Kia Cee'd hatchback

Drive

Although Kia is supposed to be the sportier brand of the Hyundai Kia group, the new Cee’d doesn’t feel in the least bit sporty. The car seems to be set up for comfort rather than fun, with light (sometimes sloppy feeling) steering and the nose feeling a little heavy through tighter corners. More expensive models get three different steering modes: comfort, sport and normal; although they do little to make the steering feel any less light. Engine power from all models isn’t especially great, making for more sedate than swift progress.

Comfort

Where cars such as the Ford Focus have a sportier set-up with a firm-ish ride, the Kia Cee’d is more comfort orientated, although there is a slightly firm tendancy to the ride. That can depend on the tyres your car gets: cars fitted with Hankook tyres will ride firmer than those riding on Continental tyres. However, the space in the Cee’d means five passengers should be able to get comfortable, while there's plenty of steering wheel and seat adjustment for the driver, too.

Reliability

The new Cee’d comes with Kia's unbeatable seven year warranty – a clear indication that Kia has confidence in the car's reliability. They shouldn’t have any worries, because owners tend to have only good things to say about their Kias. This latest model shows further improvements on quality for Kia, too – there are nice soft-touch plastics around the cabin, the paint finish is good and the doors shut with a pleasing thud rather than the tinny click of Kias of old.

Practicality

If plenty of space is your main goal when buying a small hatchback, the Kia Cee’d should be on your shopping list. There's lots of adjustment for the driver to get comfortable, while the space in the back is extremely generous. An above-average sized adult can sit comfortably in the back behind a similarly sized driver with knee and head room to spare. There are plenty of places for water bottles, mobile phones and other odds and ends, while the boot is much bigger than that in a Ford Focus, especially if you fold the back seats down. They fold completely flat, too.

Value for money

Although the new Kia Cee’d will cost considerably more than the old car, it will still have an advantage over cars like the Ford Focus, Vauxhall Astra and Volkswagen Golf. Not only will it be cheaper than those cars, probably by around 5%, we’d expect it to get more standard equipment, too. However, Kia dealers don’t have as much money to discount their cars as Ford and Vauxhall, so the difference post haggling might not be as much. Kia's seven year warranty is worth an extra few hundred pounds, though, and a fair amount of peace-of-mind, too.

Running costs

The most fuel efficient Kia Cee’d will return 76mpg and emit 97g/km of CO2, so while it's competitive with most other similarly-sized and priced cars, it's not the best. The entry-level 1.4-litre petrol is cheap to buy but can only manage 50.4mpg and emissions of 130g/km. Kia often offers servicing packs to keep running costs down, though. But the new Cee’d will lose its value quicker than some of its rivals, although it will be considerably better than its predecessor.