2015 Kia Sedona minivan makes huge strides but still has ways to go

The 2015 Kia Sedona minivan has shed the old model's bland appearance, manners, and accommodations in an attempt to be more competitive and appealing with the dominant Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna. The  redesigned Kia Sedona mostly succeeds, with a plush interior and pronounced nose and side windows that give it a silhouette that resembles a tall wagon—or even a Honda Odyssey.

The two-tone black-and-tan leather seats—heated in both the first and second rows—on our white Sedona EX ($34,795) give it a sumptuous look. In contrast, the padded door panels and dashboard make the Honda and Toyota interiors look like they belong in the toy aisle.

On the road, the Kia Sedona is a first-rate isolation chamber, with a whisper-quiet engine and well-suppressed wind and road noise. The 276-hp, 3.3-liter V6 engine is the strong and smooth, and the six-speed automatic transmission never left us wanting.

Unfortunately, we can't say the same for the noisy suspension, which clomps over cracked backroad bumps, nor the numb steering that requires frequent corrections in the middle of sweeping highway curves.

Learn more about minivans in our buying guide.

If the Sedona isn't great dynamically, it's also a lot less capable for weekend home-improvement warriors. Its second-row seats do a neat folding trick, snugging up against the front seatbacks to make rear access pretty easy. But they can't be removed, preventing owners from maximizing cargo space. Even the third row doesn't sit flush with the floor when folded into its well.

In addition to the heated second-row captain's chairs, you can get the Barcalounger treatment in the full-boat Sedona SXL, complete with individual footrests. However, they lack the removable center seat our Sedona has, which increases seating capacity to eight. If seating capacity is your priority, you'll want to opt for the three-position second-row bench, which is an extra $400.

When it comes time to spec your Sedona, the option packaging demands some strange tradeoffs. You can't get a sunroof unless you move all the way up to a Sedona SXL, which features a giant dual-pane moonroof. The EX trim doesn't even offer a navigation system. You have to spend $2,000 more to move up to the SX trim level.

Several of our drivers wished that the tiny touch screen on our Kia Sedona was closer. Its small size and far-off placement make it a challenge to control radio presets and scroll through playlists. And most complained that the left footrest is much too close, forcing them to sit side-saddle, or move the seat even farther away from the center screen.

Kia makes the DVD player a dealer-installed option, which is fine in principle. But, frustratingly, it wasn't available on our early-build Sedona. That seems odd in such a dedicated family hauler.

Another oddity is the lack of advanced active safety systems such as forward-collision warning and lane-keeping assist. While they're available on the Limited trim (along with a surround-view monitor—a great idea on a minivan) as part of the Limited Technology Package, the price jumps to $43,000. You can get those features for about $7,000 less on a Honda Odyssey EX-L. At least our Sedona has blind-spot warning with rear cross-traffic alert, as part of the EX Premium Plus package.

We'll see how these tradeoffs play out as our staff logs more miles on our Sedona. No matter how good or bad it is overall, it's the only minivan we have at the moment, so it's likely to be a popular road-trip mobile.

—Eric Evarts