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Kia Sonet petrol iMT: Likes & dislikes after 2 months and 500 kms

13th June 2022, 11:05 by Dev Shah

The iMT is a breeze. Driving this car in the city is much more comfortable than the manual transmission.

BHPian roadheat recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hello,

Thought of sharing a review of my recently purchased Kia Sonet Anniversary Edition iMT petrol. Its been 2 months and have driven approximately 500kms.

Booking:

I had booked this car in January 2022, well informed by the sales advisors that it will take atleast 4-5months for the delivery. So I had offered them two options: HTX iMT petrol , or the Anniversary Edition iMT. And I was okay with any color from White,Black, Gray & Silver. I kept inquiring every fortnight for any update & by March, I was pretty tired of waiting. One day the sales guy told me that there was an allocation that was available, it was a Gravity Gray Anniversary Edition iMT Petrol. and asked me if I was interested. I accepted the offer provided I get a pre delivery inspection & got them to share the VIN No. which was (Feb 2022). So we went ahead with the registration procedure & got delivery of the car post Holi.

* The SA insisted on installing a lot of add ons like chrome bars etc. but I chose only the floor mats. I did not want any cosmetic addons since I was already buying the Anniversary Edition.

I will break down the hits & misses about the car.

Hits

Interior: The car feels plush with the dual tone interior, feels very roomy and big inside. Its perfect for a family car. I put seat covers with a stitch that enhances the look, although factory seats are also fabulous. I had to put seat covers since i have a kid and its not easy maintaining the factory seat covers. The 8" Touch Screen with wireless phone projection is another plus point. The whole interior has a leatherette finish which feels very premium.
Exterior: Looks great with its sporty accents. The Gravity Gray looks buffed compared to the White, Silver. & Black. The front obviously looks awesome with the tiger nose grill. The R16 Alloy Wheels compliment well.
Drive: The iMT is a breeze. Driving this car in the city is much more comfortable than the manual transmission. The crawl mode in 1st gear is a boon in bumper to bumper traffic. On highways, it can be really powerful when the turbo kicks in.
Suspension/Handling: Suspension is great in city & on highways. Car absorbs a good amount of vibrations off the road.
Auto Headlamps: Headlamps turn on / off , automatically when you start/stop the car.
Welcome Mirrors:The car's ORVMs open automatically when you walk towards the car.
Keyless ignition: You can start the car with your keys from outside. That's a cool feature to be able to ignite your engine before you walk in and have it ready to drive. Inbuilt rear window retractable sun screen is great to have in the summers.
Boot Space: Huge boot space to accommodate luggage for a family of 4. No complaints.

After sales service has been great so far.

Misses:

Rear Wiper: Rear Wiper should have been provided. Feels like it is so little to provide when you are offering so many features on the car.
Inbuilt Navigation: Wireless Phone projection is not compatible with many phones. Seems like they have a software issue which is not yet resolved. one of the Sales Advisor at service centre told me that its incompatible with the iPhone 13 as well & those customers were left absolutely disappointed.
Tyres: I am not sure about this. Is it the size of the car to tyres or my driving style, but the tyres really feel drifty at turns. I can feel a slight drift in the car.
Panel Gaps: This is one big concern. the car has a lot of cuts & curves which means as many body gaps. & i live next to a playground, so i have so much dirt accumulating in these body gaps that its impossible to clean this on a daily basis.
Rear Side / Port Glass: Looks fantastic, but it needs to be cleaned / wiped accordingly. After such a short while, you can see some wipe marks on the glass, (the car cleaner must have wiped it with the regular cloth)
Paint: The Gravity Gray somehow does not feel like a deep paint. The Black & White both look like they are deep paints, however the gravity gray feels like a layer lesser than the black / white colors. Even the black plastic moulds at the bottom , over the wheels etc feel like they need regular polishing. They lose their shine & catch white stains when washed with regular water / cloth.
First Service: The Car felt less responsive in the 1st/2nd gear after the first service. It felt like as if they turned off the Turbo. I got it checked with the advisor/engineer, took a few test drives. They said that there is nothing wrong with it. I still feel that the turbo response has been changed. ( maybe the turbo kicked in previously at 2000rpm, & now its 3000rpm).
Overtaking: One has to be cautious while maneuvering a overtake in the iMT. It may not be as responsive as a manual transmission and you will need to spend sometime driving the iMT to understand how the car behaves.
Mileage: I get a mileage of 10kmpl , and the advisors at the service centre state that 10kmpl is an acceptable mileage for city driving.
Turning Radius: I find the Turning Radius very inconvenient to make turns/u-turns. There have been times when the turning has been inadequate for parking lot ramps at certain malls. Compared to the Nissan Micra I have, the turning radius of the Sonet is very bad.

Overall, I am very happy with the purchase & love the drive. I have bought it as a family car & it satisfies all my major requirements. Looking forward to some long drives soon. Would definitely recommend the Kia Sonet iMT (buy the HTX variant or above for features).