[Nazaar25]

Originally Posted by Xaos636

He also said that the transmission had a noticeable lag in initial gears, but then I hope they would have done enough testing and perfected it by now.

I really hope that they perfect it!
Was it a H shifter like normal MTs or a Tiptronic +/- shifter?

[volkman10]

Kia Sonet is likely to be priced from Rs. 8 Lakh (ex-showroom, Pan India) on-wards and will be positioning itself as a premium brand!

keeping the Sonet in the premium end of the spectrum will reduce internal competition with its cousin, the Hyundai Venue, with which it shares its platform and engines.

Link

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by volkman10

Kia Sonet is likely to be priced from Rs. 8 Lakh (ex-showroom, Pan India) on-wards and will be positioning itself as a premium brand!

Wow - that really is some Premium. Its sibling Venue's base petrol model starts at 6,70,000 odd ex-showroom. Thats more than a hundred thousand difference in starting price!

1. Surely this will help distinguish the two and position the Sonet as a "better" product perceivably. Afterall, its even costlier than the segment leader. That shows some confidence.
2. I'm guessing Hyundai will be picking this cue to discontinue the "E Petrol" trim in the Venue and bring the prices closer in a mild price hike in next quarter.

[bluetrigger]

I am eagerly awaiting the launch of the Sonet as it fits the bill perfectly for me. Any idea when the bookings and deliveries will start?

[ashvek3141]

Originally Posted by bluetrigger

I am eagerly awaiting the launch of the Sonet as it fits the bill perfectly for me. Any idea when the bookings and deliveries will start?

The launch schedule is somewhere between Sept-Oct ‘20 as per their Sales Head. So probably we can see deliveries happening in Oct-end or Nov, at best.
Booking though should commence atleast a month prior to the launch.

[bluetrigger]

Originally Posted by ashvek3141

The launch schedule is somewhere between Sept-Oct ‘20 as per their Sales Head. So probably we can see deliveries happening in Oct-end or Nov, at best.
Booking though should commence atleast a month prior to the launch.

Thanks for the info! Any idea if it comes with traction control along with driving modes or a 360 camera?

[ashvek3141]

Originally Posted by bluetrigger

Thanks for the info! Any idea if it comes with traction control along with driving modes or a 360 camera?

Traction control: Yes, as even the Venue gets it.
Driving modes & 360 camera: Maybe not, as these features kinda fall into the more premium category where the elder sibling Seltos is placed.

[turbo]

Will this get a panoramic sunroof, though?
Thats the only feature that interests me these days.

How else are they going to justify the 1 and a half lakh premium?

[bluetrigger]

Originally Posted by ashvek3141

Traction control: Yes, as even the Venue gets it.
Driving modes & 360 camera: Maybe not, as these features kinda fall into the more premium category where the elder sibling Seltos is placed.

I was hoping it would come with 360 camera

[ashvek3141]

Originally Posted by turbo

Will this get a panoramic sunroof, though?
Thats the only feature that interests me these days.

How else are they going to justify the 1 and a half lakh premium?

Panoramic Sunroof looks highly unlikely. For such small car, I even doubt if it makes any sense & not to forget the difficulties involved with designing one.

Aside, the 1L premium isn’t confirmed though & doesn’t sound convincing as yet. I can understand a premium of 30-50k at max. But a premium of 1L over the Venue doesn’t make sense. People spending that kinda money maybe better off buying the Creta / Seltos, even if it’s a mid-variant.

[Venkatesh]

Kia reveals upgraded iMT manual gearbox on the 48V mild-hybrid versions of the Kia Rio hatchback, Ceed hatchback and XCeed crossover.



New Intelligent Manual Transmission (iMT) meant specifically for Kia’s mild-hybrid models.
Mechanical clutch linkage replaced by clutch-by-wire technology. Claimed to improve efficiency and reduce emissions by up to 3%.

The Kia Sonet that’s expected to launch in India will also get an iMT manual gearbox. It is not yet known if the Sonet will get a mild-hybrid powertrain when it arrives in India.

Mods please move it to appropriate thread.

https://www.autocarindia.com/car-new...gearbox-417748

[Bibendum90949]

These excerpts from the article shared by Venkatesh made for interesting read. I always thought automatic contributes at least 70-80% of car sales in Europe, just to be proved wrong now.

The iMT system has been developed at the Hyundai Motor Group’s European technical centre in Germany, with a specific focus on the European market due to the continued popularity of manual gearboxes. Michael Winkler, Kia’s powertrain boss, said that manuals still accounted for more than half of the Korean firm’s sales in Europe.

“Manual gearboxes are a real driver for Europe, so we wanted to look at how to electrify a manual transmission,” said Winkler. “When we look at the global picture we still see real demand for manual gearboxes, and we saw a real benefit to being able to offer a manual transmission on a 48V electrified system.

[GBX]

Originally Posted by Venkatesh

New Intelligent Manual Transmission (iMT) meant specifically for Kia’s mild-hybrid models.
Mechanical clutch linkage replaced by clutch-by-wire technology.

Wouldn't this just make it more difficult for manual-averse beginners? The clutch bite point will not longer be easy to feel.

Hope they'll have good feedback built in.

[StarrySky]

Originally Posted by Bibendum90949

These excerpts from the article shared by Venkatesh made for interesting read. I always thought automatic contributes at least 70-80% of car sales in Europe, just to be proved wrong now.

Interesting. I think in Europe at least some countries have taxes tied to the CO2 emissions of the cars. This means lower CO2 ratings of manual cars would translate to lower recurring taxes as well, making them attractive. This could be one reason for their popularity.

[volkman10]

More spy shots of the CUV - Rear and profile in focus!






Link