Search
Close this search box.
Sign up for our weekly Newsletter

Kia guns for Focus with new cee’d

Kia cee’d 2 1.6 CRDi 6-speed manual ISG car test review
IS there no stopping Kia? New models keep tumbling out of the Korean car maker – and they’re all good. This time it’s the Ford Focus challenger, the new cee’d hatchback.

Car review: Sue Baker
Kia ceed MY12 front2
Growing: Latest cee'd is moving much closer to better known and named rivals

Share

31 May 2012

 

Growing: Latest cee'd is moving much closer to better known and named rivals thanks to upgraded quality and drivability

 

Kia cee’d 2 1.6 CRDi 6-speed manual ISG business car test review

Car review: Sue Baker

 

What is it?

Step past the stupid punctuation and the latest cee’d is the new standard-bearer for South Korean automotive ambition.

Kia’s new-generation cee’d is now a much more convincing Focus and Golf-chaser than its predecessor. All-round better, it moves much closer to the top of the class than the original cee’d launched back in 2006.

This second-generation Kia cee’d has acquired a wedgier shape and a significant upgrade in quality and driveability.

The cee’d’s cabin has shifted forward for a more rakish roofline and sportier stance. There are two petrol engines, two turbodiesels and two six-speed transmissions, including Kia’s first twin-clutch automated manual in the new cee’d line up.

Prices for the range start from £14,395 for a 1.4 litre manual and rise to a rather lofty £23,795 for a top-spec 1.6 CRDi with the new ISG manual transmission.

What’s hot?

  • Longer, narrower and lower than its predecessor, the cee’d is now more wedge-shaped for a sportier and more upmarket look
  • Better aerodynamics with a drag coefficient of 0.30 Cd, honed in 100 hours of wind tunnel work
  • Much improved driving dynamics, close up there with the class leaders
  • Range of models from 1.4 petrol with manual transmission to 1.6 turbodiesel with a dual-clutch automated manual box
  • Six versions in the range with 13 per cent company car tax BIK, four on 15 per cent
  • Lowest CO2 figure in the range is an impressive 97 g/km, in the 1.6 CRDi ‘1’ version with the automated manual transmission. It has standard stop-start, a 122 mph top speed and 11.5 seconds 0-62 acceleration time
  • Combined fuel economy figures range from 46.3 to 76.3 mpg
  • New state-of-the-art direct injection petrol engine
  • Power outputs from 89 to 133 bhp, torque from 137 to 260 Nm
  • Five trim grades: 1, 2, 3, 4 and 4 Tech
  • Across-the-range standard kit includes two-way steering wheel adjustment, height adjustable driving seat, electrically adjustable heated door mirrors
  • That long Kia warranty – seven years or 100,000 miles
  • Range topping cee’d 4 Tech has a panoramic sunroof, 10-way adjustable driving seat with memory, parallel park assist, parking sensors, lane departure warning and Xenon adaptive front lighting
  • Designed and built in Europe
  • Styling directed by design chief Peter Schreyer, who also has Audi and Volkswagen on his CV

 

What’s not?

  • The silly name with a lower case initial and a comma
  • Kia pricing is climbing along with the quality ascent of its products
  • The styling may be a bit too much of a wedge for some tastes
  • The CRDi engine needs to be quieter
  • Only available as a five-door hatchback for now

 

Wedgy: Sportier and upmarket look to new generation Kia cee'd

Share this article

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
WhatsApp
Reddit
Email

Want more motoring news?

Sign up here for our free weekly serving of motoring.

Sign up here for our free weekly serving of motoring.

Ralph Morton

Ralph Morton

Ralph Morton is an award-winning journalist and the founder of Business Car Manager (now renamed Business Motoring). Ralph writes extensively about the car and van leasing industry as well as wider fleet and company car issues. A former editor of What Car?, Ralph is a vastly experienced writer and editor and has been writing about the automotive sector for over 35 years.

Latest news

Top