Cee'd's success keeps growing

Feb 8 2010 Peter Hayward

I HAVE been impressed with every model I have driven from Kia's cee'd range and the most recent high economy ISG is no exception.

Here's a five door family hatch with room for five which comes with a seven year warranty and is still £3,000 cheaper than the equivalent Ford Focus ECOnetic.

It's very good to drive, with fair performance from an 89bhp 1.6 diesel turbo, but performance is not what this car is about.

It will average over 60 miles per gallon with careful driving, thanks to a six-speed gearbox and automatic stop-start to cut the engine whenever the car comes to a halt.

That engine is reasonably quiet and smooth, the ride is comfortable over all surfaces and the road-holding and handling excellent.

I drove it when we had all the snow so I rarely got above third gear for a couple of days.

Yet it still averaged 43mpg on the built-in trip computer, which has to be brilliant.

Interior

It comes with built-in Bluetooth for the phone, music inputs for iPod and others, electric front windows, remote locking and aircon.

It also has electric mirrors, headlight beam adjustment, stereo controls on the steering wheel, height and reach adjustable column, height adjustable driver's seat and good rear legroom.

FAST FACTS

Kia cee'd

Price: £14,500

Mechanical: 89bhp, 1,582cc, 4 cylinder diesel engine driving the front wheels via a 6-speed manual gearbox

Max speed: 107mph

0-62mph: 13.5 seconds

Combined mpg: 67

Insurance group: 7

CO2 emissions: 110g/km

BIK rating: 13%

Warranty: 7 years/ 99,000 miles

Marks: 10/10

Main rival: Ford Focus Econetic.