The Kia Sonet facelift’s fuel efficiency figures have been revealed just days before its prices are announced. With the facelift, Kia has brought back the diesel-manual powertrain option, which means there are three engine and six gearbox options to choose from.
Kia has, however, yet to reveal the mileage of the Sonet diesel-manual as it is still under certification. Here are the ARAI fuel efficiency figures for all the other powertrain options.
- Sonet 1.0-litre turbo-petrol with DCT rated at 19.2kpl
- Sonet diesel with iMT rated at 22.3kpl
- Sonet sits in the middle of compact SUV segment in terms of efficiency
Kia Sonet facelift fuel efficiency
| Kia Sonet fuel efficiency (ARAI) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Powertrain | Sonet facelift | Outgoing Sonet |
| 1.2P-MT | 18.83kpl | 18.4kpl |
| 1.0P-iMT | 18.7kpl | 18.2kpl |
| 1.0P-DCT | 19.2kpl | 18.3kpl |
| 1.5D-MT | NA | NA |
| 1.5D-iMT | 22.3kpl | NA |
| 1.5D-AT | 18.6kpl | 19kpl |
While the two petrol engines – the 83hp, 1.2-litre petrol and the 120hp, 1.0-litre turbo-petrol – in the Sonet facelift post marginally higher ARAI-rated efficiency figures than they did in the outgoing model, the 116hp, 1.5-litre diesel seems to deliver slightly less than earlier per kilometre.
The Sonet's 84hp petrol comes only with a 5-speed manual gearbox and does a claimed 18.83km on a litre, while the 120hp turbo-petrol has 6-speed iMT and 7-speed dual-clutch auto options, which are rated at 18.7kpl and 19.2kpl, respectively.
When paired with the 6-speed iMT, the Sonet diesel claims 22.3kpl, while the version with the 6-speed torque convertor posts an ARAI-rated 18.6kpl.
Kia Sonet facelift vs rivals: fuel efficiency
| Kia Sonet facelift petrol vs rivals (ARAI) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Powertrains | Kia Sonet | Maruti Fronx | Maruti Brezza | Tata Nexon |
| Petrol-MT | 18.83kpl | 21.79kpl | 17.38kpl | |
| Petrol-AT | - | 22.89kpl (AMT) | 19.8kpl | |
| Turbo-petrol-MT | 18.7kpl | 21.5kpl | - | 17.44kpl |
| Turbo-petrol-AT | 19.2kpl | 20.01kpl (AT) | - | 17.18kpl (AMT)/17.01kpl (DCT) |
| Kia Sonet facelift diesel vs rivals (ARAI) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Kia Sonet | Tata Nexon | |
| Diesel-MT | - | 23.23kpl |
| Diesel-iMT | 22.3kpl | - |
| Diesel-AT | 18.6kpl | 24.08kpl (AMT) |
From the above table, we can see that the Sonet petrols are more frugal than the Tata Nexon and are at par with the Maruti Suzuki Brezza. However, the Fronx is more efficient than all the rest, especially the 1.2-litre version. Meanwhile, the Sonet diesel-iMT is only a small step behind the diesel Nexon on efficiency, though the Nexon's AMT helps deliver a much higher figure than the Sonet diesel's torque convertor auto. Interestingly, sister brand Hyundai's Venue comes with the same three engine options and should have similar efficiency numbers, though the company has not revealed their respective mileage figures yet.
Viraaj Bhatnagar
Uday Singh
Suraj Viswanathan
