KIA Venga Review

Even since Kia came up with the enormously popular cee'd, the South Korean manufacturer has introduced several other products, but none of them managed to impress as much as the hatchback. Regardless if we're talking about the unconventional Soul or the Picanto, Magentis or Oprius, none of them actually reached the same standards the cee'd started back in December 2006.

This time, the chiefs over at Kia tried to take advantage of the cee'd's popularity and build a new contender for the B-segment, although there were voices that doubted the Koreans' ability to raise a serious threat.

The first step Kia made towards the B segment was the unveiling of the so-called No3 concept car at the 79th Salon International de l'Auto in Geneva in 2009. The concept was specifically designed for the European market by Chief Designer Gregory Guillaume from the Kia Design Centre in Frankfurt in collaboration with Kia's Chief Design Officer Peter Schreyer. Kia was quickly to confirm a production version of the car, claiming that the future model, which will slot in between Picanto and Rio in the company's lineup, will offer a perfect mix of B-segment exterior features with the interior space and versatility of a C-segment model.

A few months later, at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show, the Korean brought the all-new Venga, a model that was 100 percent created for the European buyers. It was actually designed, engineered and manufactured on the Old Continent, with the engine range including both diesel and gasoline configurations.

Although it sounds a little bit exotic, the car's name, Venga, is derived from Spanish and translates into "to arrive", a way to emphasize the fact that the model is a young and attention-worthy model that might have the "Power to Surprise", as Kia likes to say.

We were not sure that Kia's Venga is indeed such an excellent addition to the Korean brand's lineup, so we decided to take the model for a spin. The test car was equipped with an 1.4 DSL engine that developed 90 horsepower and mated to a six-speed manual transmission, coming in Fever configuration which is actually the top-of-the-range trim level.

Judging by the exterior looks, the Venga is a pleasant car. Although MPVs are usually described in epithets such as large, big and ugly, Kia's Venga is different. It looks more than decent for a B-segment model and even excels here and there where Kia's engineers paid a little bit more attention.

Let's take the grille for example. Although it incorporates the same "Tiger Nose" grille as all models released after 2010, Venga isn't really strong and distinctive, as Chief Design Office Peter Schreyer said back in 2007. Instead, the grille looks more OK on the Venga than on some other models in the Koreans' yard, and it seems to perfectly blend into the whole front fascia.

The extended headlights have a significant contribution to the sleeker, racier profile, while the chrome details provide a stylish touch to an otherwise pretty nice front. Viewed from the side, the car is much different from what you'd expect from a regular, boxy MPV.

The window line is progressively raised as it advances towards the end of the car and sketches a pretty athletic look. The rear side follows the same cues and looks more appropriate for a compact rather than for an MPV, so it seems like the Koreans actually reached their goal when designing the Venga.

The car rides on 16-inch alloy wheels which, if you ask us, seem to be a little too small for such a tall vehicle. The Venga measures 4068/1765/1600mm (160.1/69.4/62.9 inches) and has a wheelbase of 2615mm (102.9 inches).

Overall, Venga is very different from a regular MPV, and we're saying this in a very positive way. Probably the only minor issue is the color of the factory-installed parking sensors which, contrary to what you may expect since this is a standard feature, are not painted in the same color as the rest of the body. Other than that, we'll give our OK to the Venga.

The best thing about an MPV is surely its interior space but all models included in these category are usually larger, thus being able to provide so much space. Kia did an excellent job with the mini-MPV Venga and it really seems like the "C-segment exterior, B-segment interior" idea brought to us in 2009 with the release of the No3 concept really takes shape.

Venga's interior ace up its sleeve is undoubtedly the interior volume and the overall visibility. Windows all around, including on the roof, where our car was equipped with a panoramic sunroof, which means it begins in the front and ends in the rear. The overall dimensions are pretty impressive: 1022mm (40.2 inches) front headroom and 980mm (38.5 inches) rear headroom.

Visibility is almost perfect and you can't ask for more from such a model. Regardless if we're discussing about front or rear visibility, both are really impressive and, although not really imperative, the car comes with really large exterior mirrors that provide an excellent view of what happens in the rear. In addition, we got an auto-dimming interior rear view mirror, so no problems during night either.

Overall quality is above the average, and the seats are nicely made of two materials, textiles and leather. The driver's seat is manually adjustable though, while the steering wheel and the stick shift are covered in leather.

There are several things to discuss when it comes to Venga's interior. First, there's only one tiny armrest in the front that can be used exclusively by the driver. Of course, there are no storage spaces inside it but even so, there are so many cup holders that you can actually move you bar inside the car. Secondly, the vanity mirrors come with manual illumination, which means every time you look in the mirror, you have to press the button to turn on the light. We bet your wives won't be glad to hear this... Ours were not...

The trunk volume is more than enough, even for larger family. In standard configuration, with all seats up, the boot has a volume of 440 liters but, with the help of a lower level floor, the capacity can be extended to up to 570 liters. In case you're driving a more expensive volume and you're absolutely ecstatic about the trunk volume, read this: with all seats down, the Venga provides up to 1,253 liters when loaded to the roof.

