Kia All-New K3 (BD)

Having showcased to the world stage at last January's NAIAS, Kia's all-new K3 (known to the world as either a Cerato or a Forte) has arrived and it's going to be a game changer in the medium sedan category where Corollas and Civics are too good to be cool. So, how's the full model change work well in today's automotive landscape? Well, let's find out.

2019 Kia K3

2019 Kia K3

Kia states that the all-new K3 draws inspiration from our favorite sports saloon, the Stinger, but to my mind, this new model is both alluring and perplexing at the same time. Although the front view looks very surprising at first, the rear view can be easily confused to the Audi A3 sedan but so what, you can tell that to the boss who used to work at Audi. Either way, the new K3's design is not half bad for medium sedan standards and when you see one stopping by your home subdivision, you are really taking chances on how nice this car looks.

2019 Kia K3 interior

On the inside, the new K3 still works like every other car in the world should be and if you go for some expensive variants, you'll have some stuff to toy around with before setting off such as this touch screen sat nav that works with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, USB ports, wireless charging station, KRELL Premium Sound with 8-speaker, and many more. While the interior is not pretty bad to make most off, the boot can take up to 502L liters of cargo and that's enough space to put today's stuff you bought from your nearest thrift shop or garage sale you saw in the classifieds.

2019 Kia K3

Now, we get to know about the performance of the new K3 and this is the time you should pay attention because what you will about to witness can be refreshing and revolting at the same time because the new K3 is the first Kia to introduce the all-new SmartStream G1.6 engine which comes with Dual Port Fuel Injection System and Integral Thermal Management System, and it's mated to an all new SmartStream Intelligent Variable Transmission or IVT which is, annoyingly, a CVT that behaves differently because it uses adaptive style shift logic with a chain-type belt instead of push belt, a first in the compact class. Not only that, the IVT is even quieter than conventional CVTs and as a result, it has a fuel economy of 15.2km/L. Not quite as efficient as most Japanese compacts but it's worth the trip to your nearest points of interests for almost a week, although it can be somewhat as unpleasing to live with like your dad's Civic that has a CVT on it that he got as a birthday present from last year.

Let's not forget, to keep the new K3 smooth on today's traffic, it's been given with numerous safety features such as Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist, Driver Attention Warning, Lane Keeping Assist, Smart Cruise Control, Blind-Spot Collision Warning, and High Beam Assist, among many others.

The all-new K3 from Kia starts at 15,900,000 Korean Won which is still one of the most reasonably priced cars on the market today. So, how do I sum this up? First, while the K3 excels on its value for money, good looks, tech, and space, it's not very pleasing on the performance stakes because although they did a good job on fuel efficiency, the IVT really spoils the new K3's fun factor and that is the bottom line. Love it or hate it, you'd be the judge for that.

Available colors: Snow White Pearl, Silky Silver, Aurora Black Pearl, Gravity Blue, Platinum Graphite, Runway Red, Horizon Blue, and Steel Grey.

Photo: Kia Motors