Test drive Kia Spectra 2004 - 2009 sedan

Izh you are

Kia Spectra made in Russia

Back in 1993, Kia Motors Corporation successfully entered the Western European market with the Sephia model prototype of the current Spectra, created on the basis of the Mazda 323. North America in 2000 began to conquer the next generation of the model, designed on an enlarged Rio platform. In 2002, the name Spectra was firmly fixed behind the new car, and at the same time it unconditionally recognized as a car of the year in the United States, becoming a real bestseller. And now Kia Spectra is going to Izh-Avo.

It is no coincidence that the specialists of the juice group chose Kia Spectra to set up on the Izhevsk conveyor. Indeed, in the United States, this car was given a 10-year guarantee, and in the recently published annual rating of the reliability of the car of the marketing company J.D.Power & Associates Spectra, the second in the classroom. So far, production in Udmurtia can be called more than a screwdriver assembly. According to the agreement with Kia Motors, the first six months of IZH-Avo will assemble cars from supplied components. Then, at the second stage (about a year), stamping, coloring and welding of the body should be mastered in Izhevsk. At the last stage, at least 60% of components will be made at the assembly site. Thus, the first Kia Spectra buyers will receive a real Korean car, only with a Russian table number, and therefore there is no reason to doubt its quality. But what awaits the consumer further ...

KIA Spectra design may not seem so bright, but the car is well cut off, and the same conservatism gives it the solidity and independence of often changing automotive fashion. At the same time, the rear lights of A la Jaguar with round sectors of dimensions and stop signals look quite modern, and an elongated hood and a rapid silhouette give the car a certain dynamism. Although in the appearance of the car it is easy to recognize its origin today's Koreans are not so national. Still, licked forms are now not in fashion.

With a closer acquaintance with Spectra, it becomes clear that this car is noticeably larger than the foreign cars offered to us today of such a price category. True, Spectra in rank higher according to the European classification, the machine belongs to the class D. If you compare its size with Sephia, on the basis of which it is built, it turns out that the Spectra is higher than the ancestral of 60 mm, wider than 25, longer 55, and and The wheelbase increased by 50 mm. In addition, the car raised significantly above the road. Spectra's road clearance is almost 160 mm. Connoisseurs of domestic technology will appreciate this fact, because it is practically Lada, whose clearance has passed the test of time in Russian directions! Not bad and the volume of the luggage compartment is 440 liters. Although, given the dimensions of the car, it could be more compensatory. But here the priority is rather given to the passenger salon.

The interior of the latter is quite ascetic: no frills of gray plastic and velor. True, all the elements of the finish are tightly fitted to each other, the gaps are strictly verified. The location of the governing bodies is well thought out and convenient. Soft to the touch torpedo is almost an exact copy of the Hyundai Elantra. But the instrument shield is a typical American. The speedometer scale has double marking: the outer radius in km/h, inner in miles. All control lights lined up on the sides, each in its own nest. The shield is quite informative. And even the steering wheel, raised in the highest position (on Spectra only vertical adjustment of the steering wheel) does not block its indications. The salon is quite spacious, and even a passenger of medium height can freely fit behind a fully pushed driver's seat. True, the chairs themselves will seem somewhat unusual. The landing is deep, slightly elongated. The elevator for a driver's seat is not provided, so you will not have to adapt it for yourself, but vice versa. In the cabin, five will calmly sit down (three head restraints even flaunt on the back of the rear sofa). Although the average passenger of the second row will probably not be so free, but for his feet there are plenty of place for you tunnels and massive, protruding back the central boxes. It is interesting that the front seats have pronounced side support, and in fact it turns out that these rollers are rather soft and rather play the role of scenery.

All Izhevsk Kia Spectra is still equipped with only one 4-cylinder 16-valve engine with a 1.6-liter working volume of 101 hp. Many will seem a little to many, but for the family car, which is positioned by the Spectra sedan, this is quite enough. Actually, the test machine showed itself rather frisky, even despite the presence of a 4-speed automatic gearbox. However, this automatic transmission is still used on other Kia later models. The machine is the most simple and, besides standard modes, has two more fixed first and second gears. In pairs with a 1.6-liter automatic transmission engine, it works quite smoothly, and only with a sharp press on the gas pedal, the automatic machine noisily passes to a low step, slightly pulling the car. However, even in a dense city stream, the driver will be able to perform the necessary accelerations, because the thoughtfulness of the automatic transmission, which is equipped with Kia Spectra, is not so critical. And when the driver and the automatic gearbox get used to each other, the sedan repays a cheerful ride, good accelerations and stability of the pace.

Independent front and back suspensions with reproach stability stabilizers and racks MacPherson gently work out the irregularities of the road, and they do not pierce them on bumps. Although on homemade bedridden policemen sometimes such an opportunity happened. But the true family man will not rush headlong on his car if his children are sitting there. The reaction to the steering wheel is clear to the turn the machine enters almost without rolls. By the way, Kia Spectra is equipped with a power steering, and it seems that it is thanks to its settings at the exit from the trunk of the steering wheel that the driver is filled with the confidence of the driver.

But with Spectra brakes you need to be very accurate too effective. The effort on the brake pedals will have to be constantly dosed, otherwise the car will stop with a tangible digging. In such a situation, you can break your face to the passenger or get worse to get a stroke from behind the car going. Although the careful study of the factory specification Spectra was somewhat reassured. According to all the documents, the Izhevsk Korean must have drum brakes from behind, and in the test machine they turned out to be disk. Naturally, the latter work much more efficiently, so, perhaps, the drums that later Spectra will complete this nuance a little.

The first impression of acquaintance with Kia Spectra inspires the confidence that this car is quite capable of competing for the title of folk foreign car of Russia. True, the competition in this segment is cruel today, and there are very worthy alternatives ...

Text: Andrey Konstantinov
 

Source: Mkobil magazine [11/14/2005]