Kia Cee’d 3 Eco Dynamics 1.6 133bhp Review

James Wright drives the Kia Cee'd 3 Eco Dynamics 1.6

First impressions

First impressions were very good. The car is aesthetically pleasing compared to Kias of old. This is a much more modern looking and is on par looks wise with any other family hatch on the market today. It has nice alloy wheels and DRLs as standard.  The colour of the car I drove was a nice slate grey.

Interior

The interior is a nice place to be. The seats are comfy and are fully adjustable. There is plenty of leg room in the back and the boot size is spot on. In terms of toys this model was fully loaded. There are only a couple of things that lets the inside down for me, and one is the interior colour choice. The dash and seats are a lovely shade of beige which would match most OAP’s trousers and if you have kids the chances are that after a few weeks of sweets and muddy shoes they would be filthy dirty.

The other thing is the glove box button. It might sound petty but the button and glove box door are made of a different material than the rest of the dash and it feels a damn sight cheaper and the mechanism that lets the glove box out isn’t very good at all. It’s very slow and makes an awful clicking sound when opened. Personally it would annoy me something rotten and there is no way of locking the glove box. This should be a standard thing on cars these days.

Spec 

The car tested had plenty of toys to keep you busy. It’s got auto electric folding mirrors, auto wipers and dimming rear view mirror, Bluetooth, sat nav, touch screen head unit, iPod and aux inputs for your music. It’s also got dual climate control a cooling glove box for your drinks, puddle lights in the door handles and a multi function steering wheel. All of which are relatively easy to use and are within reach of the driver without too much hassle or having to lean across the car.

Ride Quality

A good solid showing from Kia on the ride comfort here. It’s lovely and quiet in the cabin at 60mph, you can talk at a normal level and hear yourself think. The seats are nice and supportive and on a long trip back ache would be no problem at all. This model is a touch soft in the bends however it’s not the GT and it’s not made for attacking B roads on a Sunday morning.

Performance

It’s a family car. It’s far from fast and it’s not so slow that wind erosion is faster. It can pull all the way to 70mph easy enough and will sit there all day. The 133bhp 1.6 litre lump is nice and smooth. Cruising along a dual carriageway is helped no end by the 6 speed gear box. As I said before in the bends it’s a touch soft and I personally think it could benefit from a bigger wheel and tyre package to hold it on the road. This size car would benefit from a more powerful engine.

Overall

This is a decent car. If you’re after buying a well specked comfy motor to go to work and fetch the kids in then this is for you. You will get plenty of car for your money and you can’t beat that Kia 7 year warranty. Long gone are the days of the old Kia’s that weren’t built great and didn’t look great. I’ll give this car a steady 3.5/5. Performance wise its average but value for money is top notch. It’s never going to be A VW Golf but there are worse cars on the market these days.

James Wright co-manages the Speedmonkey Facebook page and occasionally gets to drive new cars

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Catch-Up Corner - Specials Edition

Graham King takes a look at some stories we missed this week

For reasons I can't work out, quite a lot of special/limited edition cars were launched this week. But are any of them worth your time? Let's have a look...

Jaguar XK Dynamic & XKR Dynamic R

The rather old but still quite lovely XK has had a bit of Botox to keep it fresh. The Signature is based on the standard 379bhp, 5.0-litre V8-powered XK and features more luxurious interior trim than standard and the mack-daddy infotainment system incorporating a new reversing camera. The 502bhp XKR-based Dynamic R adds the Black Dynamic Pack (essentially the XKR-S's suspension), Speed Pack (174mph top speed limiter), the Aerodynamic Pack (self-explanatory) and a Performance Active Exhaust. Plus a sportier interior and the mack-daddy infotainment. Both get 20in wheels. The Signature costs £54,950, the Dynamic R £69,950. So quite a lot less than if you added the options individually. Deliveries start in March. Worth it? Yep.

