Short Take Road Test
When we first heard the name Rondo, it sounded familiar, but we couldn't place it. Then it came to us. There was a Rondeau Le Mans GTP race car campaigned in the 1970s and '80s by Jean Rondeau until he was killed in a road accident in 1985. A Rondeau even won the 24-hour race in 1980.
As you can imagine, it isn't only the spelling that differs here. The Rondeau was a Cosworth-powered projectile with just one seat. The Kia Rondo is a modestly powered tall wagon-cum-minivan based on Kia's Optima that can seat up to seven people with the optional third row in place.
Powered by a 2.4-liter inline-four or a 2.7-liter V-6, and equipped with four- and five-speed automatic transmissions respectively, the Rondo's only real similarity to Rondeau's car is that it's ready for any 24-hour journey you care to take. This latest entry from Kia, which is front-wheel drive only, is most likely to draw comparisons with the Mazda 5, which is essentially a mini-minivan.
If the emergence of these vehicles is a sign that people are moving to more compact solutions for their car-pool problems, we won't argue with that. Particularly not at this price. Kia's four-cylinder Rondo starts at just $16,995 if you live somewhere that doesn't require air conditioning. That costs another $900, and the third-row seat will add $500. Then you have a pretty well-equipped seven-seater that is agreeable to drive, is nice to look at, and has a very pleasing interior layout.
Of course, if you want more power, need better sound, and fancy the feel of leather surfaces, the price goes up accordingly. Our top-of-the-line EX model — with the V-6, the third row, a $1200 Premium package that includes a power sunroof and a 315-watt Infinity stereo with a six-disc in-dash changer and 10 speakers, and the $1000 Leather package — totaled $23,495. You can add spoilers and a body kit and bump the price even further, but our car was pretty much loaded with the kind of stuff spoiled consumers have come to expect.
And it's nice to know that even if you leave the showroom with the base Rondo, you still get ABS and stability control along with front, side, and curtain airbags. Soccer moms need these things, you know. What's more surprising about the Rondo, particularly the EX V-6 we tested, is that sports-car freaks like us can drive it without chafing.
There's room aplenty in the front seats, and we found that one tall driver and two passengers of average height can sit one behind the other in all three rows in surprising comfort, as long as the driver can make do with less than optimal space and the center-row passengers make use of the convenient fore-and-aft adjustment to accommodate the tail-end gunner.
The Rondo is solidly built and smooth and quiet on the road. It even steers and handles well, given the fairly soft suspension settings.
Best of all, with Kia's 10-year/100,000-mile limited powertrain warranty, there'd still be nine years and 364 days of coverage after one 24 Hours of Le Mans. We bet Rondeau couldn't match that.
