Kia continues to knock over the preconceptions.
Where many of its rivals have a simple and cheap torsion beam rear suspension, the Cee’d instead opts for a sophisticated multi-link arrangement.
This generation car leaps into the vanguard with the adoption of Kia’s own dual-clutch sequential transmission.
The body is 45% stiffer than before and the steering system offers a Flex Steer system for improved driving dynamics.
This system delivers three operating modes – Comfort, Normal and Sport – allowing the driver to vary the level of steering assistance and the weight of feedback, in order to best suit the current driving conditions and the driver’s personal preferences.
We’d expect this sort of thing on an Audi options list, not fitted to a Kia.
Perhaps we were wrong to think Kia had used its quota of surprises with the first generation car.
Despite the Flex Steer cleverness, steering feel still isn’t this car’s best feature and overall, it won’t be a first choice for dynamic drivers. Does this matter? Probably not.
The performances figures for the 126bhp 1.6-litre CRDi diesel we tried (0-60mph in 11.5 seconds on the way to 122mph) are quite sufficient and overall, a seat at the wheel of this car is a very pleasant place to spend your time.
The driving position is excellent, the seats and the wheel feel good and all-round visibility is better than many rivals – in fact, thanks to those quarter windows in the front pillars, it’s better than its cousin the Hyundai i30.
Though there’s perhaps a touch more road and wind noise than you’d get in, say, a Golf, the muted engine note ensures that refinement levels are quite good enough to encourage lengthy journeys, though on them, you might find the ride a touch firmer than many will expect.
No car in this sector can afford to go to market with second-rate economy and emissions figures.
Gone are the days when a low sticker price would more than mask the fact that the engines were a decade out of date, and if there’s one thing that carbon dioxide-based taxation has done, it’s driven manufacturers into a race to develop ever smarter and more efficient engines.
Kia is no exception and the latest clutch of engines deliver respectable numbers.
As with other Kia models in Europe, the Cee’d is available with fuel-saving technologies developed under the company’s EcoDynamics label.
These measures, which are offered on both diesel and petrol models with manual transmission, include ISG (Start/Stop), low-rolling resistance tyres and an alternator management system (AMS).
Some flesh on those bones? The 1.6-litre 126bhp diesel Cee’d returns a combined cycle fuel consumption figure of 76.3mpg, while CO emissions start at just 97g/km. This comes courtesy of an ISG Start/Stop system.
The Kia Cee’d is the perfect example of a car that’s absolutely right for its time, especially in the 1.6-litre CRDi diesel guise we’ve been looking at here. All the planets have aligned and delivered a vehicle that does the right thing at just the right time.
Global economics have played to its advantage, but one can’t help but feel that even without an enforced age of austerity, this car would have succeeded through its sheer depth of engineering.
Kia is not a company that is easily contented with its position, but in striving to improve its wares, it risks being subsumed into the morass of the middle market. That time is not quite yet and the Cee’d is still the car to choose if value is a key driver in the buying decision.
Get a bit excitable with some of the options and it’s possible to build yourself quite a pricey car and it’s worth realising that the used market isn’t quite ready for that just yet, so step carefully.
Choose the right car with the right engine and it’s hard to get things too badly wrong. It’s still a reasonably priced car. The producers at Top Gear will need to look elsewhere for something appealingly inept though.
Model: Kia Cee’d 1.6 CRDi
Price: From around £14,500
Engine: 126bhp 1.6-litre CRDi diesel
Performance: 0-60mph in 11.5 seconds; top speed 122mph
Economy: 76.3mpg combined
CO rating: 97g/km