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Pro Cee'd: Affordable Family Fun

When Kia launched a while back there was every indication was that they were a car brand that would not last. They delivered cars that nearly no one cared about and frankly didn't work all that good. Over the last ten years or so Kia has turned itself into a car company that constantly put out cars that were not always the hottest car in the class, but were affordable and reliable. With a decade of good selling numbers under their belts Kia is focusing on delivering cars that people want to drive. A step in that direction is the Kia Pro Cee'd.

The Kia Pro Cee'd is the 3-door hatch version of their popular C'eed line-up that this go around looks like it fit much better in the line with the ultra sporty cars from Ford or Fiat. Kia was often known as the car maker that put out oddly shaped cars that had hard angles or looked like an egg on wheels. The latest version of the Pro Cee'd has none of that. The 3-door Cee'd has a very sporty front end that leads back to a sleek back end to deliver a perfectly sport inspired look.

Under the bonnet Kia is offering a range of engine choices that include a couple of petrol power plants as well as several nice diesel options. The entry level petrol engine is a 1.4-litre thing that runs on 104bhp of power. Drivers who want to step it up a little bit to put the sport in their sporty family hatch can opt of the 1.6-litre engine that runs on 124bhp of power with peak torque of 154NM.

Diesel engine options for the Kia Pro Cee'd include two 1.-6litre CRDI engines and one 2.0-litre CRDI. The smaller engine can be had with power of 89bhp or 113bhp while the larger delivers with 138bhp. Fuel consumption is good on the range of engine choices with the 1.6-litre getting an estimated 44.1mpg combined.

Kia has been smart enough to make sure that the suspension under the Pro Cee'd will be in line with what people expect when they buy a sports-inspired family hatchback. They were clever enough to leave the car on a long wheel base to easily handle most any road terrain. Kia has equipped the car with MacPherson struts in the front suspension and an independent suspension in the back that has an articulated torsion beam to help keep the car stable.

Standard equipment levels on the Pro Cee'd are more than many would expect in a 3-door family hatch that was reasonably priced. Some of this equipment includes 16-inch alloys, cooled glove box, heated door mirrors, remote central locking system, and a CD stereo with USB and auxiliary inputs to handle most any modern portable music player. There are plenty of cost upgrades for buyers looking for the complete package.

The Kia Pro Cee'd will most likely proceed to the top of many buyers looking for a sporty family hatch that looks and acts like a much more expensive car. Kia is certainly not the same car company it was ten years ago. The Korean automaker is poised to capture a much larger market share across the various class levels of all car models.

by Autoweb