2004.5 Kia Spectra--A Major Redesign Finally Makes This Car A Contender
Written: Mar 25 '04 (Updated Apr 18 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Roomy, airy, and high-quality interior, generous feature content, solid and durable feel, low pricing.
Cons: Unrefined manual transmission, nonlinear steering feel, chassis sophistication still noticeably behind class leaders.
The Bottom Line: The new Spectra still isn't a driver's car, but it's now a pleasant, solid, and honest-feeling commuter. A thoughtfully-designed, high-quality interior is its best feature.
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| drive571's Full Review: 2004 Kia Spectra Sedan |
*The picture provided at the top of this page is not the 2004.5 Spectra, but the outgoing 2004 Spectra. To view pictures of the new Spectra, visit Kia's website at kia.com.
My Experience
I test-drove a 2004.5 Kia Spectra LX 5-speed at a local dealership. My test drive lasted about forty-five minutes, and covered city streets, the freeway, and some winding secondary roads.
Performance
Although the Kia's engine performance hasn't been improved as dramatically as other aspects of the car, it's still benefited appreciably from the 2004.5 redesign. The remedy for the old Spectra's gruff and unrefined engine was a simple one--Kia just yanked out the old 1.9-liter four and replaced it with a 2.0-liter unit from their parent company, Hyundai. The Kia shares this engine with Hyundai's Elantra, and while it's certainly not the best in its class in terms of refinement and performance, it's good enough to be competitive.
Where the old engine grumbled and shook the cabin at idle, the new engine just sends some mild buzzing through the seats and steering wheel rim, with very little noise. The engine remains a bit lacking in sophistication on the move, but proves to be a willing and agreeable partner nonetheless. Around town, acceleration feels more than adequate, if a bit flat when pressed. Its thrust is steady and smooth under these conditions, but the engine builds revs slowly and doesn't seem particularly enthusiastic.
It's not until 4000rpms or so that the Kia's engine really wakes up and provides a pleasant sense of eagerness. On freeway on-ramps, I was impressed with the Kia's healthy midrange pull--not sports-car stuff, but certainly up there with the Corolla and comfortably ahead of the Civic.
What the Kia doesn't deliver when pressed is the refined noises of those rivals. Above 3500rpms, the Kia's engine note becomes rather loud and boomy, lacking the crisp, metallic sound of the Civic and Mazda3. It's not loud enough to be truly objectionable, but it's cutting it a lot closer than the best in class.
Transmission/Clutch
The Spectra's manual transmission remains its weakest aspect, but the new model's improvements in this area have been considerable. Whereas the old Spectra's shift quality was so bad as to actually be objectionable, the new shifter is just "not that great." It no longer feels vague or flexy in operation--it's actually very easy to use now--it's just not a very satisfying device to row through the gears.
For one thing, its throws remain too long, unnecessarily so. For another, the shifter doesn't have the solid, mechanically-connected feel of the best shifters in this class. Instead, the lever clonks from gear to gear like that of an arcade game. But it doesn't feel rubbery or vague, so I knew exactly where to move the lever every time I shifted. I couldn't say that for the old model.
The Spectra's clutch is also improved, but remains below par. Its weighting is about right, but its throw is long, and the engagement point is way up at the top of its travel. This resulted in a more left-leg exercise than necessary on my test drive. But on the positive side, its smooth and easy take-up should make it a very easy car for first-time drivers to learn in.
Steering/Handling
Handling is another area where the Spectra falls well behind the class leaders, but the 2004.5 version has been improved to the point where it's now at least competitive with other mid-pack performers in the economy-car class.
Steering feel remains the weak link. While the new Spectra's steering is well-weighted and generally pleasant and accurate, it retains the squirmy and nonlinear on-center feel of its predecessor. It's much more subtle now than it used to be--and people who aren't as picky about steering feel may not mind it much--but it was still noticeable enough to make the car feel a bit distracted when traveling in a straight line, and when I made small corrections, they seldom had the desired effect on the car's path. I found this tendency especially annoying on the freeway, where the corrections were necessarily frequent.
But unlike the vagueness in other car's steering systems (the Suzuki Forenza's and Chevrolet Aveo's, specifically), I wouldn't call this a "dead spot," because its weighting remains consistent and trusty even in the vague zone on-center. And aside from this complaint, the Kia's steering was accurate and natural-feeling enough that I really didn't notice it one way or the other most of the time--the same feeling I got from the steering in their lower-priced Rio.
