2015 Kia Sedona luxury on wheels
Roomy hauler still relevant choice for modern families on the go
At the beginning of our longterm test of the new 2015 Kia Sedona, the overriding question we wanted to answer was: Is a minivan still relevant as a modern peoplemover at a time when crossovers and SUVs dominate the showrooms?
After two months and more than 3,500 kilometres behind the wheel of the Korean automaker’s resurrected Sedona, we’re happy to vote “yes.”
When we took delivery of the topline $47,660 (all prices include freight and pre-delivery inspection fees) 2015 Kia Sedona SXL+ back in early January, little did we know we would be facing one of the coldest, meanest winters we’ve seen since the invention of synthetic down. It’s safe to say we put the Sedona through its paces.
Over its eight-week stay, we subjected the Kia to several out-of-town road trips, crammed a starting lineup from our daughter’s ringette team inside, and made the minivan our go-to choice as our daily errand hopper. Base model Sedonas have seating for up to eight, but our crew fought to sit in the seven-seat SXL+’s best seats in the van: a pair of reclining captain chairs with footrests that replace the standard three-seat second row.
Ask any current minivan driver, and the key advantage over a comparable crossover is that you can fit everyone and all of their stuff inside. And the new Sedona was no different. Aft of its 60/40-split third-row seats, the Kia’s rear cargo hold is deep. And with its third-row seating folded, there’s up to 4,020 litres of space (about twice what a mid-size crossover can hold) with a convenient flat floor.
As much as we liked the Kia for its people/stuff hauling capabilities, during our two months with the Sedona, the minivan coddled us with features and conveniences we would have expected from a full-sized luxury sedan. Standard gear in our topline SXL+ included heated and cooled front seats, a heated steering wheel, and a host of state-of-the-art safety tech.
The only treat missing was a factory-installed DVD entertainment system, something spoiled minivan passengers under 10 years of age are becoming accustomed to.
For those chauffeuring said rug rats, the Sedona was a bit of a surprise. While we consider the Honda Odyssey the best minivan for drivers, the new Kia offers more overall refinement.
For starters, the Sedona SXL+’s driver’s seat is all-day friendly. It was easy to spend long hours slogging it out on various highways without feeling exhausted. We also found that the van’s ergonomic design was amazingly intuitive, like the Sedona’s easy-to-use central touch screen, or pop-up displays whenever the driver used the wiper or light stalks.
It also helps that the Kia is luxury-car quiet at speeds. If not as agile as the Honda, the Kia minivan would be our pick for everyday driving and road trips — mainly because of its calm and comfortable demeanour.
And although you can get a Toyota Sienna with allwheel drive, when properly equipped with winter rubber, our front-drive Sedona never left us feeling the need for AWD, despite spending the majority of our Sedona seat time during the depths of winter. Having lane-departure warning, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, front-collision warning, adaptive cruise control, and a 360-degree camera also added to the overall confidence we had on every drive. And despite the harsh weather, the Kia still managed a reasonable 11.4 litres of gas per 100 km at the end of our two-month test.
We think Kia has done the smart thing in making the Sedona SXL+ more of a luxury vehicle than a sporty one. It rides comfortably, handles well for its size, and its V-6/automatic transmission combo gets the big vehicle going swiftly enough for most minivan buyers. However, Kia’s minivan is so fundamentally sound in its packaging, engineering and overall usefulness, we would have no problem also recommending lesser models, starting with the base $29,160 Sedona L.
As we wrote at the start of this 60-day test drive, the minivan market in North America is about half the size it was 15 years ago. But if you need to carry more than five passengers — and their cargo, too — a minivan is still a relevant way to go.
And if you are looking for the most luxurious and refined example of a minivan, we have no problem recommending the new 2015 Kia Sedona SXL+. Overview: After leaving the segment for several years, Kia now targets the leaders with its new Sedona Pros: Luxury-car ride, handling and features, businessclass second-row seating, excellent ergonomics Cons: Some spoiled kids may miss the availability of an inhouse DVD system Value for money: Good What I would change: An allwheel-drive version would make the Sedona a crossover killer How I would spec it: I’d go with the three-across second-row seating to give me room for five passengers and max out the rear cargo space