After taking Kia Sonet long term vehicle close to 6,000 km on the odometer, I have quite a few expectations from upcoming Sonet Facelift
Sub 4m compact SUV segment has had quite a few memorable contenders. Kia Sonet is among those with significant popularity owing to its looks, features and variety of powertrain options. Now that Sonet Facelift model is incoming, I have some thoughts that I would like to share with you based on the insights I gained from the Sonet long-term vehicle, lent to me from Kia India.
I was given a practically new Sonet GTX+ 1.0 Turbo Petrol DCT and I drove it till odo reading closed to 6,000 km. Since we are already familiar with Kia Sonet and all of its strengths, I would like to cut to the chase and state what it has, what it lacks and what I expect from upcoming Kia Sonet facelift. Kia India has already teased Sonet Facelift online and it is slated to launch on 14th December.
What are Sonet’s strengths?
1. Design
The South Korean brand has hit the ball out of the park with Sonet’s design. It is easily the best-looking sub 4m compact SUV on sale in India. Fang-like LED DRLs, Tiger-nose grill, red contrasting elements on top-spec trims and other attributes bring out a characterful appeal that goes a long way.
Even the windshield shape has character and is not just a quadrilateral. On the inside, Sonet has a well laid out dashboard with top-spec trims offering an all-black look with red contrast elements. I always thought Glacier White Pearl and Aurora Black Pearl were the best colours for Sonet. But Intense Red shade I was given, grew on me quite a bit.
2. Accommodating interiors
Despite being a sub 4m compact SUV, Kia Sonet has quite a lot of space on the inside than what dimensions might suggest. This is through efficient space optimisation measures that Kia has ensured to liberate enough room for four adults or four adults and a child. Knee room and head room are ample, despite the intruding sunroof on higher trims.
Seats are accommodating and supportive for multiple body frames. There is a 392L boot space, which is impressive on a sub 4m SUV. There are multiple cubby holes carved out thoughtfully on the inside that should hold multiple itineraries. The glovebox is cooled and Kia has even provided umbrella holders in front doors along with sunglass holders on roof trim.
3. Features
Sonet’s features list is quite extensive and with the top-spec models, Kia is offering quite a lot. Steering wheel and gear selector are leather-wrapped with red stitching on GT Line. There is automatic climate control, rear AC vents, a built-in air purifier, ventilated front seats, Kia Connect telematics suite, steering mounted controls, cruise control, engine stop/start function, real-time tyre pressure monitoring and more.
Apart from these, there are UV-cut glass, automatic headlights, LED headlights, front LED turn indicators, projector fog lights, front parking sensors, three-point seatbelts for all occupants, seatbelt reminders, five height-adjustable headrests, 6 airbags, TCS, ABS, keyless entry, push-button start, auto-dimming IRVM with SOS function and others are notable features. My favourite of these features were ventilated seats and Kia Connect telematics where I pre-cooled the cabin before entering. An absolute Godsend.
4. Infotainment experience
Kia Sonet is the first vehicle in sub 4m compact SUV space to offer a larger 10.2-inch touchscreen infotainment screen. Until the Nexon facelift launch recently, it was the only one with a larger infotainment screen too. It has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto along with surprisingly good built-in navigation and offline maps.
This system is bundled with Bose premium speakers with a sub-woofer, providing a rich audio experience. The infotainment screen is slick and feels almost smartphone-like in operation. There is a digital MID in instrument cluster along with analogue tacho along with fuel and temperature gauges. A fully digital instrument screen is expected with Sonet Facelift.
5. Performance and driving experience
Kia offers three different engines with Sonet – 1.2L 4-cyl Kappa NA petrol (82 bhp, 115 Nm, 5MT), a 1.0L 3-cyl GDI turbo petrol (118 bhp, 172 Nm, 6iMT, 7DCT) and a 1.5L 4-cyl turbo diesel (114 bhp, 250 Nm, 6iMT, 6TC). I had received the 1.0L turbo petrol with 7-speed DCT powertrain combo and it was an absolute delight to drive.
This engine has oodles of performance, especially mated to this 7-speed DCT. This gearbox has seamless shifts and will keep the engine singing at your will. 7 gear ratios ensure optimum driving experience by keeping Sonet in the right gear at all times. This powertrain combo is fairly fuel efficient too, giving me over 20 km/l with “dedicated driving”.
The 205 mm ground clearance made sure that I never faced any issues even with India’s famed speed breakers, rough roads and even some off-roading. The 7-speed DCT has impressed me (a manual gearbox advocate) a lot and caused me minimal fatigue even on 600 km non-stop drives. The paddle shifters help in an engaging driving experience and triptronic function in gear selector aids in relaxed driving in manual mode.
What are Sonet’s weaknesses?
1. The rattles
I had a preconceived notion that Hyundai / Kia products have excellent fit and finish on the inside. I say this because there is a 2016 Hyundai Xcent SX (O) with 65K mileage in my garage. Except for the auto-dimming IRVM, that car has zero rattles.
This practically new Kia Sonet that I was given, had two constant rattle points in the sunroof itself even on smooth asphalts. When road gets slightly rough, the plastic interior trim covering car’s left B-pillar, left end of dashboard, left front door interior trim, auto-dimming IRVM, front centre armrest and rear parcel tray were constant irritants.
