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Launched: Kia Rondo EX-L

Wheels Magazine
June, 2008

The compact MPV segment is littered with a long line of wrongly placed bets - Holden Zafira, Mazda Premacy, Hyundai Elantra LaVita, Daewoo Tacuma, and even Kia's own Carens. Tragically weak sales saw each fall hard and fast for their cause.

Contenders these days are few: Volkswagen Caddy Life, five-seat Skoda Roomster and, at a stretch, the $40K Renault Grand Scenic and Citroën C4 Picasso.

But Kia is flying in the face of historical doom and gloom with its new seven-seat Rondo, citing higher fuel prices and rising interest rates as reasons why big families will want to downsize, and why (unlike the Carens, which lasted barely more than a year from 2000-01) this car will succeed where others didn't.

Fittingly, Rondo lobs as Australia's cheapest seven-seater. Three models are available: LX ($25K manual/$27K auto), EX ($29K auto) and EX-L ($32K auto). Impressively, ESP and seven lap/sash seatbelts are fitted to all models, though side/curtain airbags are a $990 option on LX/EX, and standard only on EX-L.

While Kia's packaging gurus are right on the cusp of modernity, its chassis engineers still have some way to go. EX and EX-L models, with quality 225/50R17 Dunlop Sport Maxx rubber, are at least grippy and benign in the bends and offer a nicely absorbent ride around town. In the LX, however, with 205/65R15 Hankooks, everything from outright grip, to body control and urban ride quality suffers. The steering, on both models, is vague and vacant on centre, while ESP calibration is neither smooth nor smart; late-reacting and heavy handed in operation.

Equipping a 1597kg car with a 106kW/189Nm 2.0-litre four-cylinder is problematic, yet cars like the 1.6-litre six-speed auto Skoda Roomster prove that small capacity and modest power outputs don't have to be a barrier to driving enjoyment.

Unfortunately, the Rondo's engine is both acoustically coarse and utterly torque-less below 4000rpm, something exacerbated by the four-speed auto's propensity to grab a taller gear at every opportunity. The way the auto flares and hunts between gears is tiresome, yet decent progress demands a right royal thrashing, ruining both refinement and consumption. Despite mostly one-up, open-road driving, we recorded a poor 12.6L/100km. The notchy five-speed manual feels noticeably livelier, but is offered only on the crap-tyred LX.

Interestingly, a 104kW/305Nm 2.0-litre turbo-diesel is available in other markets, yet Kia says it was a "strategic decision" to prioritise the cheaper, petrol version and launch the diesel next year. Big mistake.

So while Rondo can fit seven within compact dimensions, it struggles to move them, or its driver. Yet another compact MPV that is mostly forgettable.

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 » Get the best price on a new Kia Rondo EX-L