In terms of chassis dynamics, the new Spectra is about on par with other mid-pack competitors in its class. The Spectra feels agile, accurate, and light on its feet in normal driving, and then reveals its modest limits in harder running. When I pushed the Spectra on winding roads, it responded with a generous amount body lean and adequate but unexceptional grip from the tires. In quick transitions, its body lolled back and forth considerably, but it didn't heave or wallow as dramatically as the Suzuki Forenza did under the same conditions. Compared to its predecessor, the new Spectra's handling feels far more like what you'd expect from a brand-new car--not an excellent one, mind you, but a class-competitive one.
Ride
The Spectra's ride is also less than best-in-class, but it's no longer a rung below all of its rivals. The old Spectra was rough and shuddery, and thoroughly unpleasant on the freeway, but the new model is worlds better. The biggest single improvement Kia has made is to the car's structure. No longer a loose noodle, the new Spectra's body structure feels tight, solid, and all-of-a-piece. This contributes to a solid, pleasantly settled feel over the road. In town, the Kia bobs a bit here and there and feels just a touch stiff, but rides quite comfortably overall. Freeway travel is equally pleasant, with a smooth and nicely tied-down demeanor.
The only time the Kia's ride feels lacking is when you hit potholes or other sharp impacts. There, the Kia tends to bump and clunk a bit more than other cars in the class. But since the new bodyshell is so tight and solid, this clunkiness no longer makes the car feel like it's falling apart. Now, it just seems like the car transmits road imperfections with more blunt honesty than the best in the class--which puts it a step below the Corolla and Civic for ride sophistication, but is generally benign and unobjectionable.
Interior
The new Spectra's interior was the single most improved aspect of the 2004.5 model, and when directly compared with its predecessor (as I got a chance to do on the dealer lot), the results are nothing short of incredible. Where the outgoing model's interior looked and felt like a generic assemblage of vintage-1992 scrap, the new car's interior is bright, uncluttered, accommodating, and shockingly upscale. It's even distinctive, with chunky, modern styling that looked great to my eyes.
The materials in the Spectra's interior are so improved they really felt like they were from a different company altogether, one with a more-established reputation for quality. The dashboard was covered in a mildly textured and rubberized plastic that felt thick and substantial to the touch, and the plastic covering the center stack was velvety-smooth. The steering wheel was trimmed in a grippy, grained vinyl that made a pleasant hand-hold despite the relatively thin-diameter rim. The door panels had some of the richest and softest mouse-fur fabric I've ever felt, the same material that covered the Spectra's seats. All the knobs and switches on the console operated with solid, smoothly-damped "clicks," and the gauges were clean and highly legible.
All of this left me marveling at the improvements in quality between this generation of Spectra and the last one. However, there are still some residual hints of Kia cheapness. The glove box, while impressively commodious, closed with a plasticky "clunk" against the dash. The turn-signal stalk felt a bit gritty, as well. And when I looked at some of the less-obvious nooks and crannies in the Spectra's interior, such as the bottom of the center storage bin, there were some rough fabrics and coarse plastics hiding amongst the excellence. But this was really nit-picking on my part, as I had to look hard for quality lapses to find them--as compared to the old Spectra, which was basically a big quality lapse on wheels.
When it came to comfort and convenience, I actually found the new Spectra is right up there with the class leaders. The control layout is clean, logical, and thoughtful--I especially appreciated the high-up placement of the radio and climate controls. The seats were soft but supportive, and there was plenty of room up front to stretch out. Usually, economy cars require me to slide the driver's seat all the way back to reach a comfortable driving position, but in the Spectra there was such a wide range of adjustment I actually had to slide it forward a little. The sense of open space is accentuated by the the bright interior colors and large windows, which lent the cabin an airy feel, and although I would have liked to see larger side mirrors, visibility was otherwise excellent. The rear seat continued the theme of unexpected hospitality with a soft (but not too soft) cushion and a surprising amount of legroom--about on par with the Suzuki Forenza's generous accommodations, or maybe even a little better. Kia deserves some major credit for its work in this department.
Practicality
The new Spectra also competes well with the class leaders when it comes to practicality. Most of this has to do with the excellent interior design. Sitting in the driver's seat, the Spectra felt like a much bigger car than it was, and when I sat in the back, my knees cleared the front seatbacks with room to spare. Also, thanks to the bright interior colors, ultra-soft fabrics, and high-set rear cushion, it was much a more pleasant place to be than the back seats of most economy cars. After my test drive, when I got out of the Spectra and began to walk away, I honestly did a double-take at its small exterior dimensions--it interior felt more like that of a midsize car than the little compact it is.
