The stylish, sporty and dynamic three-door pro_cee’d is built at Kia’s state-of-the-art factory at Zilina in Slovakia alongside the cee’d five-door family hatchback, the stylish cee’d SW estate and the Sportage compact SUV - recently transferred from Korea. Like them, it benefits from Kia’s unique, industry-best seven-year, 100,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty.
- Kia - The Power to Surprise
- A first for Kia: the cee’d SW
- The Kia cee’d SW - frequently asked questions
- pro_cee’d - the third cee’d variant
- The Kia pro_cee’d - frequently asked questions
pro_cee’d remains faithful to the concept car of the same name that Kia exhibited at the Paris Motor Show in 2006. Unlike the three-door cars from the majority of rival manufacturers, it is a unique sporty model in its own right - longer, lower and lighter than the five-door cee’d. Only the bonnet and front wings are transferable between the two. A long, 2650mm wheelbase is common to all cee’d body styles, but the overall length of pro_cee’d is 15mm greater (12mm at the front; 3mm at the rear) than the five-door.
pro_cee’d - frequently asked questions
Combined with a 30mm reduction in overall height, it gives pro_cee’d an elongated low, coupe-like stance, an impression reinforced by the 245mm longer side doors compared with the five-door cee’d, and the subtly sporty rooftop spoiler.
pro_cee’d will attract fashionable but value-conscious customers who have never previously even considered a Kia - and they won’t be disappointed. The practical, commonsense values that have always been part of Kia’s DNA have not been abandoned. The key differences inside pro_cee’d are a lower roofline and larger side doors, plus a rear seat that has been totally redesigned to enhance usability with the three-door body.
Ingenuity as standard
The shallower windscreen, lower roof lining, big side doors and slimmer glasshouse give pro_cee’d a sporty, cockpit-like feel that seems more driver-focused. The lower roofline marginally reduces headroom compared with the five-door car, but it remains very competitive with similar models from rival manufacturers.
To boost practicality and make it easy for owners to enlarge the luggage area despite the absence of rear side doors, Kia engineers have restyled the rear seat, which now has a fixed cushion in place of the forward-folding split system in cee’d. The 60:40 spilt rear backrest has been re-engineered so that it is easy to release and simply folds down onto the cushion, with no need to first remove the headrests. The resulting load floor extension is step-less.
Access to the rear is aided by front doors which open in three stages to a maximum width of 70-degrees and new front seats with a top-mounted handle which can be used to tilt the backrest. As it does so, the whole seat also slides forward in one smooth, continuous movement. A memory function ensures the seat reclines to the exact position it was in previously.
Kia plans a seven-model pro_cee’d line-up based on five engines and three trim levels that will ensure 70 percent engine coverage of the UL three-door C-segment market.
Competitive power range
With 1.4- and 1.6-litre petrol engines, two 1.6-litre diesels and a 2.0-litre diesel, and the availability of manual and automatic gearboxes in the range, pro_cee’d offers something for everyone.
The 1.6-litre diesel engines are the CRDi units introduced in December 2006 for the cee’d hatchback. They were designed and engineered in Europe, and are offered in two states of tune. All pro_cee’d engines are Euro-4 compliant.
At public launch on February 1, buyers will be able to select from the two 1.6 diesels, Kia’s advanced 1.6-litre petrol engine and the Korean-built torquey and smooth 2.0-litre turbodiesel. A 1.4-litre petrol engine - a smaller version of the 1.6 - will become available a short time afterwards. A four-speed automatic gearbox is an option with the 1.6-litre petrol.
Comprehensive safety
Like the five-door cee’d hatchback, pro_cee’d has the comparative rarity in this class of independent front and rear suspension, to the benefit of ride and handling, and is available with the latest electronic braking aids to protect and assist owners in the most arduous weather conditions and potentially dangerous manoeuvres.
It also has the same dynamic responses that allow drivers to accelerate, steer or brake away from potentially hazardous situations; offers the most up-to-date active safety features that prevent the car from going out of control in the most extreme manoeuvres; and if the worst comes to the worst, has a rigid body shell that deforms progressively plus a battery of passive safety aids to reduce the risk of injury.
During 2007, Kia’s five-door cee’d received the top five star NCAP rating which points to a positive result from pro_cee’d once officially tested.
Three trim levels
There will be no price differentiation between the three-door pro_cee’d and five-door cee’d, contrary to the course taken by the majority of rivals for whom three-door cars are often seen as poor relations. However, pro_cee’d will feature additional equipment over the equivalent five-door model.
Air conditioning and alloy wheels are standard on every pro_cee’d, while a sports equipment pack is fitted to the two upper model series.
There will be no entry-level S specification as in cee’d. pro_cee’d will be offered with just the three upper trim grades, equivalent to GS, LS and a new Sport version that Kia will introduce to the five-door cee’d shortly after the pro_cee’d launch. To reflect the latest nomenclature trends introduced on the revised Picanto and within the industry, three-door models will adopt pro_cee’d 2, pro_cee’d 3 and pro_cee’d Sport badges.
Equipment levels are generous, even on pro_cee’d 2 versions - and that is before you take into account its value-for-money pricing and industry-best seven-year warranty. Move up to the pro_cee’d 3 or pro_cee’d Sport and the list of standard items is nothing short of lavish.
Kia pro_cee’d road test on RoadTestReports.co.uk
The pro_cee’d undercuts the vehicles it is now in competition with quite substantially, although the residual values of the pro_cee’d may not be quite as certain as those of the Golf for example, the up front costs are a lot less! Running costs should also mirror this and the seven year warranty is always a key selling point for Kia….
Kia pro_cee’d 1.6-litre full road test report
