- Kia Cee’d
- Appearances [ ]
- First drive: Kia Ceed 1.0 turbo
- Top Gear Newsletter
- Kia Ceed review
- What’s Kia done to the Ceed to keep it competitive?
- What’s powering it now?
- What if I don’t want a five-door hatch?
- Our choice from the range
- What’s the verdict?
- Kia Ceed review
- What’s Kia done to the Ceed to keep it competitive?
- What’s powering it now?
- What if I don’t want a five-door hatch?
- Our choice from the range
- What’s the verdict?
Kia Cee’d
Kia Cee’d (later Ceed in third-gen) is a small family car built by Kia since 2006. In third-gen, model name dropped the apostrophe simply as Ceed. Ceed replaces the Spectra.
Hatchback body style for base version has small 5-door hatchback, estate is added on pre-mid MY model; 3-door hatchback is exclusive for Pro_cee’d but as hot-hatch for Pro_cee’d GT (later rename as Proceed) but changed to 5-door in third-gen. By third-gen introduce SUV version as Xceed.
Gamma inline-4 petrol engines are naturally-aspirated; 1.6-litre has a turbocharged version, 2-litre Beta-II only in first-gen. By second to current-gen added the smaller 1-litre turbocharged PDI inline-3 as Kappa II; Smartstream for current third-gen sourced from Hyundai, 1.4-litre is included MPi only in second-gen; current-gen now uses turbocharged petrol direct injection. Diesel engines all uses common rail, 2-litre version replaced by 1.6-litre Smartstream.
Ceed is one of the car was used as Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car replacing the Chevrolet Lacetti from 2010 to 2013 before being replaced by Vauxhall Astra. Future presenter Matt LeBlanc sets the fastest lap.
| Position | Celebrity | Lap times | Gearbox | Track condition | Notes |
| 1st | Matt LeBlanc | 1:42.1 | Manual | Dry | |
| 2nd | Rowan Atkinson | 1:42.2 | Manual | Dry | |
| 3rd | Michael Fassbender | 1:42.8 | Manual | Ice | Ice presence in penultimate corner |
| John Bishop | 1:42.8 | Manual | Dry | ||
| Ross Noble | 1:43.5 | Manual | Dry | ||
| Ryan Reynolds | 1:43.6 | Manual | Dry | ||
| James McAvoy | 1:43.7 | Manual | Dry | ||
| Matt Smith | 1:43.7 | Manual | Dry | ||
| Tom Cruise | 1:44.2 | Manual | Dry | ||
| Amy Macdonald | 1:44.4 | Manual | Dry | ||
| Nick Frost | 1:44.5 | Manual | Dry | ||
| Simon Pegg | 1:44.9 | Manual | Dry | ||
| Cameron Diaz | 1:45.2 | Manual | Dry | ||
| Alex James | 1:45.2 | Manual | Dry | ||
| Mick Fleetwood | 1:45.4 | Manual | Dry | ||
| Rupert Grint | 1:45.5 | Manual | Dry | ||
| Peter Jones | 1:45.9 | Manual | Dry | ||
| Boris Becker | 1:45.9 | Manual | Wet | First celebrity in wet track | |
| Andy García | 1:46.1 | Manual | Dry | ||
| Bill Turnbull | 1:46.8 | Manual | Dry | ||
| Alastair Campbell | 1:47.0 | Manual | Dry | Part of Children in Need 2012 | |
| Louis Walsh | 1:47.7 | Manual | Dry | ||
| Sophie Raworth | 1:47.8 | Manual | Dry | Part of Children in Need 2012 | |
| Peta Todd | 1:47.8 | Manual | Dry | ||
| Danny Boyle | 1:47.8 | Manual | Wet | Part of Children in Need 2012 | |
| Al Murray | 1:48.1 | Manual | Dry | ||
| Bob Geldof | 1:48.1 | Manual | Dry | ||
| Jeff Goldblum | 1:49.0 | Manual | Dry | Not using third gear during lap | |
| Jonathan Ross | 1:49.0 | Manual | Dry | ||
| will.i.am | 1:49.4 | Automatic | Wet | First celebrity using automatic in wet track | |
| Slash | 1:49.8 | Manual | Wet | ||
| Nick Robinson | 1:49.9 | Manual | Dry | ||
| Amber Heard | 1:50.3 | Automatic | Dry | First celebrity using automatic in dry track | |
| Fiona Bruce | 1:50.5 | Manual | Dry | ||
| Bill Bailey | 1:50.8 | Manual | Wet | ||
| Amy Williams | 1:50.9 | Manual | Wet | ||
| Johnny Vaughan | 1:53.3 | Manual | Wet | ||
| Louie Spence | 1:53.769 | Manual | Wet | ||
| Alice Cooper | 1:56.3 | Automatic | Wet | ||
| John Prescott | 1.56.7 | Automatic | Wet | ||
| Damian Lewis | 2:09.1 | Manual | Snow | The only presenter on snow road conditions |
Appearances [ ]
- In Series 9, Episode 4, the first-gen Cee’d is ranked as «Uncool» on the Cool Wall.
