Good looking Kia with strange name

Test Drive by Graham Breeze

Things are really on the up for Kia and the arrival of the revised Pro-cee’d should keep sales figures moving in the right direction – despite the name.

Last year Kia announced that cee’d sales had passed the 1,000,000 mark since launch in 2006 and the company is confidently predicting the graph will continue in the right direction, expecting to sell 13,500 more this year in the UK.

The Pro-cee’d is a keenly priced three-door hatch but that name doesn’t run smoothly off the tongue and trying to explain what you are driving to inquisitive admirers becomes a bit boring after a while.

There’s a nine car range to pick from and on test was the economical 1.0 petrol T-GDi GT Line Eco with average fuel consumption of 57.6mpg, despite having a maximum speed of 118mph and 0-62mph in 10.7seconds.

It really looks the part but doesn’t have the sporty handling to match appearance, which is disappointing. The engine needs a few revs to get up to speed too and that means a lot more noise than expected.

But what it lacks in performance it more than makes up for in terms of quality and refinement and inside the cabin there’s more than enough to please most motorists.

Both front seats get height adjustment, there are attractive stainless steel pedals, steering wheel mounted controls, easy-to-use instrument cluster, air conditioning and black headlining.

The GT-Line model on test came with very comfortable Recaro leather and suede front seats, red stitching to the steering wheel and gear shift and a particularly nice black gloss centre fascia.

Outwardly the Pro-cee’d looks the part on 18inch alloy wheels with granite finish, body coloured bumpers, handles and mirrors, chrome window surrounds, a rear spoiler, rear privacy glass, cornering lights, automatic headlight controlled rear tail lights and adjustable and heated door mirrors complete with ED indicators.

The GT-Line on test also gets stunning red brake callipers, a black lower grille with red trim, a dual exhaust system, LED daytime running lights and front and rear fog lights.

There’s plenty of room inside too but passengers were complaining of how difficult it was to get into the back seats on the three-door version tested. Doors are also very big and that means taking extra precautions when getting in and out in car parks.

The well shaped boot can swallow up to 380 litres of luggage and just about passed the golf club test, though not without a bit of help.

There’s plenty of though been given to safety too with twin front and side airbags, twin curtain airbags, all-round height adjustable headrests, impact sensing door unlocking, an alarm system and an engine immobiliser.

Prices start at just over £15,000 but the test model hit the road at £19,720 and there is a lot of competition in the sector at that level.

Kia is so confident that its cars will stand the test of time that the Pro-cee’d comes with a seven-year/100,000-mile warranty and that’s an important factor when making the buying choice.

Yes this is a very nice Kia but I still can’t get my head around it’s silly name.