Is Kia making a surpass?

(Published in Yehey! Lifestyle)

Let’s face it, the word “Kia” was introduced to the Philippines as the “People’s Car”. Their first model introduced to the market (Kia Pride) earned the nastiest of sarcasm from motor heads and laymen alike. They had no sense of aerodynamics and was simply a balikbayan box with tiny wheels. In the next coming years, the term “people’s car” would be forgotten but the trying-hard-to-be-cool-with-a-car image of the Kia will remain to haunt the brand.

That was then, it is now 2008.

For the whole month of October this year, the Car Awards Group, Inc. or more popularly known as CAGI, conducted a series of test drives of the latest vehicles in the Philippine market. During weekends, some 9 to 15 cars would be driven through obstacles and simulated road conditions to test their performance. These obstacles would include two off-road tracks that tested the monster trucks ability to surpass flood, mud, landslides and elevated terrain. Other road conditions included a slalom track and long stretches of narrow highways to challenge the vehicles acceleration capabilities. The CAGI will award the winners this November based on the comprehensive tests they did in Clark.

Being young and somewhat still feeling like a college boy, the vehicles that caught my fancy were those that are preppy and manoeuvrable, meaning it can race like a car and dance its way easily into any slalom track. After all, what use for a vehicle would be to a young preppy dude but mobility? The Kia Sportage, despite being high roofed, graced through the slalom track with ease and at a fast speed. A test of sudden breaks proved that the vehicle is stable during such a condition. It was very much like a race vehicle. Next, we drove the vehicle through a constant circle until the vehicle skid. There were no signs of wobbling from the wheel and I felt completely under control. Finally, we sprinted the Kia Sportage through the highway and easily reached a speed of 130 kph in a span of a few seconds.

Performance is already basic to Kia Sportage. It will not let you down. Now for the preppy dude who can’t live without being fashionable, both the interior and exterior of the Kia Sportage supplements the hip image. The interior runs with a combination of beige and brown which is soothing to the eyes. Air conditioning comfortably runs silent and cools desirably without the feeling of too much air blown from the vents. The engine is silent from the inside and passengers can easily converse inside without the disturbance of outside noise. From the outside, the red Kia Sportage is so preppy yet with the sophistication of modern designs.

Kia seems to be making a surpass of it's Japanese rivals which have traditionally been the glamor brands in the Philippine market. The Kia Clarens also aced the car testing series as well. Has the tortoise finally overtaken the sleeping hare?