- In Thorough Cee’d Test, LeBlanc sets the fastest time for the newer version of Cee’d, beating his previous SIARPC time by nearly 2 seconds. Jeremy successfully parked backwards in blindfolded to demonstrate feature, but destroyed with a mixing of sodium and water for eel. Again he satisified for horn operate and other features, finally playing in rugby where his team won.
First drive: Kia Ceed 1.0 turbo
It’s the new Kia Ceed, the latest version of the car Tom Cruise two-wheeled around Gambon. Both it and the Proceed have enjoyed a rejig for 2015.
Kia says it’s new, we say it’s a facelift, and a very mild one on the surface. More interesting things lie beneath the subtly updated headlights and wheel designs, though.
A three-cylinder petrol turbo, called Ecoturbo, joins the engine range, with the aim of tempting a few people out of their diesels and restoring the sales balance between the two fuels to 50:50. It’s a mere 1-litre in size, like the Ecoboost you’ll find in the Focus, and comes with two power outputs, 98bhp and 118bhp. Also like the Ford, then.
There’s also a new seven-speed twin-clutch automatic gearbox, developed in house by Kia, though only available with higher powered diesels for now, and a new torque-vectoring system to tidy up the handling.
How’s the new triple?
It’s an engine all about effortlessness; it’s not brimful of character like Ford’s Ecoboost 1.0, but it’s refined, barely audible at a motorway cruise and responsive in the middle part of the rev range that you use in sensible, everyday driving.
It just blends in and does its job, while having enough power for simple overtaking or accelerating confidently down a slip road. Ceed buyers likely aren’t seeking a sports car, and the Ecoturbo should suit them just fine.
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And the fancy torque vectoring?
It’s a brake-operated system, not a million miles from McLaren’s brake-steer system in theory. Though while you can sense its operation during ambitious cornering speeds, it’s there for comfort and safety rather than turning the Ceed into a hyper-alert supercar.
Yep. Despite the addition of a more assertively styled and stiffer sprung ‘GT Line’ trim and the Ceed’s still gimmicky adjustable steering weight, this is a car refreshingly free of sporting pretension. Its ride is supple and its demeanour effortless, an approach finely in tune with the whacking great seven-year warranty that Kia is still unique in offering.
How many people still buy normal hatchbacks like this?
Lots, says Kia, claiming the C-segment this Ceed competes in as the second largest in Europe. It’s growing, in fact, with people downsizing from bigger saloon cars. As such, there’s a ton of grown-up stuff on offer to ease their transition, including an upgraded self-parking system, swish TFT dials and a 7in touchscreen media system that includes satnav updates for all seven years of that warranty.
There’s also been a focus on something called ‘sensory quality’, so there are thicker carpets to improve noise insulation and splashes of chrome across the interior on higher specs.
Does that mean it costs quite a bit?
Kias aren’t the budget option they used to be, certainly, and the Ceed battles the Focus and Golf with its ability rather than its pricetag. Things kick off below £15,000, but you’ll need to spend at least £17,445 to get a 1.0 turbo.
As stylish as the Ford and as painless to own as the VW, though, it belongs on your shortlist.
Kia Ceed review
It’s Kia’s effort on the hotly-contested family hatchback class: the Ceed (no longer featuring a rogue apostrophe) goes up against the likes of the Ford Focus, Seat Leon and Peugeot 308, while a offering highly-kitted out alternative to the latest (and lacklustre) VW Golf. What it isn’t is a car at the cutting edge of Kia’s eco push. You can’t get a hybrid or all-electric version. For battery-powered boons, Kia will steer you toward the new Niro or EV6. The Ceed is staunchly traditional, for now. One flavour of petrol engine, two gearboxes, and two trim levels. It’s like motoring fast food: simple, easy to order and broadly satisfying.
