KIA Venga Review

MPVs, be them mini-MPVs or regular-sized models, are usually comfortable thanks to their interior space, allowing large families to carry all their luggage wherever they’re going. However, Kia’s all-new Venga brings you much more than interior space.

Sure, it excels at this chapter as well, but the Koreans installed several other features that make the Venga much more comfortable than expected. Truth is, you have to pay more than 18,000 Euros for the top-of-the-range version equipped with a 1.4-liter diesel engine and 90 horsepower, so at least the array of features must be impressive.

And it is. First of all, the seats are pretty confy, although you have to adjust their position by yourself. They’re covered by a combination of textiles and leather, which also allowed Kia to implement a heating function for the two front seats. And speaking of the two front seats, the driver also received a tiny armrest, pretty useless if you ask us because it’s actually the most basic armrest we’ve ever seen. Literally. There’s no storage space included, not to mention a cooling option.

Storage spaces are everywhere, no matter if we’re talking about the front doors, or the space between the front seats. There’s basically a place for every thing you’d like to carry, including bottles, mobile phones, wallets, iPods, money and many others.

Of course, the car was equipped with an automatic air conditioning system with a single zone, which is basically the only climate control function available across the range, besides the basic manual feature available on entry levels.

The suspension system isn’t really optimized for comfort, as it might spill your coffee in a second if you’re trying to get over uneven roads without reducing speeds. The rear setup feels a bit hard, but you might feel difference with a fully loaded trunk. We’ve tried to convince one of our mates to jump into the trunk but he was too scared that we might lock him in there for a few hours as it happened last time, so he said no…

A 1.4-liter diesel engine with a maximum of 90 horsepower and mated to a six-speed manual transmission doesn’t really sound impressive. It seems decent for a model designed and built in Europe, for Europe, but does it really manage to rise to the expectations?

We won’t give you the answer to this questions because we’re not the biggest tractor err… diesel fans on Earth, but we really think that a greater amount of power is the thing that misses on the aforementioned configuration.

The engine doesn’t really excel, regardless of the chapter we’re talking. If we take a look on the spec list, the engine develops 90 horsepower at 4,000 rpm, with a maximum torque of 220 Nm between 1750 and 2750 rpm. Translate this into performance and you get a maximum speed of 104 mph (167 km/h) and a 0 – 100 km/h (0 – 62 mph) sprint in 14.5 seconds.

If you’re naive enough to trust the official fuel consumption figures, the 1.4-liter unit shouldn’t burn more than 5.6 liters of diesel per 100 km (42 mpg) in urban conditions, 4.3 l/100km (54.7 mpg) outside the city and 4.7 l/100km (50 mpg) in combined mode. CO2 emissions should not exceed 124 grams per kilometer.

Reality on the other hand brings slightly different numbers, the only close-to-official figure being the non-urban consumption – 4.9 l/100km (48 mpg).

Painted in the so-called Caramel Gold, our Venga wasn’t equipped with an ISG (Idle Stop and Go) system, but the feature that automatically turns off the engine when not in motion is included on the options list.

The suspension system is inspired by the one used on the Soul, as the Venga is being built on a shortened version of Kia’s unconventional SUV’s platform. It shares the same front suspension with the cee’d but employs a semi-independent rear setup which, as we said in the other chapters, might prove less comfortable on uneven roads.

We’re not sure why, but Korean models are becoming more European, mostly after Kia observed that buyers living on the Old Continent have developed a special affinity for their products. As a result, Kia tried to equip its models exactly with the things Europeans like the most, including the beloved gadgets.

Although a mini-MPV which is more appropriate to families rather than young people, a.k.a. the most attracted to gadgets segment of buyers, Venga is full of toys, all of them offered as standard. Sure, we’ve tested the top-of-the-range trim, but the number of available options hasn’t exceeded two or maybe three features.

The audio system isn’t that great but, if you’re not planning to transform the Venga into an audio-powered low-rider, it should be enough. It supports both audio CDs and MP3 files, but it also comes with compatibility from several exterior sources, such as USB devices and iPods. Last but not least, the audio system also offered an AUX input, so streaming music from an MP3 player is a matter of seconds.

There are several other features, including electric power windows, heated seats, Bluetooth and the panoramic sunroof, with the latter being electrically controlled through a button placed near the interior lamps.

A thing worth mentioning is, as we said before, the vanity mirrors lightning, as each of them has to be turned on manually. Although it would have much more sense to make an automatic system that’s turned on once the sunroof is moved from the original position, as it’s the case of most cars out there, Kia decided, for one reason or another, to build it entirely manual.

The single-zone air conditioning system is controllable through the center console-mounted buttons and, just to be sure that you won’t imagine you’re hearing voices like we did, keep in mind that the glovebox is also cooled.

Last but not least, the top-of-the-range trim is offered with keyless entry, which means you don’t even need a key to start the engines and cut the wiring like a burglar.

The navigation system is just basic, without too fancy features, but it does a pretty good job to help you reach your destination. It has an impressive up-to-date map data and the display has touchscreen capability, thus allowing pretty fast browsing among its features. In addition, the center console-mounted display is also being used by the rear-view camera which assists you every time you park, just like the audible parking sensors do once you shift into reverse.

Kia Venga is full of safety features but even so, the car wasn’t able to snatch the maximum safety rating after the crash tests conducted by EuroNCAP.

For example, it comes with driver and front passenger airbags, side airbags, side curtain airbags, 3-point rear seatbelts, active headrests, ESP and HAC plus seatbelt reminder and speed limiter. This is not enough though, as the car received only 4 stars, with EuroNCAP underlining that in the frontal crash, the driver’s chest could hit the steering wheel and some of the materials used around could represent a threat.

In addition, children protection was penalized too, after the dummy’s head hit the C-pillar when moving backwards in the original position after the impact.

“” EuroNCAP mentioned in the official results.

Kia Venga is more of an experiment the South Korean did when trying to innovate. After all, it can be considered an innovation as well, as the mini-MPV is basically the second real contender in a segment that took shape in 2001 when Honda rolled out the Jazz. However, Kia tried, and pretty much managed, to make the Venga a pure combination of two segments, although some people claim that the result could be even better if the parent company had paid more attention to certain aspects.

The good things about the Venga are, without going too far, its amount of interior space and the wide array of standard features you get for a reasonable price. For example, you receive a rear-view camera, a navigation system, heated seats, cruise control, USB connectivity, Bluetooth and many, many others for a maximum of 18,000 Euros for the diesel version we’ve tested.

The bad thing is, without any doubt, the engine. If you’re a gasoline fan, you might be unpleasantly surprised by the 1.4-liter diesel unit, from the point of view of performance, noise and efficiency. If you like diesels and the song they sing, you could give it a shot.

As for the ugly side, it's hard to define one. Mostly because the Venga isn’t really that bad and no specific thing can be heavily criticized. It sounds like a compromise, but it’s not. You got them all, regardless if we’re talking about standard features, gadgets, safety, comfort, luggage space and long-term warranty.