A vehicle that we are rediscovering

Photo courtesy of Kia
Since the emergence of its second generation, 2015, minivan, Kia Sedona undergoes a resurgence of interest. A silhouette that is attractive and one interior versatile probably explain part of this success.

Jacques Welcome

Sunday, 11 march, 2018 19:49

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Sunday, 11 march, 2018 19:49

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The Sedona is far from being the most popular model of Kia. However, since it underwent a major overhaul, in 2015, customers of the brand are rediscovering the many attractions that characterize a large van of its kind.

Some vehicles are real well-kept secrets. This is the case of the Kia Sedona, a minivan that look modern, that is without doubt the vehicle is the most versatile offered by the Korean manufacturer to Canada. However, this model has attracted a little over 5,000 buyers last year, which represents approximately 7 % of brand sales.

Do not seek noon at fourteen hours to understand why. It is a van. That is all.

The year 2000, the year in which the sales of vans have surpassed the record number of 1.4 million, it is an old story. For various reasons, motorists have abandoned this type of vehicle for the benefit of the utilities. So last year, this niche accounted for just under 575,000 in sales at the continental scale.

A priori, it seems plausible to believe that the buyers of this half-million vans were a determining factor in mind when choosing their new vehicle : the space. Otherwise, they would have yielded to the mode and opted for an SUV also.

Photo courtesy of Kia

The design of the dashboard is very conventional and the storage areas at the front abound.

Room TO spare

To understand this, it is enough to compare the interior and, at the same time, the trunk of a Sedona and a Sorento SUV and the biggest and the most popular brand in the country.

First of all, remember that there are versions to 7 places of these two vehicles. However, their ratings of livability, clearly favour the minivan to a Kia, at least for places in the centre and the rear. The clearance at the level of the shoulders, hips and especially legs is significantly higher than in Sedona. If I absolutely had to spend brief moments on the back seat of one or the other of these two vehicles, I would like to be on board of the van to Kia, and not in the utility, especially if I could measure 6 feet !

Also, access is much more central squares and back to the Sedona because of its large sliding doors, which provide an opening wider than the door hinges of the Sorento.

And if you think that the dimensions of the Sorento explain this deviation (because it is not the utility of the average size of the biggest), you’re wrong. Its rival, the Ford Explorer, which is also the top-selling model in Canada in this category, can’t match the Sedona in terms of comfort for the occupants of the seats of the centre and the rear, although it is almost as long as the minivan of Kia (5.0 m, compared with 5.1). In fact, the dimensions of the clearance at the level of the legs, shoulders and hips of the Ford are inferior.

Photo courtesy of Kia

Even when the rear seat is in place, the boot provides a useful volume very important.

A SAFE GARGANTUAN

This is the space for the occupants of these vehicles. Now compare this to the useful volume of their chest. After all, it is often the sinews of war for the motorist who must move regularly several people with light luggage.

Gold, whether it is the Sorento or the Explorer, the useful volume maximum of their safety has stabilised at around 2 000 L, while it is two times more important for the Sedona. The trunk of the Sedona L, LX and SX is deep enough to house a scale of 8 feet.

Even the usable volume minimum (the amount of space available when the seats of the centre and the back are in place) promotes the van. Imagine that you have to carry your young scout, his five buddies and their backpacks ; with the Sorento or the Explorer, it would be better to forget it. 320 L available in the trunk of a Sorento occupied by seven people, equivalent to the volume of the trunk of a coupe Honda Civic. As for the Explorer, with 595 L of useful volume, the trunk is probably not enough to the task.

In the case of Sedona, the rear section of his chest is a deep cavity serving to house the two sections (60/40) of its rear seat, it then has a useful volume minimum of 960 L. And that will make life a lot simpler for a small family who chooses to bring the scout to her children.

It is noted that the dimensions of the useful volume of the trunk of the Sedona are comparable to those of its four rivals : the Odyssey, the Sienna, the Grand Caravan and Pacifica. In addition, the outboard seats type Slide-N-Stow of the Sedona L, LX and SX models have the advantage of moving in is folding in on themselves to allow access a particularly wide leading to the back seat. Finally, compared to the Sienna and the Odyssey, the manipulation of the back seat of the Sedona to the fold in the cavity requires more effort.

