Introduction: The Kia Spectra was introduced in 2000 as Kia's replacement for the Kia Sephia. The Spectra was redesigned once in 2004. This version of the Spectra shares the same platform as the 2002-2006 Hyundai Elantra. It sold reasonably well as it was Kia's best selling vehicle.
Sorry I got nothing else, the Kia Spectra's history is pretty thin and has nothing groundbreaking or exciting about it. It summed up my thoughts of Kia as a company back when I first got the opportunity to drive one of these cars. Keep in mind this was when I had a very low opinion of the company along with Hyundai.
Performance: To begin with the engine the Kia Spectras I've driven all had the 2.0L 4-cylinder engine. This engine produces 138 hp and 136 lb.ft of torque. When it comes to accelerating the 0-100 km/h time I've managed to find with the automatic is 9.7 seconds which is pretty low. Getting a manual transmission for the Spectra provides a better 8.5 seconds. The engine isn't very quick, unfortunately its not very refined either. When the car revs past 3000 rpm it makes a terrible droning noise which can get on your nerves for highway driving. Most disappointing is the fuel economy numbers are not that good either, lower than its outgoing Japanese rivals. To sum up, not a very good engine.
My Score: 2/10 - Produces a horrible noise, not that efficient and not quick.
Handling: The Spectra was never designed to take corners quickly and unlike an equivalent sized Mazda3 this shows. The Spectra rolls pretty badly when taken to a corner reasonably quick. All that's left is to put enough power to understeer it. Steering response is extremely vague, while its not very light it still doesn't provide you with enough information. This can be forgiven if the ride comfort was very good but its surprisingly stiff. It feels like Kia corners when designing the suspension.
My Score: 3/10 - It rolls, steering is vague and the ride isn't comfortable.
Interior: From a visual perspective, the Kia spectra is not all that exciting inside. Much of the interior is very bland and very plastic. The materials do not feel they're of high quality and the seat material has a horrible habit of leaving stain marks from even water. The stereo is the same Kia/Hyundai unit used during the mid 2000s which is very low quality. The biggest upside to the interior however is how well equipped most Kia Spectras are. Controls do not interfere with your driving or confuse you with layout as they're set up like a Japanese car. The build quality of the car is mediocre, overall most pieces are put together properly but some smaller less important pieces don't stay in place. The Kia Spectra is built in South Korea.
My Score: 4/10 - A very bland interior with not very good materials, but its very equipped and easy to use.
Styling: The Kia Spectra was given a facelift in 2007 removing the 2 strange spaces between the grille. Unfortunately what Kia replaced it with was a very generic grille. The rest of the car is extremely generic in its styling as it looks like any typical car. Very little effort was put into styling the Spectra.
My Score: 2/10 - Its just a car with no unique features, its just so generic.
Value for money: The Kia Spectra starts out very well equipped for a car of its size. Its original MSRP is also very low all things considered. While the engine is terrible when put up against its outgoing Japanese competition its more competitive with less fuel efficient cars in the segment. I'm sure that during 2009 it was very inexpensive to buy a Spectra due to the arrival of the much more interesting Kia Forte. Kia also offered a 5-door hatchback which meant it only had to compete against the previous Ford Focus, Toyota Matrix/Pontiac Vibe and the Mazda3 meaning the Spectra was the least expensive to buy. If you only want a cheap car well equipped and don't care about the overall weak package the Spectra is then a good buy.
My Score: 10/10 - Offers a lot and provides a lot of what would be options as standard equipment, all very a lower price than much of its competition.
Overall: 21/50 - A pretty weak car but sold at an attractive price.
*Note while I don't like the Spectra very much, I believe its successor the Forte is a much better car. Its done pretty much everything the Spectra did well except retaining the 5-door hatch but vastly improved everything the Spectra did bad.
