Well, I'd better tell you it got a lot of attention that I was not prepared for! But then it is a very sporty and good looking car! I drove the Kia Cerato Sport sedan model a few weeks earlier, which was nowhere near as good-looking or as fun to drive as the GT Hatch.
Let's start off with the practicalities; it will fit two child seats in the back and I could not sit between the two child seats. The child seats are quite easy to install once you have got them through the doorways, but the low roofline makes it tight to post the large car seats in!
Two forward or rear-facing child seats fitted and we could sit a 180cm driver in front of a rear-facing seat.
There are ISOFix points in the two outer seats and top tether anchorages on the back of all three rear seat backs and these were easy to reach and fasten across the boot.
In front of the gear lever is a two-tiered phone storage well with USB, AUX and 12V sockets.
The media system is really good in the Cerato GT Hatch, it is really simple to use and to navigate and it has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
The interior is very nicely styled, with charcoal sporty shaped, hugging seats with red stitching and contrast details.
BabyDrive Indepth - Storage
How good is the storage and boot space in the Kia Cerato GT Hatch?
It's quite minimal but on the whole mostly practical. In the central console, there are two cup holders that will hold a reusable and a disposable coffee cup. Behind them is the central console box which is a fair size and has a USB port inside it.
In front of the gear lever is a two-tiered phone charging well with 12V, AUX and USB ports. The surfaces are rubber lined which is good for preventing your phone from sliding around and making a noise.
The door bins in the front are quite small but they will hold a large refillable water bottle and there are little storage wells in the door handles.
The glove box is quite small and I could only fit my wallet in with the manual; the iPad would not fit. There is a lined glasses holder in the ceiling and lit vanity mirrors in both front visors.
In the back storage is VERY minimal! There is just one net map pocket that would hold but not conceal an iPad.
The rear door pockets are even smaller and will just hold a large refillable water bottle (there are the little wells in the door handles too).
The boot opening is nice and wide, although you have to lift things over the lip and down into the boot floor. With the boot empty, we could fit 11 shopping bags on their own or a medium-sized dog on its own (with the parcel shelf removed of course).
The Mountain Buggy Duet twin stroller fits with one shopping bag.
The Britax Flexx tandem stroller fits with two shopping bags.
The Mountain Buggy Urban Jungle single stroller fits with three shopping bags.
The Mountain Buggy Nano compact stroller fits with nine shopping bags.
The boot floor of the Cerato GT Hatch is nice and flat and good for an emergency bum change.
Underneath the floor, there is a polystyrene tray storage area, which would be good for wet or sandy items so they don't make the rest of the car dirty.
BabyDrive Indepth - Noise
How noisy is the Kia Cerato GT Hatch and how good is the Media System?
The media system in the Kia Cerato GT Hatch is excellent. It is so easy to navigate and use and it has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. I found it extremely easy to connect my phone to and start using straight away.
When you put it in reverse, the camera image fills the screen. I found I couldn't mute the parking sensors, I could only turn them off with a button in the central console.
The Sat-Nav is simple and easy to use and you can quickly mute the navigation announcements by pressing the button on the left of the screen.
You can also adjust the sound settings so that you can use the volume knob or screen buttons to alter the sat-nav voice guidance volume.
Becoming a parent I soon realised there are some noises and sounds I feel are unnecessary and I could happily live without if it meant my baby stayed asleep!!
That often the distraction of my screaming, distressed baby is more dangerous when driving than not having a lane departure warning for example.
If it is the lane departure warning beeping that creates distress with my baby then which is safest?
It’s where I think we need to be able to strike a balance and choose when we can mute the warnings or swap them to a vibration in the steering wheel or flashing light perhaps?
A lot of these noises come with the increase in technology and especially linked to safety features and alerts. For me these all have their place.
Another thing I have realised is I spend my time in a lot more places where small children roam, parks, beaches, play gyms, swimming lessons, daycare centre etc. I have become more aware that when I’m reversing or manouvering in the car parks I have to tripple check for small children running around behind me or being in my blind spot when reversing. For this I LOVE reversing cameras, I just don’t like their beeping sounds!!
I have become so much more aware of safety and potential accidents or hazards since having a child and so I love the peace of mind that I get from the cameras and sensors combined with my own vision from windows and mirrors as I don’t trust cameras alone.
The indicators are lovely and quiet in the Kia Cerato GT Hatch and wouldn’t disturb my sleeping baby.
