Back at the turn of the century it was possible to be a lot more critical of Kia's products than it is now, but for me one model really stood out. This was the original Sedona, which was cheap, enormous and far more fun to drive than it had any right to be. By 2006 it was also out of date, but the new version still had quite a hard act to follow.It turns out to be a worthy successor. It's still relatively cheap, for a start, though the interior is distinctly more welcoming than before. The layout has also been changed; formerly there were two rows of two seats plus a rear bench which supplied room for three bottoms. Now there are seven individual seats, arranged in a more conventional 2-3-2 format.The ones in the second and third rows can be moved forwards or backwards, or reclined, or folded in half, or removed altogether. They can't be folded flat, though, which Kia justifies by saying that seats like that are more comfortable than ones that can, though it does put the Sedona one level of practicality behind many other MPVs.The rear passengers are well served, though. Each row has its own air-conditioning zone, access to the seats is via useful sliding doors (manually operated on the entry-level GS tested here, but electric on the more expensive LS and TS models) and you can buy, as an option costing around £1200, a DVD entertainment system to keep everyone happy back there.In full minibus mode the Sedona has 364 litres of luggage space, which isn't bad for a fully-populated seven-seater. With five seats in place you get 1753 litres, and with just the front two remaining the figure rises to a stonking 3440 litres. But do bear in mind that you have to remove and store five seats to make this happen, and then replace them again afterwards.You can buy a Sedona with a 2.7-litre V6 petrol engine, but hardly anyone in the UK will do that. The test car's 2.9-litre turbo diesel is therefore the norm for the range. It's basically the same unit carried over from the previous model, but a new common-rail fuel injection system and a variable geometry turbocharger help boost the maximum power output to 183bhp.This is way more than the old Sedona diesel could manage, but since this is such a large vehicle it still doesn't lead to startling performance. But it's good enough for the job, and I certainly never felt that the test car was having to be thrashed in order to maintain a decent pace, even though its five-speed automatic gearbox (an £1100 option) inevitably absorbs more power than the manual does.Within certain limits, which I doubt Sedona customers would breach very often, the car rides and handles well enough for something of this size (it's 12cm shorter than its predecessor, but taller and wider). The driving experience would be improved if the steering wheel adjusted for reach, but this is something which Kia - inexplicably in this day and age - has managed to omit from the specification.Although the GS is the most basic Sedona, its level of equipment didn't seem niggardly, and most of what you get in the LS and TS trim levels (each of which adds a further £2000 to the price) is cosmetic. The more important parts of the LS upgrade are 16" alloys in place of steel wheels, reversing sensors, front foglights and privacy glass, whle the TS gets leather upholstery, cruise control, heated front seats, electric adjustment for the driver's seat and 17" alloys. Engine 2902 cc, 4 cylinders Power 185 bhp @3800 rpm Torque 253 ib/ft @1750 rpm Transmission 5 speed auto Fuel/CO2 31.4 mpg / 237 g/km Acceleration 0-62mph: 16.2sec Top speed 121 mph Price From £18676.00 approx Release date 01/07/2006
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