Kia's little sticker with the big message
19/05/09 19:29 Filed in: Road
tests
When I tested the new
Kia
Cee’d, I
commented that Kia had gone mainstream with a quality product that
stood comparison with products of our established favourites. The
Kia Pro_cee’d builds on that bridgehead with a car that is even
more in tune with European tastes.
The name is still crazy and zany at the same time, with its strange apostrophé and underscore. I suppose it comes into the same category as that band of the early 21st century Hear’Say. The Strict Punctuation Society would be birling in their graves!
Anyway, enough frivolity. This is the way it works.
The Kia Cee’d is the five door hatch which I tested before. The Kia Pro_cee’d is the three-door hatch which aspires to some coupé lines about its design. There are three models in the Kia Pro_cee’d line up, numbered 2, 3 and Sport. (I guess they felt anyone buying a Kia Pro_cee’d 1 might feel a bit lowly.)
My test car was the Kia Pro_cee’d 1.6 at £12,745. You can get a 1.6 diesel for £750 more.
Like the five door it is a neat, if not hugely exciting design. Inside it feels very comfortable and practical, with plenty of space and a good flat boot, with the usual fold down hatchback seats for bigger loads.
Despite the really keen pricing the interior doesn’t feel or look “low rent”. Sure the plastic is just that, but it has a European look of good taste. Not surprising perhaps when you find that Kia make great play of the fact that the Cee’d range was not only designed in Europe, but is also built here in Slovakia.
The Pro_cee’d has a shallower windscreen and lower roof to give it more of the sporty coupé look.
The Pro_cee’d is also a pleasure to drive. It fees as though it has been set up for European roads with suspension that suits the road and steering that feels taut and precise, without feeling heavy. Even the indicator and wiper stalks have finally been swapped to where we expect them in Europe.
The 1.6 petro engine puts out 124 bhp, which is a fairly modest figure, but there is the Sports version for those who want more poke. Acceleration 0-62 mph is quoted at 10.8 second, with a combined fuel economy of 44.1 mpg. I found that my real-life average was a still creditable 37 mpg. The 152 g/km figure translates into £145 per year for your tax disk in the UK.
So, the Kia Pro_cee’d scores good points all round. But, then, so do a lot of cars in this bracket. Why would you want the Kia?
Well, apart from price, follow me round the the back of the car.
See that little sticker there? The one that proudly proclaims the Pro_cee’d is covered by a seven-year warranty.
That might be a deciding factor. After all, it’s well over twice the warranty you get with most new cars.
The name is still crazy and zany at the same time, with its strange apostrophé and underscore. I suppose it comes into the same category as that band of the early 21st century Hear’Say. The Strict Punctuation Society would be birling in their graves!
Anyway, enough frivolity. This is the way it works.
The Kia Cee’d is the five door hatch which I tested before. The Kia Pro_cee’d is the three-door hatch which aspires to some coupé lines about its design. There are three models in the Kia Pro_cee’d line up, numbered 2, 3 and Sport. (I guess they felt anyone buying a Kia Pro_cee’d 1 might feel a bit lowly.)
My test car was the Kia Pro_cee’d 1.6 at £12,745. You can get a 1.6 diesel for £750 more.
Like the five door it is a neat, if not hugely exciting design. Inside it feels very comfortable and practical, with plenty of space and a good flat boot, with the usual fold down hatchback seats for bigger loads.
Despite the really keen pricing the interior doesn’t feel or look “low rent”. Sure the plastic is just that, but it has a European look of good taste. Not surprising perhaps when you find that Kia make great play of the fact that the Cee’d range was not only designed in Europe, but is also built here in Slovakia.
The Pro_cee’d has a shallower windscreen and lower roof to give it more of the sporty coupé look.
The Pro_cee’d is also a pleasure to drive. It fees as though it has been set up for European roads with suspension that suits the road and steering that feels taut and precise, without feeling heavy. Even the indicator and wiper stalks have finally been swapped to where we expect them in Europe.
The 1.6 petro engine puts out 124 bhp, which is a fairly modest figure, but there is the Sports version for those who want more poke. Acceleration 0-62 mph is quoted at 10.8 second, with a combined fuel economy of 44.1 mpg. I found that my real-life average was a still creditable 37 mpg. The 152 g/km figure translates into £145 per year for your tax disk in the UK.
So, the Kia Pro_cee’d scores good points all round. But, then, so do a lot of cars in this bracket. Why would you want the Kia?
Well, apart from price, follow me round the the back of the car.
See that little sticker there? The one that proudly proclaims the Pro_cee’d is covered by a seven-year warranty.
That might be a deciding factor. After all, it’s well over twice the warranty you get with most new cars.