SEAT Mii by MANGO

For those that don't know, MANGO is a Spanish fashion house that has teamed up with SEAT to create this one. For your unspecified amount of money, you get some MANGO-specific exterior trim and badging, those 15in alloys, and the 'Nude' colour pictured (Deep Black also available). Interior add-ons include leather steering and gear knob, alcantara seats with the car's name stitched into them and a handbag hook. The first 1000 sold will also come with a MANGO umbrella, handbag and a currently unknown something designed in an online competition. Deliveries start in July. Worth it? Fashion avids only.

Fiat Panda 4x4 Antarctica

This celebrates 30 years and half-a-million sales of Fiat's go-anywhere city car. The 300-off model is only available in white with a black roof and comes with orange trim details inside and out, and that rather large image of a reclining penguin on the side. 15in alloys and rear privacy glass are added to the 4x4's already generous (for a Panda) kit list. Choose from TwinAir petrol or MultiJet diesel engines. Deliveries start in March with prices from £14,895. Worth it? The Panda 4x4 already has a sense of humour and this adds more giggles for only another couple of hundred quid, so why not.

Kia Picanto, Rio & Cee'd VR7

The VR7 package adds the same trinkets to the Picanto, Rio and Cee'd: alloy wheels, parking sensors, electric heated door mirrors and electric windows, air-conditioning, Bluetooth and USB ports. You can have it on 1.0-litre Picantos, 1.25 petrol and 1.1CRDi diesel Rios and 1.4 petrol and 1.4CRDi diesel Cee'ds. Available now. Worth it? Well, they add some appeal to competent if unappealing base-model cars. If you're buying with your own money and want maximum value, you could do worse.

Audi Q7 S-Line Style S-Line Sport

Both Style and Sport are based on the existing top-spec Q7 S-Line Plus so come with HDD nav, Audi's advanced parking assistance system, Verano leather upholstery, powered tailgate and Audi Music Interface. S-Line Style adds titanium-effect 21in alloys and ruggedised styling with stainless steel underbody protection, bigger wheelarches and new front bumper. The S-Line Sport (pictured) also gets titanium-effect 21in alloys and borrows its bulging wheelarches and gigantic air intakes from the batshit-crazy Q7 V12 TDi. Both are available with V6 (245PS) or V8 diesels, starting from £52,975 (Style) and £54,475 (Sport). Worth it? If you really want a Q7, you may as well.

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Kia probably won't sell it's new provo in Northern Ireland

Matt Hubbard wonders if Kia really thought it through when they decided to name their 'funky' new concept car the 'provo'

I didn't notice the new Kia concept car when it was announced during media week for the Geneva Motor Show.  It was buried under a pile of supercars from Lambourghini, Ferrari and McLaren.

And, frankly, I've no interest in Kia or their cars.  If they send me one to drive I'll give it a quick spin, confirm that it is probably 'OK', and then it will live outside in the rain for a week.

But I spat tea all over my laptop keyboard when I saw the South Korean manufacturer had called their "fun-focussed" and "sleek, low, yet muscular coupe-style hatchback" the PROVO.  And the headline for the press release - KIA LOOKS TO SET THE STREETS ALIGHT WITH RADICAL PROVO CONCEPT

It couldn't be more inappropriate if they'd adorned it with mortar launchers and Kia's management had worn black balaclavas whilst presenting it to the gathered journalists in Geneva.

Why, you might ask?  Because provo is a shortening of Provisional Irish Republican Army who, for 30 years, waged war against the British, who then ruled Northern Ireland.  And they bombed two of my local shopping centres, in the north of England, when I was young - the Manchester Arndale and Warrington town centre.  I distinctly remember the fear we all felt when venturing into populated areas and town centres during those times.

In their defence Kia say, "There was absolutely no intention to cause offence. The name comes from 'provoke' - as in provoking a reaction."

And I believe them.  No manufacturer would be so daft or insane as to name a car so blatantly offensive on purpose.  It's all just an unfortunate coincidence.  

But Kia won't mind if I knock up a concept car and take it to the 2014 Geneva Motor Show.  I think I might call it the "Democratic People's Republic of Korea featuring Kim Jong-un concept".  The headline will read, "New concept aims to test it's firepower in an underground bunker in Punggye-ri"

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