[PhireSideZA]

Sweet ride! I wonder if it's at all related to the Kia Cerato Hatch we get here in ZA?

I love all those features you mentioned, a lot of them we don't get here even on the top of the range specced models

[bumpkin]

First couple of hundred miles put on to her, impressions so far are good!

Mixed driving all week in the city commuting coupled with a longer run today has seen the mpg at an indicated 38mpg, just filled her to the brim and will start recording accurately now, but for a car that is supposed to do 46, I am pretty pleased to get 38 in the first week.

Driving is really nice, the auto box is smooth, better in the city to have the ECO option switched off, gives that bit more grunt when pulling out of junctions, out on the road the ECO mode works just fine!  Comfort setting on the steering works just fine in the city, nice and light giving a good "city car" feel.  On the dual carriageways Normal setting is indeed a good compromise and on the twistier stuff I actually really like the additional weight put on in Sports mode, in conjunction with the paddle shift she really does feel like a point and squirt type of car.

Cabin noise is much the same as the i40 and I have to say that despite the harder setup on the suspension, you get less of that wallowing rebound feel amongst the B roads which does actually urge you on a bit, just feels more planted and less vague. 

Lane departure warning system works well, doesn't activate until 37mph, but once activated it surprises you how often in the narrower lanes that you are defined as cutting the corners a wee bit!

Tried the parallel park system a couple of times, surprising how good that is also, activate the system and she searches for a space, I though it would look for a runway sized one, but it surprised me when it accepted one that I knew I could get into with a couple of moves.  Once it accepted it the display tells you to engage reverse.  It then steers itself in with you controlling brake and accelerator, once the sensors reach close to the vehicle behind the display tells you to select drive, then steers more into the space, I thought it would only do that and was waiting to have a laugh at it leaving me at an angle, but no, please engage reverse again, steered itself further in then back into drive and straightened herself out, proper distance from the kerb and straight as you like.  Very very good!

The memory seat function is as I suspected great for two people driving the vehicle, one button push puts the driver seat at the correct height, angle and support, somehow doing that manually always results in either driver never getting it quite right first or indeed second time around.

A definite improvement over the i40 is the wider door at the window base, the elbow can be rested at higher or lower into the door recess and is very comfortable, the i40 at the higher point was somewhat narrow and was awkward for use as a rest.

Downsides

It's a hatchback, we are having summer storms at the moment and I had forgotten how dirty the back window on the i30 got, the Cee'd is the same.  Perhaps time to get a set of mudguards!

Verdict so far 9.9 / 10, reviewers get a bit antsy about the petrol engine not having enough grunt and think the steering modes feel "weird", my impression has always been the Hy/Kia GDi unit is more than capable and if you have never had adjustable steering modes then they might surprise you! 

[Mike SX]

Interesting observational first post - I really fancy that paddle shift and more..... 

[AlanHo]

Excellent report Brian and much appreciated. It is in a way unfortunate that I have been directed away from another i30 or Ceed by the fact that Libby and I have reached a stage where the ability to get in and out of a car easily due to restricted leg strength outweighs most other considerations. The i30 and Ceed are too low.

Our Venga 1.6 petrol is the perfect height for easy entry and it has all the grunt I now need. It has averaged 41.9 mpg in the first 3,400 miles of ownership which is better than I expected..



In a way I envy you the opportunity to enjoy a car as well equipped as your new Ceed - but realistically mine has enough bells and whistles to meet our requirements. We have heated seats, sat nav, reversing sensors & camera, front sensors, powered mirrors, panoramic roof etc which suits us fine.

[bumpkin]

Never pleased with the prep a dealer does to a new vehicle since they only give the prep guys about an hour per vehicle, I had a go at putting my stamp on Neptune this afternoon, a much deeper gloss acquired after a 2 bucket wash with Meguiars Gold Class, dried, Autobrite Direct Cherry Glaze applied, cured and buffed, then Poorboys Natty Blue Paste Wax applied, cured and buffed followed by Poorboys Alloy Wheel Sealant applied, cured and buffed twice.  Luvverly

[AlanHo]

I will be up in Scotland in September - I will drop in and let you give me a demonstration of how to get that level of shine all over my car.

