Took delivery of my Kia Sonet diesel AT: Observations on 4 key aspects

Honestly, my running is a bit low and limited to mostly city drives, but I picked the diesel AT purely for the engine-transmission combo.

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Took delivery of my new black beauty (HTX D AT) yesterday. The experience at Thrissur Incheon Kia was great - as great as it could go. Initially had ordered Intense Red but due to increasing demand and the price hike that's around the corner, the SA arranged a black one and we immediately made the payment and blocked the car.

Coming to the initial impressions:

• Engine - Transmission: Absolutely FAB. Honestly, my running is a bit low and limited to mostly city drives, but I picked the D AT purely for the engine-transmission combo. This is the USP of this car and absolutely the best in segment, hands down. Test drove Brezza AT, Baleno, Sonet DCT, Venue, Kiger CVT and absolutely nothing felt as smooth to me. Coming from a diesel manual Amaze, the refinement is just *chef's kiss*. The thrill you get with the instant low end torque and the great throttle response made me a fan, overtaking is so much fun and puts my mind at ease! I used to drive annoyingly conservatively as my Amaze manual had not offered the confidence I needed. But here I don't even need to full depress the throttle, just the right amount and off you go!
• Driving and Handling: Having driven both Amaze (rock hard clutch, heavy steering) and Altroz (super light steering), this is the perfect balance. Not too light and not too heavy. Straight line stability is excellent.
• Comfort: Actually, reading the "stiff suspension" complaint over and over, this was surprisingly well tuned. At least for me this is a great mid point, it offers excellent comfort on highways and undulations and bad roads are tackled well. Not sure if they changed the tuning but I feel it's better than Venue, where the cats eye/undulations were felt more.
• In car entertainment: Fairly good. Again coming from Altroz/2015 Amaze, I had no complaints here.

Overall, it's an excellent package and while I thought I'd have buyer's remorse (I usually do!), after driving other autos in the segment (or even a few in a segment above), Sonet is a notch above. Shall share more feedback before first service/after a long ride which we're taking in the weekend

PS: There's a burnt smell coming from front disc brakes and they get really hot. Is this normal? SA says so as it's a new car, but I'd like to know from others if this is something they've experienced.

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