2022 Kia Cerato – 201 hp/265 Nm 1.6L turbo, 2.0L NA petrol engines, up to 15 ADAS; from RM80k in the US – paultan.org

The Kia Cerato – otherwise known as the Forte in North America – has been updated for the 2022 model year, bringing a revised equipment list for connectivity and active safety. Here, four trim levels are offered – FE, LXS, GT-Line and GT.

Its exterior styling takes after that of the Korean-market K3, where the headlamps feature a dotted-line daytime running lights, the revised ‘tiger nose’ grille is larger to join the headlamps, while the lower intake has similarly been outfitted with a row of diagonal LED fog lamps on each side for the GT-Line and GT variants.

Rolling stock is a set of 15-inch steel wheels on the FE, 16-inch and 17-inch dark-metal alloy wheels for the LXS and GT-Line variants shod in 205/55 and 225/45 tyres respectively, while the GT gets 18-inch wheels shod in 225/40 tyres. The rear end receives a combination LED lamp design for the GT-Line and GT variants.

The revised C-segment sedan gets six advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) as standard, while a total 15 can be specified as optional equipment. These include lane following assist, navigation-based smart cruise control, highway driving assist and safe exit warning.

Other assistance systems upgraded over the previous model year include blind spot collision avoidance assist, forward collision avoidance assist (autonomous emergency braking) that detects pedestrians as standard and can optionally be specified to also detect cyclists, and rear cross-traffic collision avoidance assist. Other standard systems include driver attention warning, forward collision warning, lane departure warning and lane keep assist.

Standard interior equipment includes a 4.2-inch colour TFT LCD display within the driver’s instrument cluster, with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto standard on the FE and LXS trim levels; these are accessed through an eight-inch touchscreen infotainment unit. A larger, 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment unit with navigation is standard on the GT-Line and GT variants.

Also like the Korean-market K3, this version for North America gets an electronic parking brake with auto hold to liberate more space on its centre console, while rear passengers get a USB charger outlet. The Smart Key offers remote starting functionality and is standard on the GT-Line and the GT, while SynTex synthetic leather upholstery can be specified.

The US-market Cerato is offered with two powertrain options – a 2.0 litre MPI naturally aspirated inline-four petrol for the FE, LXS and GT-Line variants, producing 147 hp and 179 Nm of torque. This is paired to an intelligent continuously variable transmission (IVT).

The top GT variant gets a 201 hp/265 Nm 1.6 litre turbocharged petrol unit paired with either a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic or a six-speed manual, while rear suspension is a multi-link arrangement for this more powerful variant; other variants get a torsion-beam rear axle arrangement.

Pricing for the 2022 Kia Cerato – or Forte, as it is known in America – starts from US$19,090 (RM79,643) for the base FE variant, ranging up to US$23,490 (RM98,000) for the 1.6 litre turbocharged GT; an additional US$1,000 (RM4,172) is charged for the GT’s manual transmission variant.

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