The windows and doors can both be locked from the driver's door control panel. Both the windows and doors both open nice and quiet and would not be baby waking.
Since becoming a mum I spend A LOT of time parked up somewhere with a nice view while my daughter is asleep in the back! If it's hot I need to leave the engine running and the aircon on but I do like to get out and drink my cuppa tea in the fresh air while enjoying the fact my limbs are free from said dangling child!!
So this is a very important test as I have found that sometimes I have been held hostage by a cars BEEEEPING alarms when I have taken off my seatbelt or opened the door while the engine is still running!! (I only stand outside the car, I am not a bad mother!!)
The cruise controls are on the right side on the steering wheel and are nice and easy to use. I found the cruise control to be pretty accurate on undulating roads at 60km/h.
There is lane departure warning in the Kia Cerato GT Hatch, which beeps to alert you when you go out of your lane and the button to turn that on and off is down by your right knee.
The Kia Cerato GT Hatch is such fun to drive, especially when you are driving on on your own. It does feel really solid the road and hugs the bends well. I much preferred the drive of the GT Hatch to the less expensive Cerato Sport I drove a few weeks earlier.
BabyDrive Indepth - Car Seats
How many child seats fit in the Kia Cerato GT Hatch?
I could fit two child seats in the back of the Kia Cerato GT Hatch and the same in the Cerato Sport model. I found there just wasn't room for a third in the middle and I could not sit between the two car seats. The rear seats are quite sculpted, which in any car makes installing three seats more difficult.
Legroom isn't too bad in the Cerato GT Hatch; we found with rear-facing child seats installed that a 180cm passenger could fit in the driver's seat.
There are three top tether anchorages across the rear seat backrests of the Kia Cerato GT hatch. They are within plastic guides and I found them easy to connect to and reach through the boot.
There are ISOFix points in the two outer seats. They are not within plastic guides but I found them nice and easy to connect to when installing the child seats.
The roofline is low in the Kia Cerato GT Hatch so I did find physically getting the child seats through the doors a bit of a challenge, which would be worth considering with rear-facing capsules for example. Once the child seats were in through the doorway they were easy to install.
Posting Bub into their seat from outside the car was also a little challenging through the smaller gap and from inside when only one child seat is installed it is also affected by the low roofline.
Australia being a country of weather extremes; blazing sun and torrential rain, mean you may find it easier to put Bub into their seat from inside the car sometimes. If it’s hot you can get the air-con going, cool the car down and not stand out in the sun while you fasten them in or shelter from the rain and not get soaked yourself whilst you’re doing it. So it is important to test whether Bub can be easily installed from either direction!
There is room to feed a bub in the back if you only have one child seat installed. In the model I tested, the seats were upholstered in a black leather material with perforated central panels that could be quite difficult to keep clean.
BabyDrive Indepth - Drive & Comfort
How comfortable is the Kia Cerato GT Hatch? And How good is the Kia Cerato GT Hatch to drive?
In the front of the Kia Cerato GT Hatch, the seats are comfortable, they are hugging and sporty looking; trimmed with red contrast piping and stitch details echoed on the steering wheel and doors too.
The front seats can be heated and cooled so the central panels of all the seats are perforated which could make cleaning then harder. The buttons for heating and cooling the seats are in the central console.
The driver's seat is electronically adjusted and you can adjust the lumbar support as well. I found I could wear a ponytail with the headrests which was great!
I had spent hours styling my hair this morning to get this ponytail just right too… said no new mum ever!!!
There is a lined glasses case in the ceiling and lit vanity mirrors in both front visors.
There is a light in the ceiling in the back for the rear passengers that I can just reach from the driver's seat.
I have found Tulsi does not like travelling in the dark in the car so if it gets dark whilst travelling then I reach back and turn the interior light on for her. So it’s really important for me that I can reach the rear ceiling light.
Also if I am traveling home and it is getting near to bed time and I DEFINITELY DON’T want her to fall asleep in the car as even a five-minute nap in the car means bed time is all over!!!! I lean back and pop the light on so it’s not dark and try to keep her awake!! Along with screaming/singing at the top of my voice!!!
It is also useful when there are lights situated above the doors where the handles are usually positioned. These are good for when putting baby into their child seats when visibility is poor, so you do not have to reach across them to a light situated in the ceiling centrally etc.
For a mum travelling in the back with bub, the seats are quite sculpted so as long as you sit in one of the outer seats they are comfortable. In the centre, the seatbelt buckles and seatback armrest can be uncomfortable.
