I have to admit I own a Kia Cerato S so when the opportunity came up to road test a couple of other Ceratos further up the food chain I jumped at it.
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The road test car is the sports model and comes with the safety pack option.
Price as tested was $26,510.
The car runs the standard two-litre non-turbo four-cylinder motor putting out 112Kw(150bhp), driving the front wheels via a six-speed auto with semi-manual override.
Fuel economy over the 1100k test was 6.5l/100ks (41.5mpg).
The car has 17-inch alloys running 225/45R17 tyres.
Standard features on the Sport include an 8.0-inch touchscreen with sat nav, there's Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a six-speaker stereo, air-conditioning, cloth seats, 3.5-inch LCD instrument screen, and front and rear parking sensors.
The car's safety pack includes adaptive cruise control, blind spot monitor, cross city traffic alert, autonomous brakes, driver attention alert and a very good reversing camera with a moving grid.
Storage is generous. The Cerato Sport's boot has a healthy cargo capacity of 428 litres.
The Sports gains a five star rating from ANCAP.
For the price this is a very well-equipped car that includes a number of features that 10 years ago you would only have seen on high priced luxury cars.
The spare tyre unfortunately is a space saver.
The market leading seven-year warranty is a real winner.
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The bottom line is how does it drive?
This was an 1100km test but I've driven my S model for almost 20,000km and they basically drive exactly the same.
The Cerato is quiet on the road but has more than adequate power, particularly when flicked into 'Sports' mode.
Handling is predictable and braking smooth, efficient and accurate.
Inside, the comfort levels are satisfactory.
Front leg room is good and the rear is adequate - providing you are not too tall.
Add the price to a seven-year warranty and you have very good value for money.
My rating 8/10.
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