What’s Kia done to the Ceed to keep it competitive?
Well there’s a big new badge which appears to read ‘KIN’. The more stylised badge is supposed to make Kia more visible and appear more confident. Weird — it was doing just fine achieving that by building handsome and well-rounded cars. There’s some new lights and bumper treatment, fresh wheels and so on, but nothing to stop traffic. The engine range has been totally revised, mind you.
What’s powering it now?
Gone are the 1.0- and 1.4-litre petrols plus the 1.6-litre diesel the Ceed launched with. Now it’s a single 1.5-litre four-pot petrol on the engine list, as Kia slims down its offerings amid the ongoing semiconductor chip shortage. At the time of writing there’s no automatic gearbox offered on the official company website, which is, as we’ll see shortly, a problem.
What if I don’t want a five-door hatch?
You can have the Ceed in traditional estate form, but the swoopier Proceed wagon has been temporarily axed due to the chip shortage.
Our choice from the range
What’s the verdict?
The Ceed is hardcore normcore. If JK Rowling was writing Harry Potter today, it’s probably what the Dursleys would drive. And you might think it’s a bad car because of that. It’s not, but it’s proudly average and inoffensive in one of the busiest classes of car you can get. And when you’re not as pretty as a Mazda 3, not as good to drive as a Ford Focus, not as spacious as a new Honda Civic and ultimately not that ambitious in any area, you’re always going to end up being a bit of an also-ran. We suspect Kia secretly agrees and has slightly left the ol’ Ceed to wither on the vine while it preps a fully electrified replacement. You only have to look at the EV6, new Niro and hybridified Sportage to see how much Kia is investing in battery-powered cars, and how much punchier its design language is getting with every new model. So, while it’s not TG’s go-to family hatchback choice, it’s so painfully logical and (clutch aside) easy to get along with that it’s by no means a car you should strike off your shopping list.
Kia Ceed review
It’s Kia’s effort on the hotly-contested family hatchback class: the Ceed (no longer featuring a rogue apostrophe) goes up against the likes of the Ford Focus, Seat Leon and Peugeot 308, while a offering highly-kitted out alternative to the latest (and lacklustre) VW Golf. What it isn’t is a car at the cutting edge of Kia’s eco push. You can’t get a hybrid or all-electric version. For battery-powered boons, Kia will steer you toward the new Niro or EV6. The Ceed is staunchly traditional, for now. One flavour of petrol engine, two gearboxes, and two trim levels. It’s like motoring fast food: simple, easy to order and broadly satisfying.
What’s Kia done to the Ceed to keep it competitive?
Well there’s a big new badge which appears to read ‘KIN’. The more stylised badge is supposed to make Kia more visible and appear more confident. Weird — it was doing just fine achieving that by building handsome and well-rounded cars. There’s some new lights and bumper treatment, fresh wheels and so on, but nothing to stop traffic. The engine range has been totally revised, mind you.
What’s powering it now?
Gone are the 1.0- and 1.4-litre petrols plus the 1.6-litre diesel the Ceed launched with. Now it’s a single 1.5-litre four-pot petrol on the engine list, as Kia slims down its offerings amid the ongoing semiconductor chip shortage. At the time of writing there’s no automatic gearbox offered on the official company website, which is, as we’ll see shortly, a problem.
What if I don’t want a five-door hatch?
You can have the Ceed in traditional estate form, but the swoopier Proceed wagon has been temporarily axed due to the chip shortage.
Our choice from the range
What’s the verdict?
The Ceed is hardcore normcore. If JK Rowling was writing Harry Potter today, it’s probably what the Dursleys would drive. And you might think it’s a bad car because of that. It’s not, but it’s proudly average and inoffensive in one of the busiest classes of car you can get. And when you’re not as pretty as a Mazda 3, not as good to drive as a Ford Focus, not as spacious as a new Honda Civic and ultimately not that ambitious in any area, you’re always going to end up being a bit of an also-ran. We suspect Kia secretly agrees and has slightly left the ol’ Ceed to wither on the vine while it preps a fully electrified replacement. You only have to look at the EV6, new Niro and hybridified Sportage to see how much Kia is investing in battery-powered cars, and how much punchier its design language is getting with every new model. So, while it’s not TG’s go-to family hatchback choice, it’s so painfully logical and (clutch aside) easy to get along with that it’s by no means a car you should strike off your shopping list.