Daily Tribune‘The Kia Sonet strengthens our aim to position Kia as a premium brand that provides great value for money in terms of advanced tech and design.’
INCOMPARABLE views of both the Talisay, Batangas, and the Kia Sonet.
photographs by Eli Darunday Villagonzalo for the daily tribune
A SMALL-BODY cross SUV that drives big.
BEHIND the gleaming body is a beastly engine.
THE KIA Drive motorcade at the South Luzon Expressway.
AUTHOR (center) with other motoring journalists take turns in driving.
AC Motors held a media drive last 31 July from their BGC office to Talisay, Batangas, up to Tagaytay — giving the motoring media the full experience of the Kia Sonet.
Launched last June 2024, the Kia Sonet hosts a small body, a crossover SUV with a four-cylinder, 1.5 gas engine with an Intelligent variable transmission.
This gives the Kia Sonet an edge to meet both worlds into one car especially for those who want to shift from automatic to manual in a breeze.
“We believe that we introduced the Kia Sonet at the right time as our dealer network has matured, our aftersales services have improved, and the general trend towards subcompact SUVs has increased,” said Toti Zara III, president of Kia Philippines Motor Corporation (KPMC).
“The Kia Sonet strengthens our aim to position Kia as a premium brand that provides great value for money in terms of advanced tech and design.”
“Its best-in-class features, responsive handling, and premium interiors have been key reasons why the Kia Sonet has sold up to 700 units since its launch on 6 June 2024.”
The post-introductory price of the base variant 1.5 LX MT is P758,000; while the 1.5 LX AT is at P888,000; the 1.5 EX AT at P998,000; and the top-of-the-line 1.5 SX AT variant priced at P1,158,000.
We took turns from driving the Kia Sonet SX. Just by the interiors, you will be amazed how elegantly the stitched leather seats and dashboard, with the large tablet, with a half moonroof, large infotainment, cool blasting aircon that actually made the windows moist.
The clearing was good especially for a big guy like me. Shoulders, legs, head room was spacious enough for 4 full-sized adults.
‘The Kia Sonet strengthens our aim to position Kia as a premium brand that provides great value for money in terms of advanced tech and design.’
The automatic transmission gives you a sports mode, and a manual mode up to eight-speed. The low to high acceleration lets you play the gears just like what a real manual transmission engine does, gives you the adequate power where you need it, when you need it.
The manual mode automatically steps down from high gear, to low gear, especially in those situations that need a safer and more powerful torque than speed.
You will actually feel and hear the engine and the gears adjusting to low gear.
Taking the Talisay-Tagaytay road was easy. Floored the pedal several times using the first and second gears.
Once you shift to high gear, and go a 90- to 180-degree turn and shift to low gear, you will feel the engine break, where normally a newbie driver does is shift to high gear instead.
In our first pit stop, we were able to engage the sports mode giving a good fuel efficiency from 6.2 to 8.4 liters for every 100 kilometers.
Please note three full-sized adults with heavy loads. We had at least a backpack each, camera gears and some essentials.
A tour of exquisite art pieces on display at the secluded venue provided glimpses of inspiration for the media participants.
Breathtaking and calm views of the majestic Taal Lake and the surrounding landscape allowed the guests to relax and savor the tranquil environment.
Somehow the soothing views are similar to how the Kia Sonet, with its best-in-class feature set, premium cabin and soft-touch materials, provides peace of mind to its driver and passengers.
Modern convenience features such as the 10.25-inch driver’s display, an infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and a sunroof allowed participants to further appreciate the urban SUV during the drive.
We had a long path back home as we went to the other side of Tagaytay, passing by Tagaytay Highlands and going through the abandoned Twin Towers; cruising on a rainy afternoon, exiting to some rough road in Nuvali.
The slippery and rocky road, from the cold roads of Tagaytay wasn’t enough to slow us down. Where there are roads, the Kia Sonet can make the journey.
