2007 Kia Rondo: Heads-Up, Seven-Up!

Thats impressive.

Gotta love the blatant Shaun of the Dead reference...

Adults in the third row wouldn't work out well unless they are the size of my wife--5'4" or so. And this isn't the car that 7 guys and gals in the office should choose for the trip to lunch. The Rondo is a young family machine, no question.

"Hey get out of the way, you're blocking the street!"

Who drives around with 7 full size adults? The vast majority of minivans and minivan wanna-be's are owned by families who need them to hold kids.
 
By the time the kids grow to the point where they don't fit well, they won't want to travel with mom and dad anyhow.

I loved Hot Fuzz too...

Dan,
You have just nailed the reason why I bought a Rondo - great for my wife and I and our two children, and occasionally the neighbour's two children. The Rondo is just the right size, with no extra tonnage like a minivan or dinosaur SUV to haul around.
Firstwagon, good comment!

That pic is hilarious!

I drove the Mazda5 and Rondo. The Mazda5 is much zippier (is that a word?). The handling is more crisp. You can tell it has some DNA in common which the Mazda3. The downside is that it was no where as roomy as the Rondo, even though the Rondo is 2" shorter in length. As far as seating goes, the Rondo wins hands down.

Wow, I wasn't aware the Rondo fit seven, and I thought the 5 would have been roomier - must be the minivan side profile playing with my mind.
  
The only thing is that the Rondo's 18/26 mpg EPA rating is only one mpg higher than the much larger Odyssey VCM; granted, the Honda is much more expensive to buy. The 5 by comparison gets an acceptable 22/28 mpg.
  
Something between the size of a 5 and Odyssey - previous gen MPV or Sienna, perhaps - sounds like the ultimate balance between interior room and economy.

I would suggest that the first-gen Odyssey was the right size, and that the Rondo and Mazda5 are just a slight bit too small. Take a first-gen Odyssey, update it with side airbags, put the 190 hp four from the current Accord in it (maybe even with a manual transmission), and you'd have a real winner.

The Rondo needs a 5 speed auto with the 4-cyl like the '09 Sonata. That's what Mazda did to up the gas mileage on the Mazda5.

What they really need to do is drop in the more powerful and fuel efficient Sonata 4cyl AND 5spd automatic, and eliminate the gas guzzling 2.7L V6 all together, or make a smaller V6 out of the excellent 3.3L.

Cx7lover,
I have an 07 EX V6 and it is NOT a gas guzzler. It manages, on a regular basis to get 33 mpg highway (with 2 adults, 2 kids and a load of stuff) with mid 20's around town. That's 1 mpg better than my old 98 Legacy wagon on the highway and almost equal to it around town. Hardly a gas guzzler.

I'm going by the real world avg. on the .gov site and it says 21.2mpg for the V6, not impressive for a V6 producing less than 200hp.

"The real world average"? I just gave you the real world average! It's what my V6 Rondo gets on a regular basis, in the real world, with real people, in real weather.

bgw,
 
The driving style and road/traffic condition are often the major factors in fuel mileage. Maybe you are a light footer compare to the regular driving population and also I am sure your "around town" is very different than in major metropolitans like Philly, NYC and LA.
 
That being said, I would say in order to compare apples to apples, EPA figures are the only way to go.

Well all i can say that kia is doing well now a day not like before there were so many complaints with there vehicles, but not with some mods they are doing well to think they are made by korea, read some articles at Autopartswarehousestating that it is there to get a diesel engine rather than a gas engine of kia coz its much fuel worthy.

^ Spammer

Louiswei,
I do drive rather lightfootedly on the highway, with cruise at 115 km/h (72 mph) or a bit less. Around town, I do some jackrabbit starts (which I need to stop doing) but I do have to admit that we have nowhere near the congestion of LA (my town is 10,000 people). So your point is well taken.

Just curious bqw, are you working out mpg with Imperial gallons or the smaller US gallons?

Good point. Wikipedia says "Fuel economy for new vehicles is published by Transport Canada in litres per 100 kilometres but window stickers in dealer showrooms include 'miles per imperial gallon' conversions..."
 
One Imperial gallons equal 1.2 US gallons. So, if our friend from Newfoundland says he is getting 33mpg on the highway, I take that to mean 33 miles per imperial gallon, which works out to 27.5 mpg US. (Correct me if I am wrong about the imperial gallon usage, please.)
 
The 2008 Rondo is rated by the EPA at 18 city and 26 mpg highway (US, of course.) With light traffic and steady cruising, 27.5 mpg (33 mpg-i) is very believable. The new 2008 ratings are realistic enough that a careful driver can beat them by an mpg or two.

Sorry, yes I am using Imperial gallons (should have stated that).
I am very pleased with the fuel economy of our Rondo. During the winter, with studded winter tires and a ridiculous amount of snowfall, I consistently achieved 31-32 mpg on the highway, and now with the all-season tires back on since April, it has only risen to 33 mpg. That's by my calculations (I note my mileage every tank), not the trip computer's, which says it is even better than that.
I bought a 91 Civic Si new and always did better than the Transport Canada rating of 32 mpg highway - I consistently got 36-37 mpg. But I have seen them post some outlandish numbers for other vehicles, like 40 mpg highway for an Impala V6, which cannot possibly go that high (right?).

"Spammer"
 
Agreed, he keeps posting that link. There is someone else pushing other blogs too, but I can't find the name of the person.

33 mpg (Imperial) equals 27.5 mpg (US). IMO that's really nothing to write home about, many cars with almost twice as the hp can achieve that same kind of mileage on highway cruise.

Louiswei,
"Many cars with almost twice as the hp can achieve that same kind of mileage on highway cruise"
Name some! Name some cars with 340-350 hp that can do 27.5 mpg (US) on the highway with 5 people and a load of stuff aboard.

Well, I didn't catch the "5 people + a load of stuff" part...
I can only speak from my own experience, my 306hp (I did say "almost" twice) IS350 achieved 27.5 mpg last time going from LA to LV with 2 people (including the driver) and some light luggages in the trunk. The cruise control was set at 85 mph and I am sure I can do better mileage wise if I drop it down to say 70.
I am sure the BMW 335i can achieve the similar kind of mileage as well.

The IS350 is pretty sweet. That would be among my choices if family did not factor into the equation. Maybe some day!

What a great picture of the Rondo in action - more minivan shoppers should add this Kia to their short list.