5. Kia Cadenza
Though it finishes near the back, the
Cadenza’s 12-point lead over the Azera is substantial. Why? Don’t the two cars
spring from the same seed? Indeed they do, but Kia chose a better path for its
chassis, scrubbing the Hyundai’s dynamic mess down to just an annoying clutter.
Everything
you touch feels classy, from the half-leather wheel to the precision gear
selector
For example, the suspension settings are
softer, so every mile in a Cadenza isn’t a glaring reminder of the spot welds
and structural bracing that are missing. And Kia opted for higher steering
boost, which makes the Cadenza more pleasant to wheel around in daily use.
True, if you throw it hard at an on-ramp, the wheel feels too light in your
palms and you end up sawing the dead rim, looking for some sign of tire effort.
Yet we prefer the Kia’s controls to the Hyundai’s, which is probably why the
Cadenza was quickest through the slalom, even beating the Avalon. However, the
Cadenza’s brakes lack commitment, as demonstrated by the longest stopping
distance, and hard impacts still rattle the car’s relatively loose rafters.
Otherwise, as our editor-in-chief noted,
the reason to choose the Kia over the Hyundai comes down to “whether you like
straight lines or curvy lines.” The Kia’s horizontal styling is almost
Volkswagen conservative, not surprising as Kia stole its chief designer and now
company president, Peter Schreyer, from the VW Group. The 19-inch fine-spoke
wheels fill their body cutouts fully, and the Cadenza, like the lesser Optima
it’s based on, has a lovely stance. It looks substantial and luxurious from
every angle.
The
Kia Cadenza’s straightforward interior design is an Oxford button-down compared
with the Hyundai Azera’s android unitard
The linearity carries over to the interior.
Unlike the supersonic Azera, the Cadenza is a law firm’s conference room
inside, with orderly, straight rows of buttons set in generous slabs of a
dark-gray trim meant to evoke wood. The optional computerized speedometer is a
thin-film transistor (TFT) rendering that allows menu pagination and such
graphic niceties as a ship’s compass. In our loaded-up example, you get an
extra-large sunroof, radar cruise control, blind-spot detection, lane-departure
alarms, heated and vented seats, and on and on. If $41,900 seems expensive for
a Kia, know that some of these many baubles could be pruned without causing
hardship.
Everything you touch feels classy, from the
half-leather wheel to the precision gear selector. As in the Azera, the
3.3-liter V-6 is still vibration-free and sounding hearty at 6000 rpm as the
transmission waits to execute its next seamless shift. In acceleration, both
the Cadenza and the Azera landed near the quick end of the field.
Flaws notwithstanding, the Cadenza, our
mileage champ at 25 mpg, is the perfect definition of “a nice car”. What this
somewhat staid luxury sedan does for Kia’s supposedly youthful brand image,
we’re not so sure, but it’s nothing terribly bad.
Kia Cadenza technical specs
·
Price: $41,900
·
Length x Width x Height: 195.5 x 72.8 x 58.1
inches
·
Wheelbase: 112.0 inches
·
Engine: DOHC 24-valve V06 204 cu in (3342cc)
·
Power: 293hp @ 6400rpm
·
Torque: 255hp @ 5200rpm
·
0-60mph: 6.2sec
·
Top speed: 154mph
·
Curb weight: 3789 pounds
·
EPA City/Hwy: 19/28mpg
- Chrysler 300S
The car that made big sedans cool again
continues to look like money, and a lot of intangibles get invoked when
staffers talk about why they like the 300. It’s American, it’s rear-drive, and
it sweeps into a parking lot like Al Pacino into a pizzeria: with purpose. If
you’re going to buy a car on principle, this is the one.
It’s
American, it’s rear-drive, and it sweeps into a parking lot like Al Pacino into
a pizzeria: with purpose
As with the Charger, the 300 eschews a lot
of design trinkets others use to imply luxury. There is no plastic woodwork
inside, just fillets here and there marked by a gray cross-hatch pattern that
hints at carbon fiber. Except for the art-deco dials and a few small slivers of
chrome, the 300’s interior is mostly as black as a coal shaft. It is for people
who prefer understatement, Brooks Brothers style. Well, except for the “Beats
by Dr. Dre” stereo,
The S badge adds $3,000 in extras,
including the “touring” suspension, 20-inch wheels, some menacing black-chrome
exterior treatments, and leather seats with rows of decorative white
topstitching. A mere $115 at the bottom line separates this Chrysler from the
Dodge, but you don’t get as many features in the 300. Among the Dodge items
absent from the Chrysler are a sunroof, adjustable pedals, and power tilting
and telescoping steering wheel, though this 300 does have radar cruise control.
The
300 never feels small and lithe, but it can hustle a few corners with decisive
grip and accurate, if completely cold, steering
Befitting its role as a modern-day
Imperial, the 300 isolates occupants from bumps with a more compliant chassis
than the Charger’s. The brakes are the 300’s best dynamic attribute. A firm pedal
triggers a pit bull’s bite on the discs. The 300 never feels small and lithe,
but it can hustle a few corners with decisive grip and accurate, if completely
cold, steering.
Yet the rear-drive doesn’t pay much
dividend, despite the Chrysler twins posting test-best skidpad numbers. There’s
plenty of understeer and body motion, and, as in the Charger, the eight-speed
transmission does its business languidly, even in sport mode, as the V-6 works
hard to keep the heavy mass moving. We could forgive the 300S for not being
sporty if the rear seat felt any more spacious than a Corolla’s. And if the
specially stitched and tufted seats were was comfortable as they are
dandy-looking. They’re not, being rather lumpy and unsupportive.
The godfather Chrysler is getting old and
will soon sleep with the fished. We fear that whatever replaces it won’t have
nearly as much personality. Until then, the 300 remains as an offer that isn’t
so difficult to refuse.
Chrysler 300S technical specs
·
Price: $37,925
·
Length x Width x Height: 198.6 x 74.9 x 58.7
inches
·
Wheelbase: 120.2 inches
·
Engine: DOHC 24-valve V-6 220 cu in (3605cc)
·
Power: 300hp @ 6350rpm
·
Torque: 264hp @ 4800rpm
·
0-60mph: 6.5sec
·
Top speed: 121mph
·
Curb weight: 4101 pounds
·
EPA City/Hwy: 19/31mpg
