The Kia Magentis shares a platform that is also used by Kia's compact five- or seven-seat MPV, the Carens. It features fully-independent front and rear suspension systems designed to take advantage of the stiff body, long wheelbase and wide track. The 2009 Magentis has been further developed to deliver a more European-style of steering response, dynamics, road holding, ride comfort and braking.

To help with these aims the 2009 Kia Magentis has seen its spring stiffness increased by 20 per cent at the front and five per cent at the rear. The rear anti-roll bar has been thickened by 3 mm to help reduce understeer with a view to achieving a more neutral driving behaviour. The revised model has seen improvements to body control with retuned damper valves and new suspension top-mounts at each corner.

At the front, Kia has adopted the MacPherson strut layout favoured by the majority of D-segment contenders. Mounted on the same subframe that supports the powertrain, it provides optimum stability and ride comfort with good steering response.

Kia employs a compact transverse subframe to support a rear multi-link system with twin upper arms and long lower trailing arms, plus separate coil springs and dampers. The system is so tightly engineered (a significant percentage of the components are mounted within, or very close to, the interior space of the 46mm offset road wheels) that it has been called in-wheel multi-link. Taking advantage of the Magentis's rigid structure, it minimises body roll, reduces tyre-generated road noise and ensures negligible intrusion into the passenger or luggage compartments.

The hydraulically-operated rack and pinion steering system has been retuned throughout the system to offer better road feedback with 2.8 turns from lock-to-lock for a tight turning circle of 10.8 metres. It allows quick response and improved feedback on country roads without being over-sensitive for motorway driving. Every Kia Magentis comes with 17-inch alloys with Goodyear 215/50 VR rated tyres.