Korea’s Kia has long been appreciated for its competitively priced, long-warrantied family cars, but have until now shied away from producing sportier models. The Pro Cee’d GT changes all that. As Kia themselves say, this new model heralds "quite a significant change" in the firm’s direction.
But how sporty is it? Compared to other ‘hot hatches’, it brings up the rear. At 201bhp, and 195lb ft, it doesn’t quite match the meatier Ford Focus ST, which can develop 247bhp and 266lb ft. The Vauxhall Astra VXR and the Renaultsport Megane are, with more than 250bhp, also significantly quicker than the new Pro C’eed.
Fairer comparisons are made with the less sporty Ford Fiesta ST and Peugeot 208 GTi hatches, which develop 180 and 196bhp respectively – but with the ability to hit 60mph from standstill in just 7.4 seconds, the Pro Cee’d GT is far from slow.
Critics have praised the car’s excellent build quality, but have been disappointed with the engine’s fuel efficiency, which provides an EU Combined fuel economy of 38.2mpg, making it less fuel efficient than substantially more powerful cars, such as the Golf GTI (8.9mpg more efficient) and the Ford ST (1mpg more efficient).
While the car is no game-changer in the hot hatch arena, and indeed may be unfairly judged against the hottest European hatches, at £19,995, it still represents a great deal. And when it comes to automotive reliability, one could argue that the best motor breakdown advice is to buy a vehicle with superb build quality; this particular Kia has bucket loads of that, and has the seven year warranty to prove it.
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