Kia Cerato GT 2019 review

The GT grade lords it over all the other Ceratos with the best features and the most powerful engine, but that means you’ll pay more. The list price of the Cerato GT in both hatch and sedan form is $32,990 (before on-road costs). At the time we published this review Kia had a drive-away offer of $31,990, so it’s worth checking to see if that deal still stands.

What standard features does the Cerato GT get? All of them. Well, all that the Cerato model has to offer.

Let’s start with media things. There’s an 8.0-inch touch screen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, digital DAB+ radio, Bluetooth connectivity, sat nav, wireless phone charging, a 4.2-inch digital instrument cluster and an eight-speaker JBL sound system.

The GT variant gets 18-inch alloy wheels.

As for comfort features there’s dual-zone climate control, heated and ventilated sports leather seats with the driver’s being eight-way adjustable, a proximity key and push button start.

The GT also comes with a stack of safety features, practicality wins and unique design elements which I’m about to get to, so brace yourselves.

As a model comparison the Cerato GT’s rivals include the usual suspects: the Toyota Corolla ZR, Hyundai i30 N-Line (nee i30 SR), Ford Focus ST-Line and Mazda3 SP25 GT.

Interesting is the right word. The new Cerato hatch looks more premium than the previous model, almost like a mini BMW X4 from certain angles, and the sloping rear window gives the profile a fastback wagon look.

The GT grade adds toughness and a solid stance to the Cerato Hatch with the large lower grille and black splitter at the front. At the rear there’s a lot going on, although there’s not much difference between the styling of the GT and the lower grade Sport with the gloss black diffuser and integrated exhaust. The main differences here are the twin exhaust and LED tail lights of the GT as opposed to the single tail pipe and regular tail lamps on the Sport.

The Cerato GT Sedan is arguably the better looking of the two and you hardly ever hear of that happening – it seems it’s always the hatch that’s more attractive, and the sedan is a bit ‘meh’ in comparison.

The same differences apply to the GT Sedan and its Sport sedan sibling – with the GT again having the same tough planted look, twin exhaust and LED tail lights.

The GT’s cabin is distinguishable from a Sport by its leather sports seats, the alloy sports pedals, a flat-bottomed steering wheel and red stitching everywhere.

As for paint colours, Clear White is the only non-cost option. You’ll pay $520 for Runway Red, Sunset Orange, Silky Silver or Gravity Blue.

The Cerato GT’s dimensions? The GT hatch is 130mm shorter than the sedan at 4510mm end to end, but the same width at 1800mm across, while the GT is only 5mm taller standing at 1440mm.

The Cerato GT is a five-seater and comes as both a hatch and a sedan, but you knew that already, right? What you may not have known is that boot space in the sedan at 502 litres (VDA) is bigger than the cargo capacity of the hatch, at 428L.

The hatch does come with handy storage under the boot floor, however, in the form of a compartmentalised area – kind of like a Bento box for wet shoes or other bits and pieces. Either side of the boot floor are triangular-shaped storage areas good for holding things upright like plant pots or bottles.

Storage inside the cabin is good with two cup holders in the fold down armrests in the back row, plus two more up front. The bottle holders in the doors aren’t huge but the front ones can fit a 1.5L bottle and the rear ones a 500mL bottle. The centre console storage bin is deep and the hidey holes that are stacked like bunk bed in front of the shifter are great – one is for wireless charging.

To connect devices there are three USB ports – two are for charging (one is in the hidey hole the other in the centre console bin) and the other is for media such as Apple CarPlay for your iPhone.

As for people room – the cabin is spacious for a small car. Up front there’s plenty or head and elbow room, while in the back even at 191cm tall I can sit behind my driving position with about a finger’s width of space between my knee and the seatback.

The GT is the most powerful Cerato in the range with its 1.6-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder making 150kW and 265Nm. Those figures are identical to the output of the Hyundai i30 N-Line. Actually, the Cerato GT and i30 N-Line use the same engine.

What you can’t get on a Cerato GT that you can in an i30 N-Line is a manual gearbox. The Cerato GT is only offered with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.

Like the i30, the Cerato is a front-wheel drive car.

Kia's 1.6-litre turbo-four is fantastic, but it feels a bit underpowered in the Cerato GT.

The GT has been given bigger brakes at the front (305mm ventilated discs), than a regular Cerato, too.