However, the Spectra isn't perfect in terms of utility. One problem is that the capacity of the trunk is a bit small when compared to the best in class. And the other problem is that you can't alleviate the shortage of cargo space by opting for a wagon version--there isn't one. The previous generation of Spectra was available in a five-door hatchback, but if the salesperson tries to get you into one of these, avoid it like the plague. I've driven that car, and trust me, you really don't want it, for all the reasons I've mentioned earlier in this review. It's priced about the same as the new model, but it feels like it's at least a decade older in virtually every respect. Just don't.
Reliability
Since the 2004.5 Spectra is an all-new design, Consumer Reports has no reliability information on it as of yet. In fact, Consumer Reports has very little reliability data on Kias in general, presumably because they haven't sold in large enough numbers to get an accurate sample group. The only two models they have reliability ratings for are the Sorento SUV and Sedona minivan, which scored Average and Worse Than Average, respectively. This suggests that the Spectra's reliability shouldn't be catastrophic, at least, and it may even nudge close to Average. In fact, I'd guess that's about where it will end up, since it shares a platform and engine with the Hyundai Elantra, which has scored Average. But it's really all speculation at this point, until the hard data is available.
Still, one thing that is certainly worth considering is Kia's outstanding warranty coverage--5 years or 60,000 miles bumper-to-bumper, and 10 years or 100,000 miles on the powertrain. This is really amazing stuff, and certainly suggests they are confident their cars will hold up well.
Overall
Although the new Spectra is still playing catch-up with the class leaders (and, in some aspects like transmission feel, even the class also-rans), it's taken immense steps forward to narrow the gap between itself and the big-name players. The most dramatic improvements have been in the vital areas of structural integrity and interior quality.
The Spectra's bodyshell now feels as tight, solid, and all-of-a-piece as the Civic and Corolla, and this goes a long way toward making the Spectra feel like a substantial automobile--in comparison, the outgoing model feels as rattly and quivery as something from the 1980s. Also, the Spectra's light, airy interior has a durable, high-quality feel that makes it clear that Kia is serious about capturing more of the market share--the car is now imbued with that lightweight but solid, durable, and honest feel that marks the best Korean cars.
No, the driving experience still isn't up to the best in class, and in terms of steering, handling, and shifter feel, it remains a bit below par. But the car no longer feels sloppy or unpleasant--now, it's just a good little commuter that isn't particularly satisfying when the pavement turns twisty.
Best of all is that all this stuff still comes for a rock-bottom price. The LX version I test-drove stickered at barely over $14,000, with air-conditioning as its only option, yet it came with a six-speaker CD stereo, side and curtain airbags, four-wheel disc brakes, and a six-way adjustable driver's seat--very impressive stuff for such an inexpensive car. Forego the aforementioned air-conditioning, and you're looking at a $13,000 car.
I feel about this Kia very much the way I feel about the new Suzuki Forenza. Both are surprisingly substantial-feeling cars with amazingly high-quality interiors and loads of standard equipment. Neither is particularly satisfying to drive, but they both have a pleasant and natural-feeling demeanor over the road that makes them easygoing and maneuverable in everyday driving--the Kia more so than the Suzuki.
I would advise people to look at class leaders like the Civic, Corolla, and Mazda3 if their budget permits, but if saving money is higher on the priorities list than an ultra-sophisticated driving experience, the new Spectra is a totally viable option--and a far better choice than the Chevy Cavalier or Dodge Neon. Its mind-boggling warranty coverage is just icing on the cake. If Kia keeps this up, they'll become the next Hyundai before we know it.
Feel free to check out my reviews of some of the new Spectra's competitors:
Chevrolet Cavalier
Chevrolet Cobalt
Dodge Neon
Honda Civic
Hyundai Elantra
Kia Spectra (the old one)
Mazda 3
Mitsubishi Lancer
Nissan Sentra
Saturn Ion
Suzuki Aerio
Suzuki Forenza
Suzuki Reno
Toyota Corolla
Volkswagen Golf
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 14,100
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drive571
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Member: P.J. McCombs
Location: Berkeley, California
Reviews written: 138
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About Me:
New baby at home: a 1999 Mazda Miata in British Racing Green!
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