2. The missing features
Sonet’s top-spec 10.2-inch touchscreen infotainment screen lacks wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay that lower trims with smaller 8-inch unit get. It has a wireless charging pad too, giving me mixed vibes. Does Kia want me to bring my USB cable or not? Even if I do, there is not a single Type-C slot in the entire cabin. Only outdated Type-A slots.
There is no speed-sensing volume control natively on Sonet and Android Auto lowers volume only when reversing and not when slowing down for a speed breaker. There is no request sensor for front passenger door, which is a major miss. I missed 60:40 split rear seats too. I often found myself needing a switch to manually release tailgate from the inside, as key would be in the trouser pockets.
Also, I missed cornering light function on Sonet that Nexon has. I missed rain-sensing wipers on Sonet that even Tata Punch offers. I felt like front windshield could have had a water-repellant coating, which my lower-tier 2016 Xcent has. Being a 6-feet (182 cm) person, I wish driver’s seat went further back than it does. I missed telescopic steering adjustment and height-adjustable seatbelts too.
3. Fuel efficiency (1.0L turbo petrol DCT)
Kia claims 18.3 km/l with Sonet turbo DCT powertrain and I have extracted 20 km/l in real life when driving like a nanny. This 20 km/l efficiency comes at the cost of time. In the picture below, you can see two trip readings of 90 km each. Done with engine in ECO mode, gearbox in auto and AC off. This is the 90km between my home and my farmhouse with 60km of good roads, 29 km of intermediate roads and 1 km of no road.
My daily driver Renault Captur Diesel MT does this commute in 1 hr 35 minutes while returning 20+ km/l accounting for Rs. 800 worth of fuel for a round trip. If I match Captur’s fuel efficiency, Sonet Turbo DCT takes 45 minutes longer to reach (one side) and if I match Captur’s commute time with Sonet Turbo DCT, it yields 12.8 km/l accounting for around Rs. 1,500 worth of fuel for a round trip. Ouch!
Every time I got into the Sonet Turbo DCT, I had to choose between saving money or saving time. With the AC on, this Turbo DCT powertrain yields single-digit fuel efficiency in the city and early double-digits on the highway. For buyers intending to drive lakhs of kilometres, diesel is still the recommended choice. Owning a vehicle with the 1.2 Kappa engine (renamed G1.2 Smartstream under Kia), I’m sure Sonet with this engine would yield better efficiency figures than Turbo DCT.
What do we expect with Kia Sonet Facelift?
1. Fixing minor niggles
The boot light has a mind of its own and chooses to turn on at its convenience, without any pattern. There is a pattern where car’s ignition and infotainment screen doesn’t turn off, preventing the car from locking when you pull the handbrake without shifting gear selector to ‘P’. But Sonet chooses to not lock at random too even if I didn’t trigger this pattern.
The air purifier randomly shows 400+ AQI value and makes quite a racket with the fan spinning at full speed even though there is no pollution in a forest area in North Karnataka. When washing and cleaning Sonet, I encountered a few sharp edges around door frames. Potential cuts! All-LED headlights weren’t very effective in terms of visibility at night. I would have liked more throw or reach from these headlights to see farther and avoid India’s famed potholes or speed breakers.
2. Features priority
Sonet’s infotainment system never froze on me but did restart Android Auto a couple of times when there was a thud filtering through the car. This could be due to my old USB-A cable too. Wireless connectivity will solve this hypothetical issue, though. Height adjustable seatbelts, telescopic adjustable steering wheel, 60:40 split rear seats, cornering lights, rear centre armrest (with GTX+ trim), more padding in soft-touch plastics and rain-sensing wipers are some of the attributes that I wish Sonet facelift gets.
As of now, Sonet offers a sunroof from HTX trim onwards and ventilated seats from HTX+ trim onwards. I think it would make more sense to offer a sunroof only as an optional extra and not bundle it with standard trim level packages while making ventilated seats feature available from HTK+ onwards.
In the picture below, you can see the amount of colour I lost beneath the wrist band I wore over the past 8 months. Before you ask, I don’t live on the Sun, nor in a desert, but in a colder part of North Karnataka, ironically. I don’t think 95% of Indians need a sunroof to let in more sunlight than what is already blasting from windshields and windows. In fact, we need to shield ourselves from the sunlight and Sonet’s rear sun shades are a step in the right direction.
3. More powertrain combo and variants to choose
Kia already offers three engine options with Sonet. But probably not bundling them with the right trim levels. I say this because top-spec petrol variants only get the 1.0L GDI option. This is a 3-cylinder engine with a lot of characteristic vibrations and sounds slightly thrummy and thrashy too.
If I was a city-dwelling IT professional buying my first car with regular city drive and occasional highway drive (majority of Sonet’s target demographic), I would choose top-spec GTX+ or X Line Kia Sonet with all the bells and whistles. Reasons for choosing Sonet are incredible looks, soulful design, stupendous and desirable features list. However, I would choose G1.2 4-cyl NA petrol engine and a clutchless manual iMT gearbox for its sheer butter-smooth refinement and better fuel efficiency than 1.0L GDI. Probably without a sunroof too.
As of now, this G1.2 with iMT is not a combination on offer and we wish it is with Sonet Facelift. Also, Sonet offers this engine till HTK+ trim, which is the fourth trim descending from top-spec GTX+ or X Line trims. While Sonet’s Hyundai counterpart, Venue, offers 1.2 Kappa engine till SX trim, which is second trim descending from top-spec SX (O) trim. For thrill-seekers, we would highly recommend the 1.0L Turbo DCT combo for its sharp performance when compared to other powertrain combos.
