[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by Dinesh_Malhotra

BTW I am considering the following to mitigate this issue if it does affect my car:
- Change tires to Michelin Primacy 4 ST on day one
- Keep tire pressure at 32/33
- Drive it like a hatch (and not like I drove the Nexon)

1. Read through our forum or internet to make sure your seating position is fine while driving, it matters a lot.
2. Carry a digital air pressure gauge and make sure tire pressure is maintained at factory spec (cold).
3. Do not alter tire pressure in search of ride quality, it will only create problems.
4. Michelin XM2 is a good tire for comfort.
5. Drive carefully whatever the vehicle you have, not just for your comfort but for passengers as well.

[BKB999]

Originally Posted by Cyborg

Dinesh, call the sales person and book a morning test drive. Ensure it’s the first one of the day and the vehicle has been unused for the night (cold tyres).

I found this option is a doable one which also helps to find the solution much faster than anything else.

Originally Posted by Dinesh_Malhotra

Hello everyone,
BTW I am considering the following to mitigate this issue if it does affect my car:
- Change tires to Michelin Primacy 4 ST on day one
- Keep tire pressure at 32/33
- Drive it like a hatch (and not like I drove the Nexon)

As a new owner of Sonet Diesel MT, I can confidently say that the suspension is at par all the other segment competitors. I have driven all the competitor vehicles and only WRV has the comparatively softer suspension in the C-SUV segment. I had a very bad road experience yesterday night and I found the undulance is a bit higher when I drove around 20kmph but I never felt any bone jarring thuds.
I would like to add one more thing here that I have a habit of setting up the seat to the highest possible position always and that could help you nullifying the 'feel' at least (stiffer suspension is the character of all these high ground clearance vehicles - had you tried the Fiat vehicles, you would understand that more clearly). I chose Sonet to take the advantage of this high ground clearance in tough/rough roads where I used to travel occasionally (along with the other gizmos like Cruise control, touchscreen, sunroof at this price range made me to finalize on Sonet). But honestly I haven't felt that I have sacrificed the riding comfort for this, so far.
Ultimately, as everyone suggested, if you can't feel the ride good after repeated TDs think twice or thrice before finalize. All the best in finding peace with a vehicle and finalizing the purchase

[NFS2024]

Originally Posted by Dinesh_Malhotra

I have test driven this car at least 4 times till now in 2 different versions from 2 different dealerships before coming here to seek help. I absolutely love this car against the competition (I have made peace with less space at the back and no safety ratings) and find this suspension issue to be the only big worry considering my health as I suffer from sciatica and the amount of time and money I will be investing as a customer on it. it's something that is affecting many and I have felt myself.

I genuinely asked for a solution to this problem so that many to-be-owners or existing owners of Sonet, who actually like it for everything else, can find some solution and be at peace. I thought maybe we will together find a way here and I am sure if any group can, it's us!

I can answer your question from my drive experience of the Hyundai venue for more than 1000 kms now. The Hyundai Venue's suspension is supposed to be softer than Sonet. If the suspension of Sonet is slightly stiffer than Venue, then i would suggest not to buy it.

The Venue's low speed ride quality is bad on broken, pothole ridden roads. The car hates bad roads and crashes very badly.

You are going to hate Sonet for sure. It can be a deal breaker for you.

[Behemoth]

Originally Posted by Dinesh_Malhotra

Hello everyone,

I think it's about time that we discussed specifically the HORRID SUSPENSION SETUP that KIA Sonet is blessed with and the solutions that one can try to manage the same.

Let's help each other.

If you already feel that the Sonet's suspension is so bad, I recommend that you don't buy the Sonet. If you do, you will end up with buyer's remorse.
A car is a long term purchase and should be owned for at least 5 years (minimum and considering current scenario, 8-10 years is prudent).
There are many other options which are going to be available soon like the Skoda Vision, which may give you a better proposition than the Sonet.

