By continuously taking steps, the Korean brands have become more than a fixed value. An example of that strategy is the Kia Ceed, which went from being a cheap to a full-fledged alternative to cars such as the Mazda 3 and Seat Leon.
Quick, imagine the Kia Cerato! There’s a good chance you won’t, because the Ceed’s predecessor in the compact mid-range was a typical example of how Kia (and Hyundai) tried to gain a foothold in our continent at the beginning of this century. important C-segment. Not the best quality, fairly anonymous and above all: very cheap. At that time, anyone looking for the cheapest in the segment invariably ended up with the Koreans. But purely on the basis of quality, the brands could not yet compete with the established European and Japanese brands. Roughly the same was true for the first-generation Ceed, although it already felt like a more serious effort, and over the next two generations, Kia continued to take unyielding steps. Everything that the European consumer (apparently) desires has been achieved. From a station wagon to compact turbo engines and from a dual-clutch automatic transmission to plug-in hybrid technology: everything is there.
It has recently been tightened up again, because the third generation recently received its facelift. In addition, a different grille and new active safety systems were introduced; and the styling as a whole got a little spruced up. Inside was a new digital instrumentation and a ditto navigation system. Just before the update, the Ceed also received a fresh 1.5-liter turbo engine, to once again demonstrate that people in Korea really don’t sit still. And it has to be, because the competition is not standing still.
More decisiveness
Fortunately, the new 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbo engine in the revised Kia Ceed turns out to be a concrete improvement. Compared to its predecessor, there is only 129 cc, but in practice it feels like much more. At the bottom, the engine picks up much easier and with more decisiveness, after which the extra power of the turbo is added more gradually than before. Then the four-cylinder pulls through the entire rev range with more enthusiasm. The Ceed certainly leaves no points in this area. Incidentally, the new engine can also be combined with mild-hybrid technology. Remarkably enough, this does not apply to the GT-line versions, which have to do without for unclear reasons. That does not matter much for consumption.
Unfortunately, Kia has not seized the facelift to immediately replace the seven-speed DCT automatic transmission, which still functions very erratically. Especially when maneuvering at low speeds and when turning, the transmission has to think for a long time before taking action and that does not always happen subtly. Once on the road, the machine behaves nicely again; yet there is room for improvement here.
In terms of chassis, Kia has perhaps made its biggest strides in the last ten years and in GT-Line trim the Ceed is capable of things you would have thought impossible in a simple Kia thanks to sticky Michelins. What the Ceed still lacks is the communication between driver and technology. The rear axle is especially solid instead of moving with it and the steering skillfully filters everything between the asphalt and fingertips. However, the predominant feeling is that it is great how close Kia is nowadays.
User friendly
With the facelift, the Ceed got a new set of digital instruments and a ditto multimedia system. This makes the Kia look a bit more modern and luckily the user-friendliness has remained. It may not look that flashy, but you’ll never get lost because of it, and thanks to a surfeit of physical buttons by modern standards, the function you’re looking for is never far away. We are less enthusiastic about the seating position. Although the sports seats in the GT-Line support fine, they cannot go down far enough due to the motors of the electric seat adjustment, and that, in combination with the panoramic roof, does not provide enough headroom in the front. The Kia also scores few points in the back seat.
The GT-PlusLine we tested is nice and thick in the stuff. Even a panoramic roof, electric seat adjustment with memory and heated rear seats are present. And that for a very reasonable price of €36,290, including a generous seven-year warranty, or 150,000 kilometers.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl