They still exist: vehicles like that Kia Venga, who pretend to be nothing more than a practical vehicle. Well, the Korean minivan wants to be a bit more than just practical. After all, looking nice doesn't hurt, for example, and using fuel sparingly is not a sign of saucy. We asked the Venga, revised at the beginning of the year for these factors, for an everyday test.
Well, the appearance of the Venga did not become really noticeable after the facelift either. The brand face familiar from Ceed and Sportage with the so-called tiger nose grille now adorns the front, in addition there are newly designed fog lights and modified rear lights. But that does not change the rather inconspicuous appearance. The minivan is neither too angular nor too round; it should appeal to buyers who do not value design extravagance, but rather honor mediocrity.
And also in terms of its dimensions, it remains on average for competitors such as Nissan Note, Citroen C3 Picasso and Ford B-Max. Only the Opel Meriva is significantly longer. With a length of 4,08 meters, the Venga is still in a small car format, which simplifies the search for parking spaces and makes it a pleasant companion for the urban environment.
He also gives the pleasant companion when shopping. The trunk holds at least 314 liters, but if you move the lengthways rear bench seat forward by 13 centimeters, 440 liters are available. If you fold down the back seat backrests - a flat loading area is created - the value increases to 1.486 liters. These are decent values for the size of the vehicle. The loading edge is also quite low, so that loading and unloading heavy objects does not cause back problems.
The rear users also benefit from the sliding rear seat bench, fully retracted, even people with long legs enjoy very good space. The height of 1, 60 meters contributes to the good feeling of space. Typically Van, the driver sits slightly elevated. This not only improves clarity, getting in and out is easier and should particularly delight the drivers of the 50 + generation.
The five-door model does not allow itself to be spared when designing the interior. Everything is tidy, sober, matter-of-fact: the chrome-colored applications now attached do nothing to change that. Conversely, the controls are logically sorted, their handling poses no problems for the user.
The top version Spirit we drive has almost everything on the Kia equipment list, including automatic climate control, heated front seats, heated leather steering wheel, fog lights, LED daytime running lights, 17 inch alloy wheels and rear parking sensors. This level of comfort can be paid for by Kia in connection with the only diesel in the Venga range with at least 21.740 euros. If you want the diesel, you have to invest so much money, because it is only available with the Spirit version. Incidentally, the company does not yet have assistance systems such as traffic sign recognition or a lane change warning in its program for the little ones.
The diesel, very common in the class with a 1,6-liter displacement, delivers 94 kW / 128 hp. Now - after some fine tuning - the engine takes the Euro 6 emissions standard. The engine has no big surprises. He willingly goes on duty without too loud a nail noise. Its power delivery (260 Nm) is okay, especially if you appreciate the six-speed gearshift. The diesel does not encourage sprinting, rather a relaxed attitude fits the characteristics of the unit. The more commodely tuned chassis honors this attitude, unevenness in the road is filtered out quite properly. Despite a well-maintained, relaxed driving style, 6,2 liters flowed through the lines, which meant we were 1,7 liters above the standard value. But this is also nothing new and rather average.
If you are looking for an inconspicuous, average and practical vehicle, you will be happy with the Kia Venga. The Korean is not an average type in only one respect. Seven year warranty is still exceptional.
Author: Elfriede Munsch / SP-X