But if you still want to go forward with the Sonet, I would recommend changing your tyres to a Higher aspect ratio (65 instead of the current 60) with Michelin tyres.
You have two options: 215/65 R16 (but this size will be one size up and almost 3.1% larger) but may fit, subject to wheel well space.
This is what I had done in my Skoda Yeti - the OE tyres were 215/60 R16 and I found the ride quality very hard. After 3 years on the OE tyres, I changed over to 215/65 R16 tyres and the ride quality improved drastically.

The second tyre size option is 205/65 R16 - this will also give you better cushioning and will be within +1.1% . This would be my recommended option in Michelin XM2 tyres.

Other than this, I don't feel you have other options for suspension upgrade at this stage and messing with Suspension components may affect a lot of other aspects of car in terms of handling and safety.

[vinitadikonda]

Originally Posted by dark.knight

I found absolutely no problem with the suspension, didn't hear thuds either, you will have to tweak your driving is my guess, and that'll happen as you gain familiarity with the car. It remained solid over undulations, albeit a little stiff, but no thuds.

+1 for tweaking driving/familiarity with the car.

I have a terrible lower back problem since last 5-6 years, I own a Sonet, couple of thousand kms done until now with OEM MRF ones at 34 PSI most of my commute on vintage Hyderabad roads, vintage because most of them were laid when I was born, I believe. ()

Strictly speaking out of my experience, NO ISSUES!

[Merc4Life]

Hi fellow bhp-ians,

Has anyone noticed a faint “whistling noise” when driving at speeds over 80kmph in their sonet?

Mine is a GTX+ variant and the noise emanates near the tweeters on the driver as well as the passenger sides.

I thought it was an issue with just my car but when the service personnel drove the showroom test drive cars, the same noise was noticed in those cars as well.

Kindly let me know if anyone else has encountered this and what could be the probable cause?

[himanshu1058]

Originally Posted by Col Mehta

Congratulations on your new car and wish you many happy and safe miles with it .

Two questions for you:

How is the steering wheel feedback in terms of its weight? We took TD of both petrol and diesel and found diesel's to be heavier of the two, which put us off. Petrol was much easier to drive in tight spaces as well as during parking. Did you get a chance to TD both petrol and diesel and compare the two on this front?

How is the driveability of the diesel AT? Do you feel the power band is too narrow and the engine runs out of breath quite early?

Thank you.

Thank you Col Mehta. Talking about the steering feedback, I feel its precise, well weighted and inspires confidence while driving. I never test drove Petrol so wont be able to tell you about it. Diesel AT offers a good drivability especially in terms of performance. I never feel running out of power, there is plenty of torque available. Coming from a VW family, I feel this is a pretty refined engine.

Stay Safe,
Himanshu

[Col Mehta]

Originally Posted by himanshu1058

Thank you Col Mehta. Talking about the steering feedback, I feel its precise, well weighted and inspires confidence while driving. I never test drove Petrol so wont be able to tell you about it. Diesel AT offers a good drivability especially in terms of performance. I never feel running out of power, there is plenty of torque available. Coming from a VW family, I feel this is a pretty refined engine.

Stay Safe,
Himanshu

Thank you so very much for your feedback. I feel we should take a TD of diesel AT once again to have a second opinion of the car.

Thank you again!

[Nalin1]

Originally Posted by vinitadikonda

+1 for tweaking driving/familiarity with the car.

I have a terrible lower back problem since last 5-6 years, I own a Sonet, couple of thousand kms done until now with OEM MRF ones at 34 PSI most of my commute on vintage Hyderabad roads, vintage because most of them were laid when I was born, I believe. ()

Strictly speaking out of my experience, NO ISSUES!

Ride quality, suspension performance, interior space, steering feedback, leg room etc are some of the aspects that I have now started taking with a bag of salt, as a feedback from anyone.

Even these have become subjective just like the looks or colour of the car.
Maybe because of the sheer number of options available in every segment or varied expectations from people.

[7000plusrpm]

Folks,
A few months back, I had mentioned on this thread that the Sonet is pricey, especially the top trim. While I still agree with that, I do not see any better Diesel automatic in the market with the safety features on offer. I had also mentioned then that I would cancel my pre-booking. I didn't.

