Kia/Hyundia rise in popularity

andrewdodd13 said:
It's not really a Korean engine if it was designed by the Germans though, is it? That's like the Spanish taking credit for VW engines, eh Nath? :P
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It's not at all, it's effectively a larger capacity OM602 engine designed by Mercedes, licensed by Ssangyong. Absolutely fantastic engine and they'll be around with the cockroaches at the end of the world :D
 
Pretty much the same here. I was open minded to the skoda thing but I can't bring myself to looks at kia as anything other than naff
 
what am i loosing out on? sell it to me. what redeeming features do they have other than cheap and long warrenty? ive not driven one, but just cant help feeling it must be like piloting an old cavalier
 
I think the new Kia's are fine cars. They offer good styling, comfort, reliability and everything the average joe wants at a good price. Non-car enthusiasts don't think about the handling so much, they want a car with air-con, cd placer, c/locking etc etc. It's also a bit of a status symbol, most people would much prefer a brand new car than a used one.
 
Matt82 said:
what am i loosing out on? sell it to me. what redeeming features do they have other than cheap and long warrenty? ive not driven one, but just cant help feeling it must be like piloting an old cavalier
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As you never driving one please stop trolling on a subject which you naff all experience about ;)
 
Matt82 said:
what am i loosing out on? sell it to me. what redeeming features do they have other than cheap and long warrenty? ive not driven one, but just cant help feeling it must be like piloting an old cavalier
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Have you actually looked at the Kia Optima or th Hyundai Sonata or Genesis Sedan ? ...looking online is enough. Believe me, they are decent cars, the Optima and Sonata are handsome cars too imo. There no BMW 5 series but that's not their target market, what is, is the likes of the Mazda 6 and Honda Accord. Well actually that may be true for the Optima and Sonata but the Genesis is aimed at the executive car market, and it's a nice car in it's own right, not really an F10 5 series worrier but it's a fair bit cheaper. There is also the Hyundai Equus which is saimed at the luxuary car market, again a decent car in it's own right, offering fine value for money too.

I'm not really interested or impressed with the stuff sold to the UK market, but the bigger stuff with decent engines sold into the North American market is really where Hyundai and Kia get interesting ...well more interesting than the Japanese anyway.
 
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Matt82 said:
now youre trolling, why cant you just tell me whats great about them?
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I tell You one thing thats great about them is the fact that YOU don't drive one.




When the Kia cee'd won 'best hatchback' in the What Diesel Car? Magazine awards, it beat even the VW Golf to the top spot. The magazine gave this glowing review:"an athletic step forward from Kia sends a clear message to Ford, Vauxhall and Renault: game, set and match - Kia is the premier cee'd. It drives like a dream, is perfectly balanced in bends and is implacably well-mannered over bumps".

But don't worry it's designed by Europeans and made by Europeans
 
@ ftb. whatever...

moeks, are they doing any "hot" models worth looking at? i remember the proton satria years ago was meant to be pretty good news
 
I actually own a Hyundai i10 :) And to be honest, it's suits me absolutely perfectly! It's great for driving around Greater Manchester/Bury areas, especially in the centre of Manchester which is a nightmare at the best of times.

Also it's my first car, personally I'm not interested in the slightest about how it drives or looks, I do maybe 10 miles a day for work purposes and it'll sit at 70 odd on the motorway without too much of a sweat for when I have to do the 40 miles to my dads every few weeks. Saying that I find it fairly nippy at typical speeds you get round here, 30/40 zones for miles on end.

It's relatively cheap for petrol, I probably put £20 in every month or so. For me this car is a non fuss tool to get from my home to work and nothing more :)

But then, it's not like I've had experience in anything bigger/better, maybe one day when I have some NCB and don't live in a postcode where the insurance is sky high I'll get something bigger and more powerful.
 
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Matt82 said:
@ ftb. whatever...

moeks, are they doing any "hot" models worth looking at? i remember the proton satria years ago was meant to be pretty good news
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Well the Kia Optima SX comes with a 274bhp turbo charged 2.0 engine and 18" wheels and the other bits you would expect. The Hyundai Sonata 2.0T uses the same engine, the 274bhp inline 4 2.0 turbo unit, so again ...yep.

The Hyundai Genesis Sedan comes in 5.0 R Spec, which is a 5 litre 429 bhp V8 ...with 8 speed auto with shiftronic and 19" alloys etc. I'd say that qualifies as fairly hot.

The Equus is not a hot car, it's a luxuary car, but every version of it comes with the same 5 litre V8 fitted to the hot Genesis mentioned above.

These cars really are not like the Kia and Hyundai so many in Britain think about, they are something else entirely. And we don't get any of them :(
 
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Moeks said:
These cars really are not like the Kia and Hyundai so many in Britain think about, they are something else entirely. And we don't get any of them :(
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The first sentence probably causes the second, unfortunately.

Contrary to what may have come across, I don't have a problem with these cars. If you want a cheap, boring runaround/family car, they're pretty much perfect. If you're a petrolhead... not so much.

Edit: There is one gripe I have with the Kia over the Ford in the medium-hatchback size though. What kind of name is Cee'd? It's like that thing from FF8 that no one was sure how to pronounce... See-D, Seed?
 
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I wish some people would actually go look and see rather than trying to argue against those who've had a look, what possible angle can you be coming from, it's almost like trying to get a blind person to understand what colour looks like.

I've never been a Kia or Hyundai fan, however just over a year ago my viewpoint changed when the cee'd came out, when in Africa i was driven around in a new Hyundia Santa Fe and it was actually a good motor.

I'm not sure how Kia / Hyundia price cars these days, however i can see them doing great things in the next few years, it's another Skoda in the making imho.
 
elmuzzy66. said:
I owned a hyundai pony 1.3l with 13" wheels. I riped the handbrake off the chassis twice. Never again.
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Haha, after thinking the name had to be a joke I looked this thing up.

"When Hyundai wanted to develop their own car, they hired George Turnbull, the former Managing Director of Austin Morris at British Leyland... With Turnbull's experience with the Morris Marina..., they developed the Hyundai Pony."

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyundai_Pony

And from the Morris Marina article...

"The Marina has been described as one of the worst cars of all time"

It's not gone well.
 
Firestar_3x said:
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I'm not sure how Kia / Hyundia price cars these days, however i can see them doing great things in the next few years, it's another Skoda in the making imho.
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This. Most European cars look boring now and I struggle to see the difference ebtween them nowadays. The Koreans are at least bringing some style and making reliable cars with good warranties.

European car makers had best look out...........
 
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