Kia Ceed GT

Has our new arrival got all the ingredients to continue Kia’s good form?

IT USED TO BE SO EASY. INTRODUCING something new and Korean would virtually write itself. ‘Amazing how far they’ve come,’ we’d say. ‘Great value compared to the competition.’ Or maybe ‘better than its predecessor in every way’.

A note of reservation? Damning with faint praise, perhaps? Well there’ll be none of that this time around. Today, cars such as the Kia Ceed GT arrive at evo with the weight of expectation on their shoulders. We know what Kia and Hyundai are now capable of: we’ve rated cars such as the former’s Stinger GT S and the latter’s i30 N among the best of their peers.

So there’s no more making excuses on the basis of value, or resorting to wonderment at incremental improvements. While we’re aware the new Ceed GT isn’t a full-scale assault on the hot hatchback market – that’s still the i30 N’s job – it needs to deliver the same qualities as other Gti-level cars in this segment: Golfs, Méganes and the like.

Ideally it needs to deliver more. A few years ago even the old Proceed GT – this Ceed GT’S predecessor – was well-rounded enough to see off a Focus ST in a hot-hatch group test (issue 207).

We ran a couple of Proceeds as long-termers, too, but found them lacking in just a few areas, most notably outright performance and the all-important element of character.

It must be said, this latest addition to the Fast Fleet is off to a fairly good start on most counts. A basic price of £25,850 gets you the five-door hatchback, and you’ll pay no extra for Track Red paintwork, which is the only interesting shade currently available. The result is quite handsome, if not as striking as our old yellow Proceed (the latest Proceed, incidentally, has become a kind of shooting brake/five-door coupe combo). The interior is similarly neat, with clear instruments, supportive and comfortable leather and faux suede seats, and what seems on early inspection to be a high standard of build quality.

The underpinnings are solid, too. Like the old GT, the latest car uses just a 1.6-litre turbocharged engine, but despite an identical 201bhp output it feels much stronger – the 0-62mph figure that’s just a tenth quicker at 7.2sec doesn’t tell the full story. Meanwhile, a Sport mode sharpens things up and adds extra parp to the soundtrack in the cabin.

The Ceed is one of a handful of cars in the hatchback class to get a multi-link rear end as standard – a sign Kia cares about engineering as much as cost. And in addition to firmer suspension, GTS ride on 18-inch alloy wheels wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tyres – yet another good sign.

While the end result is unlikely to prove as entertaining as our old i30 N hatchback, or our current i30 N Fastback for that matter, the sheer level of competence here is already impressive. Not just day-to-day niceties such as a completely logical infotainment system either, but also important evo characteristics such as steering precision, body control and performance. Time will tell whether it also manages to get under our skin.

Date acquired April 2019 Total mileage 2732 Mileage this month 566 Costs this month £0 mpg this month 39.2

‘The Ceed GT arrives at evo with the weight of expectation on its shoulders’