the bigger issue.
So is the Cerato Koup worth a look?
THE INTERIOR
- Standard
equipment: power windows and mirrors, keyless auto-entry,
multi-function trip computer, air-conditioning, leather/cloth seat trim,
leather-wrapped steering wheel, cruise control, auto-dimming rear-view
mirror, auto-on/off headlights
- Infotainment: 4.3-inch colour touchscreen with USB/AUX input,
Bluetooth phone and audio streaming, AM/FM radio, CD player and six
speakers
- Options fitted (if applicable): none
- Cargo volume: 433 litres
The Cerato Koup Turbo is lacking some items you may expect as
standard fit for $30k, such as satellite navigation and dual-zone
climate control air-conditioning. But these form part of a $2500 option
package bundled with leather trim.
Adding nav also flicks the
4.0-inch touchscreen for a 7.0-inch unit that looks more upmarket,
however adding the package takes the price to $32,990 (plus orc). By
comparison, a Holden Astra GTC has a 7.0-inch screen with nav as
standard for $29,190 (plus orc) and lacks none of the Kia’s other
equipment.
The Cerato Koup feels its sub-$20k origins inside, particularly with the small centre screen of our test car.
Also,
scratchy plastics, dowdy grey trim and faux carbon-fibre inserts simply
don’t provide the ambience expected for a $30k-plus coupe.
Four
people are generously accommodated for a compact coupe, however. The
front seats are comfortable, but the real star is the rear seat with a
supportive cushion and tilted backrest.
There is
impressive legroom and headroom back there, and even air-vents – finally
a coupe that thinks about rear passenger welfare!
The boot of the
Cerato Koup is shallow (because a full-size 18-inch spare alloy resides
beneath the floor), but it’s also deep, affording 433 litres of space.
Kia
has masterfully managed to combine good looks on the outside with
sedan-like space on the inside. If only it had the ambiance and
equipment to match.
ON THE ROAD
- Engine output and configuration: 150kW/265Nm 1.6-litre 4cyl turbo petrol
- Transmission type and driveline configuration: six-speed automatic, FWD
- Suspension type, front and rear: MacPherson strut front, torsion beam rear
- Brake type, front and rear: ventilated front and rear disc brakes
- Steering type and turning circle: electrically assisted mechanical steering, 10.6m
Despite sharing a 1.6-litre turbo four-cylinder engine and
18-inch alloy wheels, the Cerato Koup isn’t as sharp to drive as the
pro_Cee’d GT.
The Koup has ordinary Nexen tyres and simple
torsion-bar rear suspension, where the latter scored excellent Michelins
and a sophisticated multi-link rear arrangement.
All is not lost,
however, because this Kia is quite different in flavour to its defunct
cousin. Think of the Cerato Koup as more of a fast, frenetic small sedan
with two less doors, and it starts to make sense.
Throttle
response is excellent and the turbo engine delivers punch anywhere in
the rev range. The six-speed automatic is a superb match, slickly and
decisively picking gear ratios and very responsive when using the
standard paddleshifters in manual mode.
The Cerato Koup
can be fast fun even around town; it's as adept at plugging traffic
gaps and accelerating from the traffic lights as many more expensive
cars. However, 'sling-shotting' the turbo comes at a penalty; we
averaged 10.9 litres per 100 kilometres on test when the official
combined cycle average is 8.0 l/100km.
On a twisty
road, the story is also not quite so complimentary. It simply doesn’t
have the grip and cornering finesse of a well-sorted ‘European’ (like,
say, the Clio Sport or Holden Astra GTC) when you start looking for its
outer limits.
There is simply more engine than chassis here.
That
said, there’s still decent balance and a stability control system that
will keep things from getting too pear-shaped should you give the Cerato
Koup a bit of a fling.
The suspension also provides a
reasonably absorbent ride, both for city and country driving. The sense
of quality disintegrates somewhat over larger bumps, but generally it
balances compliance and control reasonably well.
So, along with the roomy interior, it can play sensible two-door sedan where required.
The three-mode steering however – with comfort, normal and sports modes – is disappointing.
Even
in the lightest setting, the steering feels resistant, yet it is always
loose on centre. ‘Sport’ at least provides meaty weighting, but the
response at the wheel is never as quick as a sporty coupe’s should be.
Safety
features: Six airbags including dual-front, front-side and full-length
curtain, ABS and ESC, reverse-view camera, front and rear parking
sensors
The
recently relaunched Astra GTC offers swoopy styling and more equipment,
but is slower than the Kia, while hometown rival Hyundai continues with
its top-selling Veloster Turbo (one we like quite a lot) for a slight
premium with one extra (side) door.
The Kia Cerato Koup is not a honed drive and nor does it carry the premium feel that you might expect at this price.
However,
re-adjust your expectations from the high watermark that was the
pro_Cee’d GT and this two-door coupe appeals in other ways.
Not
only is it roomy inside, but it also rides decently around town. The
surplus of power and intelligent automatic means it is also fun,
anywhere and at anytime. You don’t need a twisty road to play with to
get your kicks at the wheel of the Koup.
