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Hey Guys,

Finally, after a good over 250 days ( Yes that's right, and you are open to do the math in months), I drove home my HTX DCT on the 19th! Not to mention, in absolutely love with it. Haven't driven it much yet, so nothing much to share as of now except for the excitement! However, wanted to know about the adequate tyre pressure on the 215 65 R16 pairs. The TPMS shows 45 PSI ( is a bit too much I guess with the Little knowledge i possess) in all 4 tyres, can't rely completely on the reading I know as it is just an indicative measure. Recommendations would be appreciated, as i plan to visit the local tyrewala for deflating the excess pressure, thanks guys.


Excited to drive this beast!

Congratulations!

The tyre pressure should be 35 psi when fully loaded, as per the user manual. I maintain 33 psi; we are just 2 adults + 1 kid.

Congratulations. The wait is worth the days though.

For pressure even I got it at 43PSI. As per the SA this was to keep the car wheels safe during transport.:eek:
However that high pressure gives a false high average reading and bouncy ride.
As mentioned by robincsamuel, i too maintain 33PSI
It's the recommended pressure by KIA.
Lower pressure say 30psi gives better rode comfort but fuel efficiency takes a hit and could damage the tyres.

Hello Guys,

I took the delivery of my car (HTX AE 7DCT) on 3rd Aug and the entire process went smooth. I have driven around 1900 Kms so far with around 70% of them on highway(including 200 kms in ghat section) and the rest are city drive. I even completed the First Service. These are my observations so far in comparison with Fiat Punto Evo I sold to the dealer as exchange.

1) Good Ergonomics and comfort- I could instantly find a comfortable driving position. Can reach to all the controls easily. In Punto, it was always a struggle to find a good driving position.
2) Smooth performance and fast gear shifts- The engine doesn't seem stressed out while doing high speeds. Gear shifts are fast and I got the right gears all the time. The paddle shifters were such a breeze to use in ghat sections. Did not struggle a bit in both highway and City nor felt tiredness after continuous driving. In Punto, I used to feel tired.
3) Good Visibility- Good all-round view. Didn't felt any discomfort due to dashboard display unit. In Punto, the thick A pillar used to create blind spots.
4) Good NVH and silent cabin. With Punto, there were various noise creeping inside the cabin.
5) Good space and roomy cabin. Never felt the interior space is cramped, enough for 4 adults. Folded the rear seat and laid a mattress so that my wife and my pet can relax comfortably( would have loved if it had flat floor). In Punto, this is not possible.
6) Good storage- Options to keep mobiles, wallets, handbags, water bottles, umbrella etc.
7) Good Brakes - Does stop without any drama.
8) Good ground clearance- Never felt any issues while driving on the broken roads.
9) Good AC- Cools the cabin pretty quickly.
10) Good Infotainment system. Didn`t find any issues with Apple car play.


Some discomfort i felt in comparison with Punto are;
1) Average Ride & Handling - While the top performance and pickup is good in Sonet, but once I crossed 100KMPH mark the drive doesn't seem to be confident inspiring. I felt the steering to be not weighing up as much as expect and requires frequent adjustments. Above 120Kmph, I felt that the car responds abruptly to any minor steering inputs and needs a firm hand. I felt that this car is comfortable to drive near 100Kmph and not beyond that. In Punto, one will not even realize that its doing above 120Kmph unless he sees the speedo meter and can comfortably make high speed turns in highways.
2) Average straight line stability - At high speeds above 100kmph, felt that drive can be bit unnerving and needs some effort to keep the car in straight line. In Punto, I used to have good confidence and the car never lost composure even while facing heavy cross winds, rains.
3) Average LED headlights - They are decent for straight line, but are really bad in winding roads and I found difficulty in cutting corners. Fog lights provided are pretty useless as well. The throw is not evenly spread.
4) The center armrest is not positioned comfortably.
5) Front Seats should have had bit more width.

Congrats on your ride!!

I 100% concur with all your above observations. I have a month & a half old HTX D AT & just did a 500 kms roadtrip. Your observations #1 & #2 are absolutely spot on. I did mention this in my post too. This car is best driven sub 100-110 kmph, anything above that feels a bit unnerving. The OEM MRF Wanderers make matters even worse.

Somehow the steering too isn’t helping the case and like you mentioned needs continuous correction. When I had TD’d this during the launch, I had found it pretty compliant at high speeds. I fail to comprehend what is missing here! :unhappy

And thank you for mentioning this, felt a bit relieved that it’s not just me who feels this about the car.

