I am thinking of buying a KIA... but does it have any power?

[GingerIsBest]

Currently driving an Audi A1 1.4 engine. I love driving it - it's just sporty and powerful enough to be fun, without being obnoxious or overwhelming and it's nice and small which is what I want as 90% of the time it's just me zipping around town etc (we have a big family car for when we go out en masse).

However, it's turning out to be expensive to run with lots of small faults all the time. Plus, I find the satnav/phone/radio etc extremely old fashioned and a bit pointless.

I'm leaning towards a KIA, as recommended by my mechanic with lots of warrantees etc. BUT... I still want the car to be physically small AND I want it to have enough power. Does anyone have any experience of Kia's at the smaller end - the family cars are, I know, great and we looked at a couple years ago. But I don't want a big car. I want a small car.

Test drive one?

We have a brand new KIA Sportage GT Line Hybrid and not only is it nippy, it looks lovely and is practical with children 🥰 The boot space is great!

I have a KIA picanto and tbh it is a bit gutless. I definitely know about it if I try to drive up a hill with two adults and both dogs 😂

It'll tell you the power and 0- 60 speed in the literature surely?

I have had my KIA Venga for 11 years. It is 13 years old, and is a really good car.

Surprisingly roomy, (large husband and two 6ft sons fit in easily, and can carry 5 no problem, and a boot with tons of room for two collies. It sits quite high so doesn't feel like a small car.

The engine is robust. The 7 warranty was good to have (4 years for me.)

Planning to get another eventually.

It very much depends on which 1.4 A1 you have, they come in 3 different power outputs from 122-185bhp.

We almost bought one two years ago but after the test drive I decided to stick with my 2007 VW Golf and now have a 2007 Land Rover. Still haven't bought a "new" car.

Partly, I thought it best to wait out the EV revolution with an older car until we knew what was happening with used car prices and with battery/range on EVs (and charging points). It all seems to have stalled though so we're still waiting.

The reason we didn't go for the Kia specifically is the acceleration and gear shifts were just so much less responsive than my old Golf and I didn't like the gearbox at all, even though from a space and comfort point of view the car was fantastic. It depends what you want out of a car really.

We have a Kia Niro it’s great. Why not test drive / compare the specifications with your current car? I couldn’t care less about power so can’t really comment

Don't do it, I know 2 people with Kias whose engines blew up. They were not treated well by Kia.

I had my Kia Venga for 10.5 years and she was a nippy wee thing, great space and was a good car. It was just the last 2 months the money cost to replace things was huge compared to our usual bills for the car. I do miss the Venga as it was a 1.4 and an easy car to drive.

I didn’t like the Kia safety aspect in a crash. Compared to many other brands it just crumbled to a heap

I have a picanto and find it has enough power, but PPs are right that it may feel different to you compared to your current car. I also have the 1.25l version rather than the 1l

I have a kia picanto and I love and adore it. I call it 'the sewing machine' because that is what it sounds like.

It has a surprising amount of go when there are 1-2 people in it. Any more and not so much. I get some pleasure out of drawing away from much bigger vehicles at traffic lights because no-one ever expects such a small car to have some speed. It is also surprisingly roomy. I have managed to fit two children, a dog, a bistro set and three good sized trees in it (and drew a crowd at the B&Q carpark who were clearly wondering how I would fit everything in).

We also have a Kia Sportage and use it for towing a very heavy trailer and it handles it all fine.

We love our Kias. They are just decent uncomplicated cars that do what they are meant to do. Easy to handle and to drive.

My Kia Stonic is pretty good. Put it in Sport mode and it is very responsive. Drive it in eco mode, not so much. I wanted a Discovery Sport for the shape but I couldn't justify the extra price or the extra power. I don't drive up hills and I have nothing to toq. I was looking at a Sportage but the sales guy showed us this. I really wanted something to replaced my nearly 20 year old Ford Fusion though, so I'm not exactly a power car user. My other car is my fun car.

Thanks all. I'm going to have to test drive I think. The truth is that I like driving, but I'm not really that knowledgeable about cars in themselves. I do know that when I looked at Toyota Jazz it felt way too heavy which irritated me and I liked the "nippiness" of my car.

According to the internet, mine is 123 BPH. Which sounds right as my old car was something like 95 and I really wanted that extra oomph.

I don't want the Sportage - seems like a great car but I want small. I feel really strongly about this. We have a big car and it's a great car and easy to drive and I use it a lot, but for me by myself I want small. I want fuel efficient. I want to be able to park it in the tiny spaces our big car doesn't fit in etc.

I don't know how committed you are to a Kia, but I can highly recommend a Mini Cooper 5 door. Nippy, powerful and plenty room for me and my toddler / all his paraphernalia!

Intellectually, there is no doubt that a mini is the right car for me and meets all my requirements. However, I have an absolutely irrational loathing of them and wouldn't buy one if it was the last car in England.

I've never liked them particularly, but two people I dislike intensely have them and I think that was the final nail in the coffin for me!

I'm not wedded to a KIA, it's just that I want something reliable, not too expensive etc. I have enjoyed my Audi but don't need a branded car. I'm also going to look at Skoda Fabias but I think they're starting to inch a little bigger again and I do love being able to slip into ridiculously small spaces on the school run/local shopping centre etc. (although, sadly, that didn't prevent the huge SUV driver who pulled in after me taking a swipe at my door!)

Look at the car info. Not a Kia but we have a 1.0l 99 bhp small car which is very quick. Find out the published speeds of current car and compare to anything you look at. Unfortunately test drive routes aren't always great for testing out if you can overtake a slow moving car or not have to switch down the gears to go up a gradient on a motorway. Like most things there's perspective in what you are used to driving.

According to the internet, mine is 123 BPH. Which sounds right as my old car was something like 95 and I really wanted that extra oomph.

It’s the slow one then, 8.9 seconds to 62mph. From what you said earlier, you probably want to avoid anything with a slower 0-62mph.

I have a Kia Stonic. I love it! Small but pretty nippy.

Thank you. That's helpful as I never really know what the 0-60 means in real terms.

It’s a reasonable metric to gauge performance but can sometimes be skewed by some cars being able to reach that in second gear and others needing to change to third. I also like to look at 0-120mph and 0-150mph times where available, that separates the men from the boys, not relevant in your situation though.