L'anti-Bravo: Kia Cee'd

[olaola]

Tendenzialmente conformista,ricorda la Civic 5p serie precedente e la Mazda 3 sempre 5p...indubbiamente punta sui contenuti pratici tralasciando le suggestioni "pseudo caratteriali" del "prodotto latino"

In Europa potrebbe avere una buona riuscita,almeno confrontandosi con la FIAT,principalmente nel medio/lungo periodo,se si dimostrerà all'altezza delle caratteristiche dichiarate





Kj

[Il_Siso]

Come linea non è terrificante (ma è molto meglio la Bravo).

Comunque, non comprerei mai una Kia.

Perchè?
Anche tu vittima del pregiudizio?

[Elendil]

che è l' incrocio della bravo con la colt vecchia...

[ugolupo]

quello che volete ma è una Kia!!

Voi l'avreste il fegato di rispondere "KIA" alla domanda "che auto hai?"

Se valesse la pena SI.

Pensa che qualcuno risponde con orgoglio: "Mercedes"!

Interno giorno, Agricar, presentazione di una nuova "carretta" (forse quella che scivolò con l'alce sulle spalle),
l'animatore intrattiene il pubblico -giovanotti da Clio e golf usata che si "gasano"-
vedendomi entrare mi apostrofa per una battuta, un parere sul modello.

"Lei ha l'aspetto di uno che guida una MERCEDES..."

Gli rispondo: " Scherza?! Mi ha forse preso per uno zingaro, un magnaccio o un mafioso?"

[ugolupo]

che è l' incrocio della bravo con la colt vecchia...

Questa le incrocia tutte, anche la Almera e un modello Ford.

Diciamo che la linea non é sicuramente innovativa, ma questo non sarebbe grave se... funzionasse a metano

[Il_Grigio]

Ne ho letto una prova, pare che la qualità generale non sia esaltante...
Ma in fondo è un modello nuovo.

[olaola]

In Germania ed in UK pare avere un buon riscontro,almeno da parte di alcune riviste specializzate



What is it?
The new Kia Cee'd, a Korean car that's about to give the world of European cars an almighty shake-up. From now on it’s not just the traditional market leaders, Ford, VW, Peugeot and Vauxhall who build credible compact hatchbacks for Europe’s discerning Mr Average. It’s the Koreans, too.
The new Cee’d, on sale in UK showrooms at the end of January 2007, has been conceived in Europe by Europeans, and its only purpose in life is to impress and attract Golf-Astra-Focus buyers. On our first acquaintance, it does an extremely good job.
What's it like?
Oddball name apart, the Cee’d is the first Kia (or Hyundai) completely to eliminate the peculiarities of styling and specification that have previously put Korean cars beyond the pale for many buyers. Park the Ceed between a Golf and an Astra and it’s a perfect member of the fraternity. Sit inside and you’ll feel the same — and no wonder; it's designed by Europeans, and built in Slovakia.
The result is a modern but conventional, all-steel, transverse front-drive five-door hatchback — to be joined next year by three-door and five-door estate versions — which manages to attract attention with its neat, perfectly balanced styling and some eye-catching standard equipment, rather than with an exotic mechanical specification.
In most internal dimensions — especially shoulder width and headroom — the Cee’d is a little bigger than the already-generous Ford Focus, and Kia claims a clear class lead in overall interior space. The instrument cluster design offers a nice change from the Ford-VW white-on-black treatment, without being too radical, and the soft-feel fascia materials and controls seem to offer something very similar VW quality (though the early left-handed cars we drove on test were built to Italian spec, not British, so it was difficult to judge).
The Cee’d's mechanical specification stays in the meainstream, too. The car adopts the MacPherson strut front suspension and electric power steering which the top five models use, plus a five-link independent rear system of the type adopted first by Ford for the first Focus, then by VW for the current Golf. Basic Cee’ds get 15-inch steel wheels, but mid-spec cars get 16-inch alloys. There are three petrol engines offered, all with twin cams, 16 valves and variable valve timing (2.0 litre/141bhp, 1.6 litre/120bhp and 1.4 litre/108bhp). There is just one turbodiesel at launch, a 1.6-litre direct-injection, common-rail 16-valve unit, but it comes in two power outputs (89bhp and 114bhp). A 2.0-litre single ohc 8v unit, with 138bhp on tap, will be added in mid-2007. All engines except the 2.0-litre come with standard five-speed manual boxes but the 2.0-litre gets a six-speeder. An optional four-speed auto will be offered with the 1.6-litre petrol.