Another point if I may add , when picking up speed between 30-40 kmph, you can feel a slight wobble in the car. If one notices carefully there’s a bit of sideways ‘giggle’ if I could call it. Not sure if anybody else have experienced the same.

It’s not just you who is experiencing the sideways vibrations. I have noticed it too. I have the Kia Sonet 1.5 CRDi VGT 6AT GTX Plus.

When I accelerate the car slightly harder than usual at lower speed, there is a vibration in the car which makes you feel like something is vibrating sideways. Like, from the left to right and then right to left. The intensity of the vibration is not too low or too high.

Although I don’t know exactly what’s causing this issue, I think that the vibration is coming from the gearbox. The vibration almost feels like the oil is rotating (or going through fine holes) at high pressure. Sometimes it feels like the vibration when the clutch is slipping.

That being said, this vibration never made me worry if there is something wrong with the gearbox. I didn’t even bother to bring this to the attention of the service centre the last time I took the car for servicing. This vibration just didn’t seem like the one that could be a result of some problem. As funny as it sounds, I guess this is “don’t worry, this is normal” kind of vibration. LOL.

Oh, just for your reference, my car has completed more than 5,700 kilometres so far.

Sonet diesel owners, have you faced DPF issues with your car? If yes, how frequent is it?

I have Kia Sonet Turbo imt. It is 1 and half year old and had run 8000KM. I am happy with the car.
Recently, when I filled petrol (usually I fill full tank, with auto cut off), it was being topped up with extra petrol before I noticed and asked them to stop.
Post that, I have run the car another 100KM, but the fuel level indicator is remaining struck at full. I opened the fuel tank cap, to let some air in, and closed. No change in the situation. Is this a common problem?
I am looking up the team bhp to for suggestions, before going to the service centre.

I own the 1.5 CRDi VGT 6AT GTX Plus variant of the Kia Sonet. It is almost six months old at the moment and has completed approximately 5,900 kilometres. So far, I haven’t faced any DPF issue with the vehicle.

For your reference, I stay in Hyderabad and drive the car in the city as well on the highway that goes around the city (it is called ORR).

I prefer spirited driving in the city (especially on the scenic roads here) and therefore, the RPM of the car while I am driving is usually higher compared to the RPM when most other people drive.

On an empty highway, however, I drive the car very sedately. I set the cruise speed to 100 KMPH and try to maintain the consistency for as long as I can so that I get a good fuel efficiency.

Weekly once, I drive to a place which is 45 kilometres away from my home and then come back using the same road. The majority of the journey is carried out on the ORR. When I’m on the ORR doing this trip, I set the cruise speed to 100 KMPH.

In spite of the car being driven at low (and constant) RPM on that road, which can cause the DPF to clog, I haven’t faced any DPF issue with the car.

I guess the DFP hasn’t clogged so far because I drive the car at higher RPMs every now and then. Let’s see how it goes in the future.

I have a diesel GTX AT with over 10000 kms driven. No such issues faced. My driving is mainly in city with Highway runs every fortnight or after 1 month.

Guys,
After having driven just about 300 Km (all city drive) the odo shows 14 KMPL (HTX DCT). I know that's far from real mileage but yes have read on the forum that it gets better post first servicing. Also would love inputs on getting a better visibility for night drive with most of the folks mentioning the headlamps throw should have been better. Rest,enjoying the drive for now and plan on a longer highway drive in the coming weeks,more revelations to follow I guess.

Faced a similar issue, but it got resolved on its own after restarting the car, will be keeping a watch though if it reoccurs.

I forgot to post an update on my above post (on the fuel indicator remaining stuck at maximum, post top-up)
The mystery was cleared. After completing about 120KM travel, the fuel indicator started moving down from the maximum, and no further issues. The lessons learned: (i) the additional space in the fuel tank for topping up is nearly 10 litres :D(ii) the algorithm for the displayed FE doesn't take into account the fuel level indication.

Ah I stand corrected.
How does one access it?

Generally in Kia / Hyundai cars it is located above the P gear position; however, only in the Sonet it is ‘hidden’ under the leather boot. So to access the button, one has to pull & remove the leather boot and with the aid of a screwdriver you need to press the button. This is how it has been mentioned in the owner’s manual. Quite a task if you ask me.

They could have just provided it above the P gear position as in the other cars. But there are a few basic flaws / omissions best known to the group!