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Despite Kia's recent entrance into the uber-lux car segment with the 2015 K900, a full-size sedan, many of us may still think of Kia as a budget brand. With the launch of the reinvented 2015 Kia Sedona, some families may pause before spending around $40,000 for the fully loaded minivan, which you have to do to get all the nifty features. This puts the Sedona in the same price range as the bulk its competitors; read, no major cost savings here. So why should a family consider springing for the rather pricey Kia minivan? I spent some time with the new Kia in and around Laguna Beach, Calif., at a drive event and found five reasons.
Style
There hasn't been much innovation in the minivan segment in, well, forever, "with the exception of a vacuum cleaner," a Kia spokesperson said. The automaker is trying to position the Sedona not as a minivan, but as a "multipurpose vehicle." Right. Good luck with that. It has sliding doors, right? Then it's still a minivan.
It's a smart, sporty minivan, though, with a decidedly unminivan-like look from certain angles, but the dead giveaway is the telltale "track" for the sliding doors when viewed from the sides.
Ride Quality
From the driver's seat, the Sedona is a clear cut above the rest of the minivans on the market. It's incredibly smooth out on the road with little body tilt through tight corners. Its confident handling made me comfortable tackling twisty mountain roads. A tight turning radius of just 36.8 feet (for comparison, the Honda Odyssey's turning circle is 36.7 feet, while the Chrysler Town & Country's is 38.0) makes the Sedona quite nimble. Braking in the new Sedona also feels much better than expected, unlike say, my family's third car, a 2007 Sedona in which you have to plan in advance to brake with what feels like too much junk in the trunk.
Lux Quotient
Kia has added some upscale fit and finishes inside the Sedona. YesEssentials stain-resistant fabric is standard on the lower trims, but as you move up the lineup, you'll find sporty-looking contrast stitching, leather piping and even buttery two-tone Nappa leather seats in the top trim. Add optional heated second-row seats (the only minivan to offer them), a heated steering wheel, articulating head restraints, nearly lay-flat seats with footrests like those found on an overseas business-class flight, and all of the sudden, your family hauler is something worthy of driving clients out to dinner in.
Family Features
You can configure the Sedona as either a seven- or eight-passenger vehicle depending upon your needs. For eight passengers, the second row's center seat is removable, weighs about 30 pounds and has wheels on it so you can easily push it around inside your garage to make room for that retired double jogging stroller. The two remaining captain's chairs can be pushed further apart for more center alley space, or pushed closer together.
Kia's Slide-N-Stow second-row seats do a nifty jig to fold, slide up and lock against the front seats when more cargo space or third-row access is needed; this process is easy and can be done single-handed, though I still think Chrysler's Stow 'n Go seats take the cake. If you have a teenager that you want to reward — or punish — by making them drive the family minivan, the Sedona offers Kia's UVO multimedia system, that among other things, will allow parents to set geo-fences as well as curfew and speed limit alerts.
Hands-Free, Foot-Free Tailgate
Kia's not afraid to poke fun at other automakers, and it shows when discussing the automaker's new Smart Power Liftgate, which is outfitted with a motion sensor. Kia spokespeople asked, whose idea was it to design a "hands-free" liftgate in which you have to precariously balance on one leg while swiping under the car's bumper with the other foot and juggling bags of groceries and squirming toddlers in your arms?
With Kia's power liftgate (standard on the upper three trims), you stand within the 1-foot detection-range around the minivan's rear with the key fob in your pocket or purse. The Sedona will beep for 3 seconds, letting you know you're within range, and then it will beep faster to alert you that the liftgate is opening. You step out of the way, load up all your stuff and then once your hands are free, press a button to close the liftgate. The height of the open liftgate is easily programmable by simply pulling it down manually.
While Kia has a bit of a hill to climb in terms of changing people's minivan perceptions, minivan aficionados might be intrigued and gravitate toward the Sedona's mix of traditionally functional minivan features with a modern, grownup appeal that's lacking elsewhere. And, if you don't need every feature, you can get a Sedona with power sliding doors and heated front seats for around $30,000.
from KickingTires http://ift.tt/1hiG57n
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