Kia Sonet Turbo rewrites the small SUV chapter

For the fear of being signalled out for stating the obvious, it is worth saying that Kia certainly had the correct pen in hand when wrote the chapter of the Sonet last year.

Stylish, well-equipped, ideally priced and of course, a small SUV, it also brought an element of upmarket feel to a segment dominated by slightly less premium feeling models also originating from India.

Call me Turbo

As such, it would have been a lot easier to compile this road test about the new Sonet Turbo by simply copying-and-pasting the launch report about of the standard model with a few changes here and there alluding to the new power unit underneath the bonnet.

That is, however, not the case as the new forced assisted Sonet is, for good reason it has to be said, an example of giving with the one hand and taking away with the other.

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Initially, Kia confirmed that the Sonet Turbo would carry the sporty GT-Line moniker in the same way as the step-up Seltos and the now discontinued previous generation Sportage.

In fact, it went so far as to bring a pair of Indian-spec Sonet GT-Lines to South Africa last year, with the hope of bringing it to market depending on the usual array of financial factors, as well as the uptake of the standard Sonet.

While it would be easy to berate the callous attitude of some members of the media (read: influencers) who posted images of the GT-Line on social media despite being told time-and-again not to by Kia’s top brass on account of the models not being South African-spec, the likely eventual decision was balancing performance with price.

As such, the decision was taken to simply call the newcomer Sonet Turbo without the GT-Line applique.

The look of?

Granted, while the spruced-up touches would have helped identifying the newcomer from the regular Sonet aesthetically, an element of glee prevails about the Turbo lacking any form of badging or clue denoting its difference from the regular 1.5 EX model.

With the exception of the model bespoke 16-inch alloy wheel’s design pattern, the exterior is typical stylish and attractive Sonet-fare aided by satin silver faux skidplates, roof rails and chrome Tiger Nose grille surround.

If knit-picking is to be applied though, selecting either the mono-tune Intelligency Blue or Intense Red contrasted by the black roof would help the “popping” effect better than the black-on-Glacier White hue our tester came in.

An inside of space

An area that surprised at the Sonet’s unveiling last year, is the interior, which for the Turbo, has been enhanced in the form of red stitching on the seats, gear lever, steering wheel and doors, and extra piano-key black detailing on the H-shaped dashboard around the chunky buttons for the climate control.

The rest of the Sonet Turbo’s interior is ergonomically sound and neatly presented, topped by soft-touch plastics and only minimal use of not so premium materials on the transmission tunnel.

A continuing stand-out of the Sonet is the amount of space available, more than likely as a result of South African models being 4 120 mm long and, therefore, not complying with the sub-four metre regulations the Indian model has to adhere to.

The increase means more than sufficient head-and-regroom for rear passengers, as well as a deep boot can capable of swallowing 392-litres with the rear seats up.

Missing: Tell me why?

While difficult to fault from a practical standpoint, a glance at the Sonet Turbo’s spec sheet left more questions than answers as the omission of certain features simply makes no sense.

For the Sonet Turbo, Kia offers two trim levels; EX and the flagship EX+ tested here, incidentally the only model in the entire line-up to feature the moniker.

While both come as standard with auto on/off headlights, the 16-inch alloys, rear parking sensors, a reverse camera, height adjustable driver’s seat, Hill Start Assist and the somewhat dated looking, but easy to fathom, eight-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, the EX+ adds the mentioned climate control and stitch work, as well as folding electric mirrors, cruise control, four additional airbags for a total of six, and a 4.2-inch TFT instrument cluster display.

The omissions though are any sort of LED illumination, one-touch electric windows for at least the driver, a wireless smartphone charger, keyless entry, a 60/40 split rear seat and push-button start, items all offered in one way or another on examples of the similarly priced Ford EcoSport, Suzuki Vitara Brezza and Toyota Urban Cruiser twins, the Sonet’s fraternal sibling, the Hyundai Venue, the Nissan Magnite/Renault Kiger siblings and the Honda WR-V.

Although admittedly akin to be viewed, once again, as knit-picking considering what is on offer, the lack of some of the features questions the value of the EX+, which at R389 995, is rather pricey and likely to be undercut by the EX priced at R30 000 less.

The turbo punch

Of course, the main drawing card is the engine, which loses a cylinder and 500 cc’s to displace 1.0-litres, but thanks to the turbo, is more powerful at 88kW/172Nm versus the 85kW/144Nm made by the normally aspirated 1.5.

While small on paper, the unit is peppy and eager to impress, which helps makes the Sonet Turbo feel faster and thriftier than it actually is.

Selecting the turbo also means the Sonet gets a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox as standard as opposed to the CVT of the 1.5.

A combination that just works, the ‘box, in typical dual-clutch fashion, exhibits a drag sensation at lower speeds, but smoothens out and reacts with immediacy on the move.

Despite the lack of gear shift paddles, the ‘box features the obligatory manual override selected with the gear lever, as well as three driving modes; Eco, Normal and Sport.

Throughout the seven-days and 463 km, liberal use of the latter was made as the Sonet Turbo felt more than capable of delivering in the middle setting.

Out on the road, the typical three-cylinder soundtrack is noticeable, but only at lower speed as the engine becomes quiet and less vocal on the cruise.

As for consumption, the Sonet Turbo returned an indicated best of 6.5 L/100 km, 0.5 L/100 km down on Kia’s claim.

As indicated at launch, the combination of a suspension setup for India’s less than ideal roads and 190mm ground clearance makes for a well dampened and supple ride, surprisingly without the nervous feel exhibited by the normally aspirated model.

The final dynamic boon is the feel to the steering and non-excessive body-roll in lieu of the sub-four metre requirements often leading to engineers “building up” than increasing the length or width to maintain the 4 000 mm cut-off.

Conclusion

As much as it threatened to become another “what if” product, the loss of the GT-Line add-ons has not been to the detriment of the Kia Sonet Turbo by any means.

In fact, it comes as a welcome lapse that exudes a grin-inducing smirk in spite of resembling anything but a conventional and, therefore, slow-to-react compact SUV.

While indeed a strong consideration over the comparative normally aspirated model, smart money is likely to be on the EX as the most “complete” Sonet model.