Something Bigger.... Hmm That would be nice!
A little more room in which to swing the cat while getting all seven of us from Auntie “A” to Uncle “B”. Being relatively unfamiliar with the large M.P.V. domain, having spent a few years with a more compact seven seater, I was actually quite looking forward to using a little more space for a few days.
It is always been said that first impressions count, and I couldn’t agree more! The Kia Sedona is BIG! It gives a sense of airiness and space around you. There is no centre console as such, which in itself frees up a load of space between the front seats. It immediately gives the front a cavernous feel reminiscent of some American cars I remember riding in back in the early Seventies. Don’t ask me what they were… too much grey matter has decomposed since then… but I still remember the fact that they were H U G E ! Not only is there all the cabin space, but all that storage too. There are little drawers, pockets and trays all over the place. You’re never lost for a place to put something down, whether it’s in the nifty little sunglasses pouch above the driver’s head, in the CD storage box, the change tray, the enormous glove box… the choice seemed endless!
Moving back through the vehicle, there were those fabulous, brilliant, superb, excellent, (etc) sliding doors. What a Godsend! Amazing! Large MPVs, being wider than your average family saloon, leave little room in the good old-fashioned multi-storey to allow the contents of the rear five seats to be extracted without the risk of severe denting and scratching of the neighbourhood. With the sliding door, all five kids could be walked, upright, harmlessly past without a moment’s concern (except perhaps for one of their pairs of jeans stealing a bit of fresh mud from the neighbour’s wheel arch). Access and egress to/from the rear seats was effortless too, with the rear seats having a two-fold drop-and-tilt operation.
The Sedona was made for kids! They absolutely loved it! For the first time in ages they each had a separate, contoured seat of their own. Trivial as it may sound to us nonchalant adults, who simply shun the arguments over who has to sit on the ‘hump’ in the centre of the middle seat, it is an issue to the offspring. No such issue here though. They were all individually cradled in comfort.
The youngest boy is best seated in the left middle seat where he can be put in command of the heating and ventilation controls, placed above the left sliding door. This is all new to kids! It gives them a sense of purpose, even if it does drive eldest daughter demented. The rear cabin temperature was oscillating between 35 degrees and -2 degrees on a minute-by-minute basis; hair was being blown with Mistral force, but hey – they were enjoying it. This was their opportunity to take on some control of this gargantuan ‘lounge-on-wheels’. To top it all – and this really did top it all for them – there was the ‘entertainment centre’. Imagine it: not only do you have control of the blowy and warmy-cooly bits, but you also have a CD player / DVD player / cordless infra-red headphones all of your very own too… And not only that… you even have your very own remote control for it. Now can you see why the kids loved it?
What about its main ‘raison d’etre’ though? I vaguely remember it being described as a car. Oh yes, of course! The old A to B thing again. Well, A becomes B with the minimum of fuss, with the greatest of ease, almost as though there was in fact nothing between A and B. Te 2.0 litre diesel, coupled with the automatic gearbox, operated from one of the most comfortable driving positions imaginable made the whole driving experience a luxurious and relaxing affair. I could imagine stepping out at John O’Groats feeling as fresh as the minute I got in at Land’s End, the space, the smoothness and comfort of the ride overshadowing the stresses of Britain’s modern (?) road network.
It is not a car to be pushed. It doesn’t seem to enjoy or relish the thought of being driven hard. It’s like walking an old dog. No matter how many times you throw the stick, it simply doesn’t want to run after it, even though it probably still can. It knows its place is to be a restrained old gent who is content with a more sedate way of life. When throttled fully, it roars, accelerates (impressively in its own sweet way) but all the time seems to be telling you that only whipper-snappers need to do this. The Sedona, even though it can perform brutish tasks, doesn’t need to! It offers so much comfort and refinement and is such a nice relaxing place to be there’s no place for playing races.
For its price the Sedona offers a wonderful, big, luxurious and practical travelling environment. The kids have never been so happy on a car journey. They are made part of a team and are given independence in their half of the car, which in turn keeps Mum and Dad relaxed and content in the front. A truly ‘happy family’ lounge-on-wheels car!
10 April 2007
Nigel Crawford,
Editor, www.thebabywebsite.com |
The Mitsubishi Lancer 4 Door
