Kia Venga review
by Richard Dredge (28 January 2010)
You can just picture the scene. A Kia executive based in Korea, tells his European team that he's come up with the perfect name for the company's new small car: Venga. There’s a stunned silence as he's informed that in Europe the name brings with it connotations of trashy Europop music – but it's no good, the deal is done.
However, while the Venga's styling is inoffensive, you also won't be excited by it. The lines work well but there's little in the way of clever detailing, although it's a damned good effort from a company which is growing quickly in the UK. Thanks to a decently large bodyshell and clever packaging, the cabin offers plenty of space for five, and because the rear seat slides fore and aft, its possible to juggle rear legroom with boot space. As a result, you can have a load bay capable of swallowing anywhere between 444 and 1486 litres.
If you're not a petrolhead, you can always opt for the diesel, a 1.4-litre unit badged CRDi and packing 89bhp along with 163lb/ft of torque. With fuel consumption pegged at 62.8mpg and CO2 emissions of just 117g/km, it's an enticing prospect. However, the diesel is coarse under acceleration and doesn't feel as sprightly as you might hope, even though it's hooked up to a six-speed manual gearbox (there's no auto option).
Kia is also playing the safety card pretty heavily, with all Vengas having as standard ESP, Isofix mountings, active head restraints and six airbags. Choose a higher trim level and there's no extra safety kit because it's all fitted to the cheaper models already. While the car hasn't yet been smashed into a concrete block, Kia is confident that when it is, a five-star Euro NCAP rating will follow.
The killer punch, though, is Kia's seven-year 100,000-mile warranty. That's how much faith Kia has in its new baby, and judging by recent efforts from the company, it isn't taking much of a gamble.
So all in all, the Venga is a worthwhile addition to the sector, and Kia is being realistic with hopes of shifting between 4000 and 5000 each year. Arguably the worst thing about this new arrival is the Eurotrash connotations. Still, things could have been worse - it could have been called the Black Lace. Maybe they're saving that one for a special edition.
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