In Britain there will be four trim levels. The big sellers are likely to be the well-equipped 'starter' S spec (six airbags, air conditioning, a CD player with MP3 capability, steering wheel audio controls, central locking, front electric windows and trip computer) and the 'everyman' GS (which adds 16-inch alloys, a six-speaker audio system with a USB, aux and iPod socket, remote locking and electric/heated outside mirrors). There are two upper models, the luxurious LS (climate control, rear electric windows, part-leather seats, front fog lamps) and the sporty TS (17-inch alloys, six-CD autochanger, ESP, alloy pedals, sports seats and black bezel headlamps).
Kia is remaining coy for a little longer about its precise pricing, but says the entry level 1.4S will cost around £11,000 and a 2.0-litre diesel LS should be a shade over £18,000.
We drove three cars; 1.6-litre petrol models with both five-speed manual and four-speed automatic transmissions, and an early version of the 2.0-litre diesel six-speeder. All were impressive for their immaculate body assembly and paint quality. Also for big doors, easy access and impressive cabin/boot space.
Though before driving we’d heard some bullish claims from Kia’s European engineers, the all-round excellence of Cee’d’s on-road performance was still a surprise. Think of a car somewhere north of today’s Toyota Corolla, dynamically speaking, and within striking distance of the class best, and you have the Cee’d. It has the same impressive body rigidity and acoustic 'deadness' of today’s best bodyshells, and its well-chosen spring/damper settings are far better than those on any previous Kia.
The steering is accurate enough, but lacks runs-in-ball bearings ease of the Golf and Focus, and there are times when an excess of self-centring near the straight-ahead and the inertia of the biggish wheel come into play. But the deficiencies aren’t great: only enthusiasts will notice them. The brakes have a powerful, self-energised feel, the handling balance is neutral, moving to mild understeer and there’s very little body roll when you chuck the car hard into bends. In sum, the Cee’d feels predictable, neat, easy to place on the road — and fun.
We did most miles in the petrol 1.6s, and found them typical of the modern breed: willing but fairly hard-worked in cars of this class, low in mechanical noise but a bit boomy when you used the revs, which you often did. The auto would never be an enthusiast’s choice (smooth, but not enough ratios and a consequent flaccid throttle response) but the five-speed manual was sweet, quick and light to use. The 2.0 litre diesel was impressively strong from around 2000rpm, and its six-speed gearchange was lighter and less notchy than that of the Ford Focus we had along for comparison.

Should I buy one?
The new Cee’d is impressive on all counts. Open-minded buyers will see it as a strong alternative to the Vauxhall or Ford they originally set their heart on, and will be egged on by the seven-year warranty (five years body, seven years powertrain). The Cee’d may not quite have attained Focus-Golf levels of dynamic excellence (we’ll need to do a full UK compoarison test to know for sure) but it’s close enough for many buyers not to notice or care, and in some ways it beats the market leaders hollow.
Steve Cropley AUTOCAR UK






Kj

[olaola]

Kia Cee'd 1.6 crdi 115hp



Intro
Kia wants to be more than just a bit-part player in the European car market. To achieve this aim, it has invested in a new factory at Zilina in Slovakia. It’s an audacious move, but one rooted in common sense. One of the great barriers of acceptance to the European market is the notion that cars built in distant, eastern lands are in some way inferior.
The first offering from this new production facility is the Cee’d family hatchback. Its intended market penetration in the UK isn’t huge (around 10,000 units, or a two per cent market share) but the ramifications of this European-designed and built Korean hatch will be felt for years. Because this is a car that comes with a seven-year, 93,000-mile warranty.
Other than the abject irritation of those intending to use its name in print on a regular basis and a poorly constructed pun, there is no real meaning to the name Cee’d. In fact ignore both the model designation and the company’s name and simply look at this car as a nameless machine. Not a bad looker, is it? The proportions are right, the styling attractive. Kia has never achieved these two goals before.
Design
It is the 1.6-litre CDRi under the spotlight in this test, using the same turbodiesel motor as found in the Carens. Its 1582cc allow it to produce 114bhp and 190lb ft of torque, all the while being Euro4 compatible. There is nothing extraordinary about this engine, apart from one small endorsement. Kia is so confident of its longevity that it is willing to underwrite any potential failure from inlet manifold to driveshaft for the first seven years of the car’s life. Even for hardened enthusiasts, there comes a point when such mind-boggling support becomes as impressive as the spec sheet of the latest V12 Ferrari. Right now, rival manufacturers are wondering how it can be achieved economically.


