Where to Find the "Kia Quirk" Inside of the New 2017 Kia Cadenza

"Wobbles the Mind" (wobblesthemind) 08/20/2016 at 09:12 • Filed to: Kia Cadenza, Kia

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You know if I’m posting about Kia then I’m going to blow your minds. I wanted to be the first to let all of you know about an odd detail in the 2017 Kia Cadenza that many reviewers won’t notice. Not only that, I’m going to give you the logical reason for the seemingly absurd decision as well!

There is this “phenomenon” in Kias that I call the Kia Quirk (which I’ll write a larger post explaining in the future). Think of it as a way of hiding the areas a company is cutting costs while using initial buyers as test subjects. Every automaker does it, but the Kia brand has become so skillful with implementing the technique that Hyundai (and it looks like Genesis) are stealing that advantage and adding it into their vehicles. But that topic is for another post, let’s get into this soloist’s Cadenza!

Have a look at this interior:

Not too shabby, in fact I’d argue the correct amount of shabs were used. Right in between a commodity car and a luxury car. A nice “upscale/upmarket” interior. What do you think of that quilted leather on the seat bolstering? Sort of odd to see when the seats though when the seats dont have the slightest amount of sport or aggressive in the bolstering. Actually it’s quite odd when you remember how the interior of the 2016 Kia Optima SX-L appears:

Kia made a huge fuss over the 2016 Optima SX-L’s diamond quilted seats. Curious that the more premium Cadenza would use the opposite technique. Personally, my ol’ skool brain automatically sees center-set quilted Nappa leather as some Bentley-ass swank and it just screams, “Dat dank doe!” In fact, looking at the seats I would say the Optima is the higher end car (until you look at the door panels, doors always reveal a cars true market).

Well let’s look at the rear seats of the 2017 Kia Cadenza.

Pretty boring, they look like the rear seats in every large sedan since the 90s. I like that little bit of quilted leather they give you on the...hey, wait a gitdim minute!! *** “Gary, rewind that image!!” ***

*vrrrweehoowehoowehoowehoovreee* (that’s the sound stuff used to make when you would rewind them).

*** “Gary, squint and enhance!!” ***

Where in the frowny face is the quilted leather on the inside bolsters?!! Did they just leave it at the factory to hand out to dealers as sample splotches?? Is that a motherhugging “option” now? Dafaq iz dis?!!! *** “Gary, are you looking at this ‘ish??” ***

I know what you’re about to ask, “Waffles, why come Credenza don’t seat all quilted?” (Google search phrasing). Well, unlike the rest of this post, I’ll answer that succinctly!

Kia believes that quilted leather may hold up better to the violent ingress and egress of mostly American buyers, especially since everyone wears Canadian dress slacks (or “jeans” to the layman). Well since you only roll over one side of the seat to get in and out of the vehicle, and Americans don’t pay attention to anything in the rear seats of sedans past “can I fit behind myself,” Kia is using the Cadenza as a real world tester for this idea. If reviewers don’t notice and initial feedback shows the leather holding up well then you may see this idea trickle into all their cars.

But if this technique really works well then we may start seeing quilted bolsters replace the use of heavier leather on the door-facing sides of seats. So if the top trim of the next generation Kia Rio has quilted leather bolsters, you’ll know it’s a practicality play that only appears to be a poor luxury play!

“But why wouldn’t they just make it symmetrical and put the quilted bits on the other side of the damn seats!” That’s the Kia Quirk, my friend.

That’s the Kia Quirk.

Clemsie McKenzie > Wobbles the Mind 08/20/2016 at 09:25

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10/10 would wobble my mind again.

shop-teacher > Wobbles the Mind 08/20/2016 at 09:29

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“ *vrrrweehoowehoowehoowehoovreee* (that’s the sound stuff used to make when you would rewind them).”

Best part right there.

Probenja > Wobbles the Mind 08/20/2016 at 10:09

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I really dislike the hard cheap looking plastic used in the back of the seat in all Hyundai/Kia products, I mean even the Genesis has it:

But the old Kia Rio has soft cloth seat backs, what was wrong with those?

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > Probenja 08/20/2016 at 10:25

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Your argument confuses me. The upper image looks 1000x more premium than the lower.

Wobbles the Mind > Probenja 08/20/2016 at 10:33

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That’s how all seats are developed now since you can crate more knee room using a sculpted plastic surface than full cloth/leather. You get used to it, and it’s part of the reason all rear seats have grown in leg room (since your knees can’t touch it). I promise, it’s actually been a great thing in modern cars though it looks cheaper even when covered with a bit of leatherette.

Probenja > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind 08/20/2016 at 10:58

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It might be because i’m not used to luxury cars but when cars have a small back seat I’d like to hit my knees in an actual soft seat back than a plastic one. Of course most luxury cars have so much legroom that you will never even touch the back of the seat but in an Accent or Elantra I feel like it doesn’t feel as nice as just having a regular seat back like their older generations.

And i’m sure car makers do this to hide the seat heating/cooling/massaging hardware without making the seat much bulkier.

Maybe the old Rio is a bad example but this Passat still has it:

The new Volvo has stitched leather on top of plastic which I guess works too:

But having just the bare plastic doesn’t scream premium to me, and i’m sure the premium german brands do the same thing.

M54B30 > Wobbles the Mind 08/20/2016 at 11:40

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I rode in a new Optima rental (i.e. stripper model) and was amazed at how much rear leg room there was

IanZ - limited-slip indifferential > Wobbles the Mind 08/20/2016 at 22:14

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I love all your artices about kia/Hyundai. They’re not an oft-discussed subject.