For the first year of Tulsi’s life when we would go out as a family, if I wasn’t driving, I would travel in the back with Tulsi so it’s important to check the back seat comfort as you may be spending a lot of time in them! They were never something I gave any thought to before but I definitely notice a good or bad back seat now!
The rear seats sit a little higher so although the rear windows do not look deep forward-facing rear passengers would get a good view out.
The steering wheel is fully adjustable in/out and up/down.
There are four air-conditioning vents across the front dashboard; two central horizontal ones and a round one at either end.
The controls for the aircon are centrally located on the dashboard and easy to reach and use while driving.
There are two air vents in the back of the central console storage box for the rear passengers, which you can reach from the front to adjust.
There are handles above both back doors to hang a child's toy.
Visibility in the Kia Cerato GT Hatch is tricky with the two child seats installed, as the rear side windows slope down at the back and the child seats really fill the back window. The reversing camera really helps when manoeuvring and parking.
One thing I have noticed since being a mum is I hate it when I reach a destination or get home from being out and Tulsi has either done really well in the car or she is screaming her head off and I have done really well to keep it together for the entire journey (usually the latter!!) and it takes 10 minutes to park the car! It can be really stressful. Usually I dread parking new cars as they take longer in our tight apartment block carpark, but the Kia Cerato GT Hatch was relatively easy to park.
Aesthetically the Kia Cerato GT Hatch is a good looking car on the inside and out and it turned a lot of heads! It is much more sporty looking and eye-catching than the Cerato Sport and the interior is nicer in the GT Hatch model too. The Kia Cerato GT Hatch is perhaps a more practical choice for a family car once your children have grown out of rear-facing child seats!
BabyDrive Indepth - Safety
The Kia Cerato is given a split ANCAP rating.
Lower spec model Kia Ceratos were given a four-star ANCAP safety rating because they lack some of the safety assist feature necessary to gain five-stars. All models have six airbags as standard.
The Kia Cerato GT Hatch was given a five-star ANCAP safety rating in 2018, scoring a total of 90% or 34.3 out of 38 for adult occupancy. Broken down into 7.36 out of 8 for the full-width frontal crash test, 6.85 out of 8 for the frontal offset test. Full marks for the side impact test and 6.40 out of 8 for the pole test.
For Child Occupancy protection the Kia Cerato GT Hatch scored 41.1 out of 49 which is 83%. Broken down into 14.65 out of 16 for the dynamic front, 8/8 for dynamic slide. Child restraint instillation scored 11.41 out of 12 and onboard features score 7 out of 13.
ANCAP said of the testing:
In the frontal offset test, dummy readings indicated WEAK protection of the neck of the 10 year dummy. Otherwise, protection of both dummies was GOOD.
In the side impact test, protection of all critical body areas was GOOD for both child dummies.
The Kia Cerato is fitted with lower ISOFix anchorages for the rearoutboard seats, and top tether anchorages for all rear seating positions.
Installation of typical child restraints available in Australia and New Zealand showed most child restraints could be accommodated in most rear seating positions, though one of the selected Type A convertible seats could not be correctly installed in rearwardfacing mode using the ISOfix anchorages. In addition, careis required when installing a Type E booster in the centre rear position.
As standard, all models of the Kia Cerato GT Hatch (ALL VARIANTS EXCEPT CERATO S & CERATO SPORT) come with seat belt pre-tensioners in both the front seats and rear outboard positions, anti-lock braking system (ABS), autonomous emergency braking (AEB) for the city, Interurban and optional VRU, automatic headlights, daytime running lights (DRL), electronic brake-force distribution (EBD), electronic stability control (ESC), emergency brake assist (EBA), emergency stop signal (ESS), fatigue reminder and fatigue detection, forward collision warning (FCW), hill launch assist, lane departure warning (LDW), lane keep assist (LKA), reversing collision avoidance camera, roll stability system, secondary/multi-collision brake, speed assistance auto/intelligent/manual speed limiter, speed sign recognition and warning and trailer stability control and tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS) all come as standard.
Optional extras are adaptive cruise control (ACC), adaptive headlights, blind spot monitoring (BSM) and rear cross-traffic alert (RCTA.
Some of these safety features are also features that drive me crazy as a mum! Like the lane departure and forward collision alert or the parking sensor beeping sound. I want all the safety technology AND to be able to mute the sound when Tulsi’s asleep!
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