The suspension set-up on the GT is also different to the other grades. The GT has a more sophisticated multi-link rear suspension which has been tuned by Kia’s in-house engineers - lower grade versions have torsion beam rear suspension.

As for that low(-ish) mark - don't get me wrong, the engine is fantastic and I loved it in the Hyundai i30 SR, but in the Cerato GT this 1.6-litre feels a bit underpowered when teamed to a chassis this good. I'll explain myself better in the driving section below.

It might surprise you that the GT, the most powerful grade in the line-up, is also the most fuel efficient. Kia says that after a combination of open and urban roads the GT should use 6.8L/100km and that goes for both the hatch and sedan.

After 130.1km country road testing the trip computer on the GT hatch I tested at the launch said I was using an average of 7.6L/100km. The swapping into the Cerato GT Sedan after 295.8km the trip computer was reporting an average of 8.4L/100km, but that was after winding uphill sections.

Regular unleaded is all the Cerato GT needs.

The GT hatch and sedan both scored the maximum five-star ANCAP rating when they were tested in 2019. Coming standard on the GT is AEB with pedestrian and cyclist detection, there’s also blind spot warning, rear cross traffic alert, adaptive cruise control and lane keeping assistance.

Of course, there’s a reversing camera, and for child seats you’ll find two ISOFIX points and three top tether anchor point across the rear row.

Under the boot floor you’ll find a space saver spare wheel.

The Cerato GT like all Kia passenger cars is covered by a seven-year, unlimited kilometre warranty. Servicing is recommended every 15,000km or 12 months. Service pricing is also capped for seven years with the first costing $275, the second $469, the third $339, then $623, $309, $596 and then $328. A total of $2939 over those seven years.

Kia’s warranty has been in place for years and is still outstanding compared to most other carmakers who are only now moving to five- year warranties. The capped price servicing is also excellent value.

To be able to sell your Cerato a few years after new and be able to offer the next buyer years left on the warranty can only boost this car’s resale value.

In the weeks before I came to the Cerato GT launch I spent time getting to know the Cerato hatch in the entry grade S and mid-spec Sport. I drove hundreds of kays in them, dropped my son off a day care in them, did the shopping, sat in traffic, played air drums in them and took them on my 85km road loop and even measured how much fuel they were drinking at the petrol pump.

But the GT is different in two major ways to the other grades: the engine is more powerful and the suspension is set up for better handling.

So, while the GT was similar in many ways to the S and Sport – the driving position was excellent; visibility was great except for over your shoulder through that tiny side window; the reversing camera picture wasn't superb; the lane keeping system yanks you back quite aggressively; steering still felt a bit artificial and there was some road noise finding its way into the cabin – the GT drove differently.

What you lose in comfort you gain in agility, and the handling is superb.

Word has it that when Kia’s local engineering team was tasked with the job of coming up with a suspension tune for the Cerato GT, it used the Peugeot 308 GTI as a bit of a benchmark for its handling ability.

Kia doesn’t have a dedicated sports sub brand like Hyundai’s N division and therefore lacks a hardcore sports car like the i30 N. So the plan was to have the Cerato GT handle somewhere between the Hyundai i30 SR (now N-Line) and the i30 N.

So what is the Cerato GT like to drive? I drove the hatch and sedan back to back and the first thing I found was that ride is firm - and I really suggest you test drive it and take a passenger, because when I was riding shotgun I found the jolts as we hit rough patches in the road to be more apparent and frustrating than when I was driving.

What you lose in comfort you gain in agility, and the handling is superb. From the pilot's seat I was so engaged with the driving I didn't notice the hard ride - the GT was planted and stable in corners with great body control, while the 225/40 R18 Michelin Pilot Sports gripped incredibly well.

The 1.6-litre is brilliant, but it felt lacking now that the Cerato's handling ability has been turned up.

Steering - like the regular Ceratos - felt a bit detached, and turn-in was no where near as sharp as an i30 N.

But these aren't major issues. The one thing that became apparent to me is that Kia's local engineering team has done such a great job with the suspension that it now has a sports car that's in need of a more powerful engine. That 1.6-litre is brilliant, but it felt a little lacking now that the Cerato's handling ability has been turned right up.

I drove the GT in hatch and sedan form and with both having identical suspension set-ups and engines, could not feel any difference in the way they drove.