The Mondeo-sized car is Kia’s largest saloon and the Korean manufacturer’s flagship model. Bigger in every way over the last and it must be said pretty dire Magentis, the latest model has had a serious makeover and now features superb rear legroom plus, for the first time, you get a choice of petrol or diesel power.
Former VW/Audi designer Peter Schreyer is the new Chief Design Officer at Kia but sadly he only took up the position in September so we can’t blame him for the car's predictable appearance.
The exterior could be that of any saloon and is totally inoffensive and sadly in no way memorable. Behind the bland exterior that was styled in Korea, Germany and the US, is an equally bland interior that has everything where you’d expect to find it, well almost.
Designed we’re told with Europe in mind, the Magentis has one really annoying feature. Kia as a partner in the Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group continues to provide ‘aftermarket’ stereos that aren’t fully integrated into the dash and have no steering wheel mounted controls. The modern Sony unit in my test car would look very cool, in the 80s! In fairness the unit sounds well and is packed with features (CD/Mp3 & iPod connection) but it has ridiculously tiny buttons that need children’s fingers to operate and even then they are labelled illogically! While looking for an ‘On’ button you might try pressing ‘Source’ and the off button is so tiny you’d need a forensic expert from CSI to find it – and then you have to press it for a couple of seconds to switch the unit off. The Korean brand will have to address this issue, as it is a safety matter as well as an aesthetic one.
The boot is modest for a ‘D’ segment car at 420 litres. Behind the wheel the driving position is a little cramped and the range of steering wheel adjustment could be greater. The six-speed gearbox is at times vague but the ratios help deliver good fuel economy.
On the road the front wheel drive Magentis is a surprisingly good cruiser on motorway and national routes. The 2 litre CRDi (diesel) unit fitted in my test car is only noisy on start up and when revved hard, otherwise the 138bhp four cylinder turbocharged engine is pretty sweet. It produces enough pulling power (305nm) to make longer journeys pleasant enough. Overtaking power is plentiful.
Irish B roads are a little too rough on the Korean car despite a suspension set up that on paper should be up to the task (McPherson front & multi-link rear suspension).
Kia has been around since 1944 and each year produces 1.1 million vehicles. New Magentis is trying to be all things to all markets and despite possessing some unique features for European versions like better seats and interior colour schemes, still manages to fall short of the best Europe has to offer.
The new Kia Magentis is a good-sized family saloon that provides efficient motoring without setting pulses racing. Think of it as a cheap Skoda Superb.
Michael Sheridan
