Shropshire Star

Long-term report: Sensible or stylish? Our Kia Ceed Sportswagon meets its sleek new stablemate

Ted Welford finds the new sporty-looking Proceed is a rather different character to our long-term Kia Ceed Sportswagon

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Up until now, if you wanted a practical version of Kia’s Ceed, you had just one option – the traditional estate version known as the Sportswagon, or SW.

Our Ceed SW has proven to be an impressive all-rounder during its time on our fleet so far. The 1.6-litre diesel model has proven to be hugely capable, with its practicality, raft of standard equipment and quality efficiency. Not to mention its 600-litre boot being incredibly useful.

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But one thing it’s always lacked is excitement. Our test car is about as sensible as they come – not least because the spec is hardly inspiring. Black paint with grey wheels and a dark grey interior is hardly going to get the heart racing. This is no fault of the car, though, as I’d much rather have a no-nonsense car that sacrifices some fun for genuine usability – particularly for the cross-country jaunts I seem to spend half my life doing.

But what if you did want a more practical Ceed that is a bit more ‘emotional’, as Kia’s marketing folk would say?

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Step forward Kia’s stylish Proceed that’s offering buyers a different take on the estate formula. Previously a three-door hatchback known as the pro_cee’d (yes, that really was the punctuation Kia used) it’s now been rebranded as a stylish shooting brake-esque estate, because buyers just don’t want three-door cars these days, says Kia.

I drove the new comma- and underscore-less model in Spain back in January, and was impressed, but this was my first chance to try the Proceed on UK roads, and decided to put it head-to-head with our Ceed Sportswagon.

Side-by-side, both are instantly recognisable as Kias, with the trademark ‘tiger-nose’ grille appearing on both. Head on, the Proceed is instantly much sportier, but it’s as you head towards the rear of the car where the two cars start to look markedly different. The Proceed’s swooping roofline tails off much sooner than our SW’s, while the rear windscreen on the estate is quite flat, the Proceeds slopes down to its fantastic full-width LED rear lights (perhaps my favourite feature on it).

But what you can’t lose sight of is practicality. Yes, the Proceed’s sportier looks mean it’s never going to be as spacious, but it really is quite flawed next to the SW, which easily feels spacious enough to rival models that are far more expensive.

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For one, our Proceed was in GT-Line S trim, which comes as standard with a panoramic sunroof. A nice touch, but one that eats into headroom for passengers. I’m barely six-foot, but even in the lowest seating position, my head felt overly close to the roof lining. Any rear passenger I carried in the rear seats also moaned of a lack of head space – not good for a potential family car.

And then there’s the boot space. While the claimed boot capacities are ridiculously close (the Proceed just six litres off the SW’s 600 litres) it’s the shape that is often more important. The sloping roofline renders the first section of the Proceed’s boot so shallow that it borders on being unusable, while the clunky storage system does nothing more than get in the way – although, it can be removed for more flexibility. You have none of these gripes on our trusty LD68 HKN.

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While Kia likes to label the Proceed as a more dynamic model, there isn’t as much between them behind the wheel as you might think. The Proceed definitely feels that bit more agile, more composed in the corners and it offers a bit more in the way of feedback than the SW, but they are surprisingly close.

The ride is also that bit firmer in the Proceed – not helped by the 18-inch alloy wheels with low profile tyres, next to our Ceed’s more sensible 17s. I was impressed with the seven-speed gearbox in the Proceed, though, with the dual-clutch automatic transmission feeling a better fit to that model’s 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol engine unit than our Estate model’s 1.6-litre diesel engine, which isn’t particularly refined.

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But which would I have? It’s a tough one. I simply adore the way the Proceed looks, and would argue that it’s one of the best-looking ‘normal’ cars you can buy today. It appears others do, too. One passer-by compared it to a Porsche, another an Audi. Strong praise.

However, next to our Ceed SW’s more comfortable ride and uncompromised practicality, I find myself leaning more to the sensible option than the stylish on this occasion.

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