I have had my Kia Sonet Diesel automatic GTX plus in Aurora black pearl trim delivered to me yesterday. That concludes my car hunt that had started since the beginning of the lockdown and a shortlist consists of a Swift and Polo GT. That would be the story for another day.

And last but not the least, many thanks to my fellow BHPians with a special shout out to bhansali_hardik and RoadMonkey for their kind help and guidance during the purchase process.

For now, parting with a couple of shots from the delivery day.

Sonet, all set to be delivered


The delivery ceremony at the dealership, with my sales advisor Mr. Niraj


Memorabilia from KIA

[saket77]

Common but dealerships over-inflate the tires while stocking up cars in their yards. Even manufactures over-inflate tires before shipping. This is done to prevent flat spots forming in tires that will remain stationary for undefined periods. So, it is very common to have an over-inflated tire while taking delivery until they check it in the PDI process. Same goes for test drive vehicles. Dealerships over-inflate to get better FE primarily from their test drive cars. Also, it kind of 'boosts' the performance of test drive cars in terms of acceleration which may impress some buyers. So, it is very much possible that you got one such vehicle for your test drive. As others have pointed out, check with another dealership- if possible, confirm tire pressure before taking a test drive. And finally the golden rule- if in doubt, stay out. There are lot of better options out there.

Regards.

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by Dinesh_Malhotra

I have test driven this car at least 4 times till now in 2 different versions from 2 different dealerships before coming here to seek help. I absolutely love this car against the competition (I have made peace with less space at the back and no safety ratings) and find this suspension issue to be the only big worry considering my health as I suffer from sciatica and the amount of time and money I will be investing as a customer on it. it's something that is affecting many and I have felt myself.

Dear Moderators, Please delete this post if it violates any of our rules.

Dear Dinesh _Malhotra, You posed a problem entirely of your own making, sought solutions, dozens of members in good faith jumped in with solutions, you responded repeatedly in a rude and flippant manner and still want people to keep churning out solutions!!!! I firmly believe that you are playing a game with the rest of us or you are taking the wrong decision of booking a car that doesn't suit you or your health after doing 4 tests drives. And you are unwilling to cancel the booking either. Time for this game to end. This is a serious forum not a playground.

[bhansali_hardik]

Originally Posted by 7000plusrpm

And last but not the least, many thanks to my fellow BHPians with a special shout out to bhansali_hardik and RoadMonkey for their kind help and guidance during the purchase process.

For now, parting with a couple of shots from the delivery day.

Sonet, all set to be delivered
Attachment 2091886

The delivery ceremony at the dealership, with my sales advisor Mr. Niraj
Attachment 2091887

Memorabilia from KIA
Attachment 2091885

Congratulations! I’m glad that this went through, I know you were really nervous and looks like everything went great! Congrats on the beauty. One of the best colour and combination for the gt line! Also, please do check the over inflated tires. Do not be over critical about the car please enjoy! It certainly puts a

[Dinesh_Malhotra]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Dear Moderators, Please delete this post if it violates any of our rules.

Dear Dinesh _Malhotra, Time for this game to end.

"Time for this game to end?"

I have already apologised for any hurtful comments as they may have been perceived though that wasn't my intention and I apologize again!

Also, thank you for making glaring personal remarks as you've done.

Not sure if you've violated in any forum rules because the way backlash comes here is palpable but surely you've violated my (and your own too) right to be peaceful on a good day Sir.

Hope we will continue to discuss the car in future and not become a part of this sinister "game" I might be playing.

I hope you get some peace after this Sir. Take care.

[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by Dinesh_Malhotra

Hope we will continue to discuss the car in future and not become a part of this sinister "game" I might be playing.

Dinesh, Mr. Narayan has stated the obvious. All of us have given you possible solutions to your issue. You have also not mentioned WHY you cannot cancel the Sonet booking and look for alternatives, which also sounds ridiculous with the serious back problems which you indicate. There can be nothing else which remains to be said regarding possible solutions to the suspension issues in your case, period !!!

As I mentioned earlier, it’s your attitude which is causing us to retort the way we are. Your apologies do not come across as apologies at all, they come across as arrogant and hypocritical responses.

I don’t feel your discussion should be taken any further.

Cheers