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Review Kia Magentis CRDi FL TR
By John Kaponi
If you are one of those drivers who have been in stuck in the "BMW, Audi, and Mercedes frame of mind" then just stop it! There is another way, and Kia is showing drivers the "light" who previously have been buying Audi A4's, BMW 3 series or the Mercedes C180. For under £20,000 you get a car that is packed with gadgets, a car driver seat fully electric, air condition, leather trim inside and a 2.0 litre turbo diesel engine that just keeps moving and great value economy at 47.1 mpg.
Modestly the Kia press information on the Magentis claims it competes with the Ford Mondeo, Vauxhall Insignia and VW Passat, I disagree. A car this good easily can go head-to-head with Audi’s A4 and the BMW 3 series, hands down.
The design of the car comes with the "Shreyer" treatment with a new tiger nose grille at the front of the car, with a long sweeping bold front bonnet edge with caps the grille and headlights. Drive the Magnentis in any conditions, I drove in heavy rain to Wales on the M4 and it was a sure bet to hold the road, the diesel engine would purr away when I needed extra torque.
The car is ideal for the corporate fleet market, but is suited to the family saloon market looking for something different than the tired old German vehicles running up and down the roads of the capital. Drive the Magentis in the city and see the quick pace of the diesel engine kick in, with the Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD) ensuring that stopping power automatically goes to the wheels with most grip.
The interior of the Magentis is standard, and is one of the highest specifications I have seen as a standard range, and a cruise control with wheel mounted controls, full climate control with cabin air filter all as standard.
Overall this is a superb car, I cannot understand why there are not more drivers of the Magentis on the road, the 7 year Kia warranty should allay any fears of problems, but with another revamp of the Magentis in the pipeline in 2011 if I were one of the German manufacturers I would be worried, a car of this quality for under £20,000 is superb value.
4/5 Very Good
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