Kia offers six levels of staffing to canadian buyers. The Sedona SXL and SXL+, the most luxurious of the lot, even offering seats “captains” tilt to the center row. As comfortable as armchairs, Elran, they are dreaming of having a driver to replace us at the wheel !

ENGINE POWERFUL… AND DELICIOUS

All versions share a V6, 3.3 L, which is also available for the Sorento and the luxury sedan Cadenza. This engine develops 276 hp and 248 lb-ft of torque, ratings that describe the accelerations and times are satisfactory (0-100 km/h in 7.9 s) of which this vehicle of two tons is capable of. Of performance that are obtained without a sudden awkward thanks to a gearbox 6-speed automatic well structured. A box, however, which is slow sometimes to shift down, so that it does not always engine brake as you wish.

If you look at the consumption rating announced by natural Resources Canada (Nrcan), this engine would be rather greedy. Depending on the version, average consumption would go from 10.4 to 12.5 L/100 km. It is 8 to 18 % less efficient than the V6 3.5 L from a Honda Odyssey, which Nrcan assigns a rating average of 10.6 L/100 km. However, at the end of our test, we found an average of 10.2 L/100 km. This demonstrates that conduct well-controlled sometimes gives surprising results.

Boasting a fine finish and better soundproofing than a Toyota Sienna minivan, the Sedona, however, may not have an awd system like this, or a rechargeable hybrid drivetrain as the Pacifica. On the other hand, the range of prices of Kia and the variety of versions are attractive. In addition, this van has one of the best guarantee programs offered in Canada. This is without a doubt some other reasons that explain the renewed interest in this van is the object since its redesign.

A Sedona for photo-safari

Photo courtesy of Kia

Concept car Kia Sedona Photo Safari

During the first year of marketing of the current Sedona, in 2015, the Korean manufacturer has presented at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas three vehicles-concepts, providing a host of reinterpretations of the original of this vehicle.

The Sedona Photo Safari was certainly the most fanciful of the lot, since its designers have made the minivan a pickup truck with short box. The result reminds a lot of the Honda Ridgeline, the difference is that this truck Sedona is specifically equipped for a photographer safari.

This is why, at the rear, we find a bucket seat attached to a mobile platform, that emerges out of the cabin by opening wide that provides the sliding door on the passenger side, to allow the photographer to take pictures of animals in action. The photographer can also be installed in the cashier discovering for doing his job, when the vehicle is moving. It has the same, behind the driver’s seat, a space provided for the image processing with an Apple computer with a large screen.

The wheels gold alloy Method Rallye 17 ” wheels Nitto Dura Grappler tires for use primarily on road, indicate, however, that this vehicle, which has only two driving wheels, would be better adapted to the photography of wildlife… urban !

Kia Sedona

Base price

27 995 $ (L) ; 30 795 $ (LX) ; 33 595 $ (LX+) ; 36 995 $ (SX+) ; 41 995 $ (SXL) ; 46 995 $ (SXL+).

Transport and preparation

1 785 $

Powertrain

V6 DOHC, 3.3 L, 276 hp at 6,000 rpm, 248 lb-ft at 5,200 rpm. Gearbox 6-speed automatic. Front-wheel drive.

Features

Four-wheel independent Suspension. Disc brakes to all four wheels. Anti-lock braking system series. Tires : P235/65R17 (L, LX, LX+) ; P235/60R18 (SX+) ; P235/55R19 (SXL and SXL+).

Ratings

Wheelbase : 3 060 mm ; length : 5 115 mm ; width : 1 984 mm ; height : 1 755 mm. Weight : 2 001-2 148 kg. Tank Volume : 80 litres. Trunk Volume : 960-4 022 L. towing Capacity : 1 585 kg. Average fuel consumption (tested) : 10.2 L/100 km.

Competition

Chrysler Pacifica, Dodge Grand Caravan, Honda Odyssey, Toyota Sienna

Strengths

• Clean finish
• Plenty of space and storage. many
• Volume of the trunk gargantuan
• The seats in the centre comfortable

Weak Points

• Rear seat heavy
• Automatic transmission, room for improvement
• Rear visibility reduced