KIA Spectra5 update
OK, I've put 500 Km on it and so far I'm impressed!
First, it has a 55 liter gas tank and at 6.3 L/100 that means I'll be stopping for a restroom break loooo...ong before I have to gas it up. Like, more than 8 hours of driving at 100K/h.
The MP3/CD player (4x50 watts -- of course, those are 'new' watts :sigh: it's hardly a Sansui 7070 for cripes sake) is very nice. Now I can get 8 or more albums on a single CD. For a tin-can, the audio isn't too bad at all.
Did I mention that it's
red?
The brakes are great! The tires are the shits -- well, that may be a bit harsh but they ain't Yokohama Parada Spec-2's. Not even close. I guess those guys in Korea prefered GoodYear because they ain't Japanese :scratch2: .
The steering is quick and predictable -- nice highway feel. The car is very quiet even on the highway at speed. That was surprising. I actually have to crank the window down to hear the horn.. Ah, the horn. That is the typical wimpy oriental sounding bird-chirp. I wonder is there's an air-horn option?
The suspension is one of this cars best features! It is very stable and keeps all 4 (of those $$@&#@ GoodYear Eagles) on the road even in hard cornering. I checked -- no scrubbed-off corners!
I've had it up to 145 so far -- it was wet so I backed off before I exceeded the Eagle's wet road rating :thumbsdn: . This car seems to be very stable at extreme speeds.
The only moderately ho-hum rating I'd give this car (so far) is in the get-up-and-go department. It's adequate but hardly mind boggling. I wonder if there's a NOX option for this engine?
And, a 6-speed would be nice.
Paul