A mini-MPV to be driven on city roads? How does that sound? If we're strictly referring to the Venga, it sounds pretty good actually. At first glance, Venga seems to be pretty appropriate for city driving, with a small-displacement engine, decent power and acceptable fuel consumption. On paper, all of these things sound great.

We're not exactly fans of the MPV sector, or the mini-MPV if you prefer, so the first kilometers behind the wheel of the Venga were, let's say, just as we expected. A pretty high driving position that made us believe we were actually seating on a dental chair, and a lousy engine which seems more appropriate for agricultural machinery. These were the two things we noticed in a minute.

A few adjustments to the driving seat plus a bunch of more miles driving the car changed our perception entirely. Kia Venga is actually fun to drive inside a city and the main thing that gives you this feeling is the steering wheel. The four-spoke steering wheel, which is becoming some kind of trademark for Kia, comes with great handling, so you won't even make a difference between a tight turn and straight lines. OK, not that good, but still...

Visibility is, as we said, impressive. From the driver's seat, the view is just like you're enjoying a 360 degrees panorama, so no chance to use the same old "I've hit it because I couldn't see the other car" excuse. Still, we had some trouble with the front ground clearance, as it seemed impossible to get over road kerbs without damaging the front end.

And now, the interesting part: fuel consumption. Although we had to deal with a diesel, we experienced two types of behaviour. First of all, the diesel configuration, although it develops only 90 horsepower, could be just as fast as Usain Bolt. OK, not that fast, but faster than a regular diesel that outputs such a small amount of power. Basically, the only way to get a more performance-oriented engine is to push the throttle up to 3,000 or even 3,500 rpm, which means you should actually close your eyes (figuratively) and imagine that you’re dealing with a gasoline unit.

On the other hand, feathering the pedal could return pretty impressive fuel consumption figures, at least when talking about urban driving. Still, don’t expect to see your Venga almost as efficient as a hybrid, as efficiency figures remained in the 8.5 – 9.0 l/100km (27.6 – 26.1 mpg) range, but keep in mind that we experienced heavy traffic conditions when we finally got the chance to solve our test driver’s Rubik cube before arriving to our destination.

One of the aspects that forced us listen to several hours of trance music was the engine noise. Since our test car was equipped with a diesel engine, we’ve expected a pretty lousy experience but, to be honest, the 1.4-liter common rail unit could make any tractor-owner peasant out there envious in a minute. Soundproofing isn’t actually a positive thing about the Venga, and the best way to see this is to turn off the music and push the acceleration harder.

In the end, Kia Venga proved a pretty practical car, as it provides sufficient space in both the cabin and the trunk, while the engine can be easily included in the „Decent” category from the point of view of power and fuel consumption.

The amount of space it provides recommends the Venga as an excellent companion for longer trips, thus allowing larger families carry their entire luggage without compromising cabin volume. And yes, we were pretty impressed by the Venga, but there are several setbacks here, too.

The first thing to be discussed is again, the engine power. 90 horsepower is by far not enough for a longer trip, although we’re discussing a mini-MPV featuring a diesel unit. It takes miles to reach highway speeds and, if you’re thinking to overtake slower drivers, stop. Unless you’re driving on the highway and there’s no other car in the rear-view mirror… Because overtaking could easily become a matter of tens of seconds, and hard acceleration might not be the way to deal with it.

90 horsepower actually means a top speed of 104 mph (167 km/h) but trust us, driving the Venga at high speed isn’t exactly the best thing on Earth.

The first time we left the city and stepped on the highway, we were shocked to see that fuel consumption at 130 km/h (80.7 mph) varies between 7.2 and 7.5 l/100km (32.6 and 32.3 mpg), with cruise control turned on. Because yes, the car comes equipped with cruise control and speed limiter, while the navigation system keeps you up to date with the speed restriction of the road you’re driving on.

Press the throttle a bit harder, go up to 140 km/h (86.9 mph) and you’ll be surprised. In a bad way, that is... Besides the fact that acceleration from 130 km/h to 140 km/h takes way too much time unless you’re downshifting, thus affecting fuel consumption, the latter reaches even 8.5 l/100km (27.6 mpg), while accompanied by a lousy roaring engine concert...

Things are much better on country roads where the maximum speed is restricted to 70 km/h (43.4 mph) in rural areas and to 110 km/h (68.3 mph) outside. Average fuel consumption dropped to 4.9 l/100 km (48 mpg), without breaking the speed limit at all. Truth is, we treated the throttle in a more delicate way than anytime before and shifted every time the on-board indicator advised us to do so.

Once again, a positive aspect is the spacious interior and the large trunk, which could carry most, if not all, of your luggage. In addition, if you’re the kind of a romantic driver, you could always open the electric panoramic sunroof and talk about the universe, while your wife enjoys the beautiful open sky.

Other than that, you have everything you need. Cruise control, speed limiter, a pretty decent audio system, navigation system, comfortable seats and last but not least, heated seats for keeping your tooshie warm during cold winter days.