Otherwise, the Cee’d is a conventional Euro-hatch: a two-box shape with lifting tailgate, MacPherson struts at the front and clumsily titled rear suspension aimed to dupe people into thinking that it’s fully independent, when in fact it is just a posh torsion beam. Still, when you could buy one in 2007, cover 12,000 miles a year and still make a legitimate warranty claim for a new engine or gearbox come late 2013, perhaps one shouldn’t bicker about rear axle sophistication.
On the road
Smoother, quieter and punchier engines exist in this class, but the Cee’d’s engine is game. It gives its best below 4000rpm and peak torque appears from a handy 1900rpm.
Performance is perfectly adequate, though not quite up with the very high standard set by the class leaders. Rest to 60mph requires one gear change and 10.3sec, 0-100mph is a 37.9sec affair and the 30-70mph time is a reasonable 10.6sec. But as usual, the cold, empirical surroundings of the proving ground don’t give an accurate reflection of the real-world performance of this car. Using between 2000rpm and 4000rpm, it covers ground at an impressive rate. The fourth gear 40-60mph time of 6.5sec and the 10.0sec 50-70mph run in fifth are indicative of this accessible performance.
Furthermore, it’s a powertrain that builds a pleasing rhythm over A-roads. The gear shift is relatively long, but the action is pleasant, even if the metal gear lever is an odd shape. The clutch is light and the pedals well positioned. Noise levels are fairly well contained.
Broadly speaking, the Cee'd's chassis offers a very similar level of competence to the engine and transmission. Ask of it reasonable questions, and it will respond well enough.
The good work begins with a very accurate electrically assisted steering rack. It’s not too fast off the straight ahead, and even though there is little feel to speak of, the Cee’d is one of those cars that immediately feels agile and easy to place. That’s a key attribute on UK roads. Try to extract too much from the Cee’d and it doesn’t work quite so well. Push hard and you’ll discover that the car is over-sprung and under-damped, causing it to be deflected by shorter wave imperfections. It doesn’t enjoy being grabbed by the scruff of the neck, but then again its market positioning would suggest that driving in such a manner is rather irrelevant. More importantly, though, ride comfort is slightly below the class average.
Forget chassis composure and jewel-effect headlights: the surest sign that Kia has joined the Euro-hatch ranks is the appearance of soft-touch interior plastics. There are some very appealing aspects to this cabin. The heater controls, for example, are a fine blend of usability and style. The instruments are clear and attractive and there’s a socket for your iPod. The seats offer little support, but weren’t uncomfortable over long distances.
In short, forget all notions of Korean crumminess; the Cee’d consigns most of that to the history books. One other notable and laudable inclusion is the indicator function remaining on the right-hand column stalk. It takes a while to become accustomed to this set-up, but the facility to change gear and indicate at the same time becomes invaluable and exposes the usual placement of this function on the left-hand side in right-hand vehicles as an ergonomic disaster. Rear-seat passengers are well catered for. The bench is comfortable, though like every other in the class lacking in under-thigh support. Boot space, at 340 litres, is good.


With a claimed 60.1mpg over the combined cycle and 125g/km CO2 emissions placing it in band C, the Cee’d won’t be expensive to run. Naturally we couldn’t match that, but we did average 37.9mpg, which included a 23.3mpg stint at the track.
All Cee’ds come with six airbags and rear ISOFIX points, and top-spec trim adds ESP.
And then there’s the small matter of cost. The Cee’d isn’t the giveaway people familiar with Kia's other offerings might have expected. Then again, its credentials dictate that it deserves to be priced more in line with the competition. This car has a list price of £14,245, and a similarly specified Ford Focus would cost £17,390, although a large discount could be scored on the Ford.
So rather than trade on crude engineering and cheap pricing, Kia’s strategy is now based around competitive dynamics, attractive pricing and the allure of that seven-year warranty.
Verdict
8 stars out of 10 If the major European manufacturers were worried when they discovered the exceptional warranty package Kia would be offering with this car, then the Cee’d’s overall appeal should compound those fears. It’s not a class-leader in any category, but it does just about everything more than competently. It also looks good and is attractively priced, if not quite the absolute bargain we might have expected





Kj

[Lollo87Lp]

Perchè?
Anche tu vittima del pregiudizio?

Perché la Bravo è molto più bella.

E perché non potrei mai dire "ho una Kia"

[Il_Siso]

E perché non potrei mai dire "ho una Kia"

Perchè?