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