2017 Kia C'eed 1.6d manual

The wife and I visited the UK from Australia from mid-September 2017 for a month and hired the C'eed at pretty reasonable rates although I was hoping for a Golf.

Although it was only 4 months old with 9k miles on the clock the design is fairly old and that showed through in quite a few areas.

The good stuff:

Driver and passenger seating and space was very comfortable on long journeys with no aches or pains after a long session behind the wheel.

Overall real economy of 61mpg over 2000 miles was very good and slightly better than the onboard computer display.

The installed GPS (nice surprise feature) was excellent, with quick start up, satellite acquisition and route calculation, as long as you set up your route parameters first. Only gripe was that it did not show GPS speed.

Cruise control was very useful but did fail for a few hours on one occasion.

The diesel engine provided good engine braking in very hilly areas with steep 20 to 25% gradients.  I would have been totally reliant on brakes in my own 1.4tsi Octavia in the same circumstances.

The wireless tyre pressure warning system worked well and was necessary as it warned us about an issue with one tyre as we left the car hire venue.

The average stuff:

Ride was quite reasonable on most circumstances but really did not like the large Motorway joints on the M25 where it felt like it was hitting the stops.

Similarly road noise was good on most surfaces except Motorway concrete. I think the Michelin tyres fitted saved the day here and were probably far better than the normal Korean tyres fitted.

Handling was good up to 70% and that was enough for us but mid-bend bumps suggested that pressing beyond 70% was not a good idea.

Steering was accurate but very limited feedback. There were three levels of steering weight adjustment but this was largely a gimmick. On one occasion the steering weight seemed to be varying of its own volition, so much so I pulled of the motorway for a break incase it was me. Seemed normal after we restarted.

The 6 speed manual box had a good accurate feel which was just as well as I found myself using it much more than I expected..

This was due to the due to the very high gearing and the surprising lack of torque below 1500 rpm from the diesel engine.

Performance and economy were good in the right gear and revs but in 30 mph urban areas it was impossible to use higher than 3rd gear. and sixth gear required at least 65 mph or more indicated.

The bad:

The bit I really hated was the poor rear and rear 3/4 vision from the coupe like design with high rear/side windows and thick C -pillars.

Any reversing maneuver was just plain scary as you could not look over your shoulder but had to rely on the wing mirrors and reversing camera.

That would have been fine but the mirrors were of the very wide-angle and distorting variety and rear view camera is only for near range applications.

All useless in narrow Devonian and Cornish country lanes when you meet a large tractor towing a full size haystack, or pig loaded semi and you have to reverse up a more than a hundred metres and into a field to let them pass.

I wouldn't have thought twice about the maneuver in my own Octavia estate.

The C'eed boot seems remarkably small for the size of the car, even though a space saver is fitted.

The doors are very heavy and unusually sprung so they are hard to control when opening on slopes, or when near another vehicle.

The speedo was wildly optimistic being nearly 10% out. This took a day or two to work out as I was keen not to get a speeding ticket and could not understand why I was being overtaken by almost everyone.

Overall:

It served us well for our holiday and the real economy was greatly appreciated but driving enjoyment was not great and I would not recommend spending your own money on a new one,

A well priced second hand one with some of the 7 year warranty remaining could be a reasonable buy though.

As I said at the beginning the designed is dated and due for replacement

Edited 24 October, 20178 yr by Gerrycan