Kia Magentis

Korean carmaker Kia is hot on the heels of the Japanese establishment. Its all-new flagship shows us how close it can get.

What's New
Certainly not Kia's ambition to become a dominant carmaker on the world stage. It and parent company Hyundai have been on an accelerated learning curve that has seen these companies' offerings go from laughable to look-who's-laughing-now in less than two decades.

A typical example of the quantum leap Kia makes in improving every succeeding product can be found in the new Magentis. In fairness to other carmakers, the previous Magentis was an easy car to improve on with styling, engineering and dynamic qualities that are politely described as 'forgettable' with an appeal that laid strictly on its ultra-keen pricing.

Today's Magentis though, clearly has a broader audience in mind with plenty to offer. For starters its boldly styled front end, with projector headlamp clusters, lift it away from the anonymity of most mid-sized family sedans.

I know that in this issue, we've been going on about cars with bigger engines being a good thing, but those wanting to stick within the 2.0-litre road tax bracket can take heart in the Magentis as it is (currently) only offered in the latter guise.

How it Performs
We're somewhat familiar with the Magentis' underpinnings as it shares the same platform as its fraternal twin, the Hyundai Sonata which was launched here first. As with the latter, the Kia also delivers a ride that's quiet and comfortable enough to worry a Honda Accord or Toyota Camry.

The bigger surprise though, is that the Magentis is actually more composed over road imperfections than we remembered the Sonata to be, as the latter tended to bounce over obstacles that should have been smothered. It seems Kia's suspension engineers put the extra few months of developments to good use and it wouldn't surprise us to find this improvement finding its way to the more recent batches of the Sonata.

An output of 145bhp for a 2.0-litre might sound conservative these days, but the good news is that the Magentis doesn't feel all that slow in the real world. Some of the credit, has to go to the four-speed automatic gearbox which has ratios that make the best of the available 189Nm of torque.

Show the Magentis your favourite set of corners and it soon becomes apparent that endless stretches of highway are its natural habitat. When driven around a corner with too much enthusiasm, the Magentis will protest with understeer but keeps body roll in check, which will be appreciated by all aboard.

How it Stacks Up
Speaking of which, Kia's flagship is a fine long distance tool for your party of five and its accompanying luggage, thanks to a spacious interior and voluminous boot.

While space and comfort are expected in any family car, features such as leather upholstery, an electrically-adjustable drivers seat and climate control air-conditioning are pleasantly surprising in a car that lists for just over $65,000. Add another $1,000 and your Magentis will even come with a sunroof. We'll reserve judgement on the optional 17-inch alloy wheels that came on our test car, but the good news is that should Sir opt for them, the bigger wheels (16-inch items are standard) do little to sully its superb ride quality.

As with its predecessor, today's Magentis is still a lot of car for the money. The difference is, this time, it has got a lot more to offer than an attractive price tag.

Technical Specifications

MODEL Kia Magentis 2.0 (A) ENGINE Engine: 1,998cc, 16v in-line 4 Max Power: 145bhp at 6,000rpm Max Torque: 189Nm at 4,250rpm TRANSMISSION 4-speed automatic TOP SPEED 195 kmh (limited) 0-100km/h 11.2s