This weekend, I had our long-term Kia Rondo and the pleasure of taking my husband, two of his cousins and our child out to dinner. Given that the Rondo is marketed as a family-pleasing shuttle, I seized it as an opportunity to assess the seating comfort of the Rondo when carrying more than just my little family.
Adult female driver: Me, 5 feet 7 inches, slight build
Passenger #1: Stanley, Adult male, 6 feet 2 inches, medium build
Passenger #2: Muriel, Adult female, 5 feet 5 inches, slight build
Passenger #3: Hank, Adult male, 5 feet 9 inches, slight build
Passenger #4: The Toddler, 2-year-old female, average build, big cheeks
The Report
On the way to the restaurant, the seating arrangement (presented clockwise) was me in the driver seat, Stanley in the front passenger seat, Hank in the second-row seat behind Stanley, The Toddler in her rear-facing child seat in the center position of the second-row seat, and Muriel in the second-row seat behind me. We did not utilize the third-row seat.
No complaints came from the second-row seat. But Stanley found the limited front passenger seat legroom (with the rear-facing car seat preventing adequate rearward adjustment) unpleasant. On the way home, he decided to try his luck in the second-row seat behind me. This provided better legroom, but then hip room was tight, the culprit again being The Toddler’s child seat.
Overall, the Rondo took on this challenge well and still managed to feel peppy when it needed to, though, I think that if my life required hauling this many adults more regularly, I’d want a larger vehicle, like a minivan or a crossover SUV.
Bryn MacKinnon, Senior Editor, Edmunds.com @ 6,304 miles
cruiserhead1 says:
04:51 PM, 02/19/08
how does Hank #3 like being described as "slight build"? How about "athletic & trim" or something... throw the guy a bone!
big cheeks... haha, your descriptions are funny. :)
daytona_500 says:
05:05 PM, 02/19/08
Lol @ the big cheeks.
Just wondering, is it possible to remove the middle seats in the Rondo like it is other minivans. I always like that trick, it creates a limousine like interior.
zklopman says:
07:23 AM, 02/20/08
You should have utilized the 3rd row seat. I have three children, which two of them still need booster seats (because of the new stupid law that requires kids up to 8 years old to be in booster seats - I hoped they would be out by now!). We *always* use the third row. The booster seats make it difficult in the middle.
And no, you cannot remove the "middle" seat, as there is none - it is a split bench (something like 65/35). But you can vary the leg room for each part separately.
stephen987 says:
07:38 AM, 02/20/08
I thought daytona_500 was referring to removing the entire middle row.
altimadude00 says:
10:48 AM, 02/20/08
The seats are non-removable. They only fold down, or tumble forward.
When I first saw the title of this post, I thought she had a Flat Stanley doll.
misterfusion says:
11:33 AM, 02/20/08
Altimadude gets the award for the first Flat Stanley reference since 1975! Nice!
I wonder if Bryn drove the Rondo through the Phantom Tollbooth? ;)
briancam says:
11:54 AM, 02/20/08
You went to dinner with a toddler? My hat's off to you - Rondo or not.
ken7966 says:
01:51 PM, 02/21/08
Beat you all, I had my wife, my teen daughter + 4 of her friends. They all fit, but the giggling was deafening.
Yes, Use the third row seat, I can't pry my son out of the third row.
KC
redliner says:
06:07 PM, 02/21/08
The rondo is the perfect "week-end-family" car. That is: when u only cary 5+ people a few times a week, not every day.