Very impressive.

[bumpkin]

It would be a pleasure Alan, let's see what we can do!

[AlanHo]

We have rented a house south of Dunoon which my sat nav says is 198 miles and 4 hours 10 minutes from Aberdeen. Hence in your new super duper high tech car it should be relatively easy for you to get there and back in a day.

[bumpkin]

  

Yeah, there and back, difficult to do any work in between though!

[Dazzler]

Your car looks amazing Brian! 

[Doggie 1]

Wow, that looks awesome, Brian. Great job. 

[bumpkin]

Just filled up the Cee'd this morning.

Over the last week I have driven an indicated 346 miles at an indicated average speed of 43mph and this has given an indicated 39.3mpg and a calculated 37.4mpg (assuming the indicated mileage driven is correct).  The roads were all twisty and hilly so lots of slowing and accelerating which the auto box coped well with.  We were also fully loaded for the journey North and the journey home, 3 adults, 1 child, 3 suitcases, 2 large cool bags full of food and various other bags with toys and games for the little one, so I am extremely pleased, looking forward to getting close to 50mpg when I go to England later this year!

With the petrol 1.6 there is the ECO mode button which I have observed reduces the rpm when the car changes gear by 1000rpm, with it off gear change up occurs at approx 4000 rpm and when on it changes at 3000 rpm.  This is overridden by kick down where it seems to automatically give a non ECO "boost" and will not change to the next gear until 4000, then settle back to changing at 3000.

It is interesting having not had an auto before, feeling it change down as speed drops on inclines, whereas in a manual you would just try and combat the drop by pushing the loud pedal or accept the slight drop in the knowledge that you would speed up again on the flat.

Also very happy with the handling when fully loaded, very impressive!


EDIT : I said previously that I thought ECO mode was better switched off in town, now that the car has done it's first 500 miles I would retract that statement, it feels more settled and willing to work in ECO mode for all types of normal driving, switch it off and go for paddle shift and sports steering for a more spirited blast 

[Dazzler]

Sounds good Brian! 

[Doggie 1]

Sounds good Brian! 

Then give him a  you miserable bugger.   

[Dazzler]

Sounds good Brian! 

Then give him a  you miserable bugger.   

Why would I thank 'im? We don't even get that model over here!

[Shambles]

[The Gonz]

Which raises a good point. We have Thank Yous but not Likes. The AussieFrogs forum has Likes so I believe it's possible.

[Surferdude]

You want us to be like facebook????

[Phil №❶]

No thanks 

[bumpkin]

Really???  You moved to Tasmania then Steve?

[bumpkin]

Gorgeous weather in the UK at the moment, hasn't dropped below 22C during the day in Aberdeen all week, a great opportunity to continue getting the Cee'd to my level of external detail today, so I took it.  Detailed body with Autobrite Direct Cherry Glaze, topped off with Autoglym High Gloss Protection, wheels with Poorboys Alloy Wheel Sealant, windows cleaned internally and externally with Astonish Glass Clean, externally applied Nano beading solution to all windows, sunroof and light lenses, chrome cleaned with Simoniz Chrome cleaner.

[Dazzler]

Very nice, but I'd be broke and need a bigger cupboard in my garage if I used all those! 

[bumpkin]

Tis but a small selection of products from my chest of goodies!

[The Gonz]

Results speak for themselves!

[Surferdude]

And then you park it outside? 

[bumpkin]

And then you park it outside? 

Where else would it be?   

[Surferdude]

We have garages for our cars.
Only the visitors stay outside.

[The Gonz]

 
The difference between island and island continent.

[Surferdude]

The difference between island and island continent.

Yeah. I know. I've been there.
But my son lives in Canada and they leave their cars out in the driveway in front of the double garage. 

[The Gonz]

The difference between island and island continent.

Yeah. I know. I've been there.
But my son lives in Canada and they leave their cars out in the driveway in front of the double garage.