Kia Venga Review: 2010 Model | Venga | Car Buyers Guide

I find it hard to say, or even think of, the word 'Venga' without breaking into a mental rendition of "Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom" or "We Like to Party". If Kia's newest model arrived off a boat from Korea with that name nailed to the bootlid we might forgive it but the car has been designed, developed and built in Europe. By Europeans. They say it's derived from a Spanish term that means "C'mon!" but to me it just conjures up images of the Vengaboys, that Dutch quartet (two of whom were women, incidentally) who pumped out annoying, Euro-trash, dance tat a few years back. There is an infinite number of letter and number combinations available to people who come up with car names. Why Venga?

Name aside, though, is the Venga any good? Well, kind of. It's not a bad car, you understand, it's just that it doesn't do anything particularly well. Take its looks, for example. The ex-Audi designer Peter Schreyer has performed gamely in the face of odd proportions (supermini footprint, family car space) but in the end the Venga looks like a Ford S-Max that's been sandwiched between two trucks. The sides are too tall and slabby, which also restricts the view out for smaller passengers, and the backside is too tall and wide for the wheelbase. The odd design flourish fails to dress up the Venga's odd shape and the dumpy wheels don't help.

The interior is also a little disappointing. With the C'eed we saw a jump in quality that was improved upon again with the Soul, but this time the Venga doesn't move things along at all in terms of funkiness. There are slightly random heater controls and a rather confusing stereo/trip computer (with a too-small display) but otherwise it's all a bit dark and loveless in there. There is tons of kit, though: iPod connectivity, Bluetooth with voice control, stability control, air conditioning, remote stereo controls and six airbags are all standard and that's just the base model. The top EX model I'm driving gets 16-inch alloy wheels, rear electric windows, privacy glass, power-folding mirrors and a leather steering wheel thrown in. Oddly, though, I can't figure out if it's good value or not. At almost 20 grand for the top EX it's about the same price as the infinitely better looking and similarly well-equipped Cee'd EX and while the Venga's a little more parent friendly it's not anything like as good looking, nor is it as good to drive.

Part of the Venga's dynamic problem stems from the 1.4-litre turbodiesel lump, the only engine option offered in Irish models. With 90hp and 220Nm of torque, it should cope reasonably well with the Venga's 1,267kg kerb weight but the gearing is all over the place so you're constantly sawing away at the gearbox to keep it moving. The 115hp, 1.6-litre diesel from the Cee'd would be a much better powerplant and while you'd slip from the Venga's VRT Band A (117g/km) into VRT Band B I'd happily pay the €50 extra a year to have some proper acceleration. Funnily enough, for all its green pretence (note the overwrought "EcoDynamics" badge) and start-stop cleverness I didn't find it especially fuel-efficient, probably because I was constantly changing gears and flooring the throttle to keep it going. The chassis, too, is pretty pedestrian, with slow-ish steering and lots of understeer to prevent any cornering high-jinks, although the ride quality isn't bad and refinement, once up to speed, is decent.

All in all, then, I'm a little underwhelmed and, more significantly, I simply cannot figure out who the Venga is aimed at. Perhaps it's the same people who liked the Vengaboys back in the day. There are obviously lots of people out there for whom meaningful lyrics and carefully crafted melodies are irrelevant and who simply want some beat-laden noise for bouncing around. Hopefully, for Kia's sake, there are also lots of people who are quite happy to forego driving entertainment or head-turning looks and who simply want a kit-laden small car for the same reason.

Interior image caption: The Venga's interior is a little disappointing compared to that of the C'eed or the Soul, though it's loaded with standard kit