Kia ceed 1.6
My first ever assignment in motoring journalism involved a road trip with a bunch of desirable cars. I recall a Lotus Elise, a Dodge Viper, a Nissan Skyline and an Audi A8, all hot tickets at the time. To spice the story up a bit we chose another vehicle to act as a comedy extra for the unlucky participant who drew the short straw. The vehicle selected was the Kia Pride, at the time a bit of a joke due to its bargain basement appeal, wobbly doors and gangsta whitewall tyres.
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The ceed is a car that in its short life has already made the major European manufacturers suit bolt upright and take notice. Here we take a look at the car thatll shift the most units the 1.6-litre petrol model. With 122bhp at its disposal the 1.
6-litre ceed is no sluggard and is usefully quicker than the rather reluctant 1.4-litre petrol unit that acts as the entry-level powerplant. It does need a bit of right boot to access all of its available performance though, with peak power arriving at a rather raucous 6,200rpm and peak torque of 154Nm not making itself felt until the tacho needle hits 4,200rpm. This means that the engine doesnt feel notably punchy off the line in the same way as the excellent 1.
6-litre CRDi diesel does but if youre prepared to keep it on the boil, it can cross country at a respectable clip. Buyers get a choice of manual or automatic gearboxes. The steering lacks a little of the polish of some of the very best contenders, although were talking about tiny percentage differences. Theres certainly very little in it when it comes to ride quality, the Kia adopting much the same MacPherson strut front suspension as the best of its rivals and a clever independent set-up at the rear that is , in effect, a torsion beam thats articulated in the middle.
The ceed corners well with well-suppressed lateral roll and even when provoked, steadfastly refuses to do anything unexpected. The long wheelbase helps ride quality with only lumpy B-roads showing up any flaws in deportment. The ceed is a car designed by Europeans for Europeans. Its built in Europe in Slovenia to be exact and the man behind the design project, Peter Schreyer, was once head of design for Volkswagen Group.
The Koreans are pulling no punches and that much is evident the very first time you clap eyes on a ceed. I challenge you to name one Korean car to date that hasnt had at least one gratuitously odd styling feature. Think of even the better-looking South-East Asian cars and there will be some jarring detail youll be able to nominate fairly easily. With the ceed, Kia has aimed for a more mature design.
Not mature as in the demographic of the target market. Rather the design output of a company that doesnt need to fall back on gimmickry and ostentation to get noticed.
"Having driven many of the ceed variants, we think the 1.6-litre petrol remains the best buy"
Sit inside the ceed and youll wonder whether they might be on the way to achieving it. Schreyer and his team benchmarked the best European cars in order to give Kia something substantive to aim at and when it came to interiors, he was able to share a little of what he knew of his ex-employers best practice. Quality fabrics, doors that thunk shut and thoughtful approach to design make the ceed a landmark Korean car. There are still some improvements that need to be made.
The plastics quality is still a little hit and miss and the orange dash lighting isnt overly easy on the eye but lets not be patronising and proclaim the car as a lot of metal for your money or any other such bunk. This Kia is a good car, full stop. Its hard to snipe at the ceeds value proposition. This range of 1.
6-litre petrol models opens at £11,545 for the S, with the GS pitched at £12,295 with the automatic gearbox option adding another grand to that. The LS model wears a £13,295 price tag. How does that compare to a baseline model we all recognise? Well, its around £1,000 less per model than something like a Ford Focus. Kia also offer an SW estate version of the ceed with the 1.
6-litre engine starting from £12,995. When put up against the likes of the Focus and the Vauxhall Astra, the ceed needs to be extravagantly talented to even have a sniff of getting near Kias modest target of two percent of total segment sales which, in real terms, equates to about 10,000 cars per year. Three-door and estate models will help those figures but its still a stretching aspiration. Equipment levels are noteworthy, the entry-level car getting air-conditioning, an MP3-compatible CD stereo, front seats with height and lumbar adjustment to complement a rake and reach adjustable steering column, electric front windows and six airbags.
Highlights of the GS model include 16-inch alloys, heated and electrically-adjustable door mirrors, remote central locking and a stereo with USB and auxiliary inputs. Its a decent showing. Go for the LS version and youll get fully automatic climate control with an air quality system, rear electric windows, front fog lamps and half-leather trim. The 1.
6-litre engine also does reasonably well at the fuel pumps, returning an average of 44.1mpg. The continuously-variable valve timing helps efficiency and also means that the engine is good on emissions, something that hasnt always been the case with South-East Asian powerplants. At just 152g/km, the ceed is miles better than, say, a Peugeot 307 1.
6 which emits 174g/km. Used values will doubtless be propped up quite nicely by Kias excellent warranty arrangement. Buyers get full cover for seven-years or 100,000 miles. Its about as good as the industry can offer and puts mainstream rivals like Ford and Vauxhall in the shade.
This promise of trouble free motoring will be enough to tip the balance for many potential customers. Insurance ratings also look very reasonable, predicated upon a low cost of repair, a generally mature buyer profile and excellent safety provision. Having driven many of the ceed variants, its the road test teams opinion that the 1.6-litre petrol remains the best buy.
Usefully cheaper than the diesel versions and with a worthwhile amount of shove from the 122bhp engine, its a very competitive package, especially at prices that will make rivals wince. This used to be about as far as the good news got with Korean cars but the ceed breaks that mould -and how. Pay this sort of money for a family hatch and you could reasonably expect it to be marginally sub-par right across the board. If it reached a class competitive level in any objective measure that would be a bonus.
The ceed not only trades blows on level terms with many of the big names but it hands down beats them in certain respects too. Its not perfect but it is just about the best value youll get in this sector. Expect big things from Kia in the not too distant future.
Facts At A Glance
CAR: Kia ceed 1.6 range
PRICES: £11,545-£14,295 on the road
INSURANCE GROUP: 5E
CO2 EMISSIONS: 152g/km
PERFORMANCE: 0-60mph 10.5s / Max Speed 119mph
FUEL CONSUMPTION: (combined) 44.1mpg
STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Six airbags / ISOFIX child seat mounts / active headrests, airbag cutout / ABS with EBD
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: [5dr] length/width/height mm 4235/1790/1480mm
