Road Test

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Kia Venga 1.4 2

Test date 16 January 2010 Price as tested £12,695

For Spacious interior, refined engine, generous base specification

AgainstLeisurely cruising performance, bland styling, full pricing

While Kia is hardly being shy and retiring in the naming of its latest small car – ‘Venga’ is Spanish for ‘come on’ – the company is holding back from calling the Venga an MPV. Which is strange, because to our eyes the Venga’s extended head room and adjustable rear seats mark it out as exactly that.

Kia says it is instead a B-segment (think Ford Fiesta size) hatchback but with stretched proportions for increased interior space, and as such is targeted at downsizing families.

Although Kia is offering a wider range of engines abroad, in the UK the Venga range consists of just three engines, each with four cylinders. There is one diesel – an 89bhp 1.4-litre unit – and two petrol models, one a 1.6 producing 124bhp and the other a 1.4 with 89bhp.

While it is the diesel motor that is newest to the Kia range, we have chosen to test the smaller petrol, partly because our experience at the Venga’s international launch suggested this was the better model, but also because the petrol is a useful £1300 cheaper.