All this stuff is rather trivial in some way, and you may feel that I'm just being a little picky this week. However, my next bug bears me out somewhat on this, because what automotive chef in his right mind would put a humdrum 4 speed auto transmission into a vehicle which he wants to call sporty, without at least allowing for a little manual control over it? No nudge up-n-down feature, and with the other manufacturers serving us up 5 and 6 speed units in their sports labeled models nowadays, this is a bit like being served a dried up kipper which was caught last August!

Now if I want a sporty dish, something which is going to set my pulses racing, then I want the complete package, and especially if I'm being asked to fork over nearly $24k for it (my tester with delivery etc came to $23,930).

In my opinion, Kia perhaps needs a visit from our Mr. Ramsay. Maybe he could drag its design team around some of the other automotive kitchens and point out some of the competition's offerings, like the Mazda 3 hatchback.

Of course, Kia could take a different approach, and try labeling the vehicle better. As a decent sized 5 door normal hatchback, which boasts a comfortable interior and reasonable all-round performance, it would be a fair vehicle, but as soon as the Sports designation is added to the mix, the Spectra SX becomes somewhat of a disappointment.

The trouble is, there's a lot of strong competition in this area of the market. In fact, it could be said to be the hottest place in the kitchen. Therefore, if you're going to try and entice the customers towards your product, then you'd better have something tasty and a little special to serve up.

Problems are also compounded by the company's newer offering, the Rio. In fact, if you placed these two vehicles side by side on a plate, I'd be tucking into the Rio first, because it looks fresher, and in a lot of ways, more appetizing. That's a real problem for the company when you consider that the Rio is positioned significantly lower down on the menu tariff board!

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not raining on Kia's parade because I'm another smart-#*& Brit like Mr. Ramsay. It's just that I dislike being served up a meal, only to find out that that what I ordered is a tad stale.

That word pretty much sums up my view on the Kia Spectra SX AT. I believe that this model is now well past its best before date, and is in need of a complete makeover. Either that, or Kia should drop the so called "sporty" nameplates and press on with making its normal pleasant reliable vehicles, which the company is pretty good at. Another suggestion might be to inject a little more power, and an improved transmission into the Rio, and turn that into the company's sports hatchback offering. I personally think that would be a much tastier product!