Whoever says, but still Koreans are an amazing people. There is a feeling that this nation, like plasticine, can take almost any shape and adapt to completely any situations. You need only a form, an idea or a clearly marked goal. Just compare — South and North Korea. Initially, it was one people, but history ordered to divide it into two radically opposite social systems. The whim of fate has become one of the most cruel, but also the most obvious examples that make it possible to understand how strong and unusual this people. While North Korea demonstrates terrible examples of human survivability in conditions of total economic isolation and all -consuming ideological war, the example of South Korea shows how much can be achieved by approaching Asian flexibility and fanaticism.
Although sometimes this nation is inclined to hypertrophy of ideas, bringing them to the point of absurdity — this is their award and punishment at the same time. While the North Korean leaders, imitating the worst examples of Soviet totalitarianism, managed to enclose the entire perimeter of the country (including even sea beaches) with a five -meter high -expanded barbed wire, the South Koreans erected a western culture, taking the European type of success and beauty as a standard. Every year, hundreds of thousands of South Korean girls and men spend on operations to change the eye cut and whitening cosmetics for the skin, and South Korean companies produce remarks of European goods.
In principle, knowing this feature of the South Koreans, it becomes completely clear why the world-famous South Korean brand Kia invited the chief designer of the famous German designer Peter Schreyer to the post of chief designer. Perhaps many of you are familiar with the name of this person. Sketches of cars such as Audi TT, VW New Beetle, Passat B5, or VW Golf 5 Generations got out of the pen of this talented artist. These cars determined the appearance of the whole era of the European automotive industry. Now Schreyer, like an experienced plastic surgeon, changes the appearance of the Korean auto industry.
Although, on the other hand, the arrival of a German designer in Kia was due to a completely rational reason — the company headed for the conquest of Western markets. And who, if not Schreyer, knows what the picky Europeans want.
So the hero of our test, the new Kia Ceed, was created in the vein of traditionally European automobile design, being a kind of a symbol of an updated form of a brand. This thought is laid down in the very name of the model — “CEED”, which is the abbreviation of the words Community of Europe and European Design (European Community and European Design).
Despite the fact that Schreyer created this car in the vein of a new, as it seemed to him, completely Asian visual concept of the “muzzle of the Tiger”, the car looks completely European. The ideal proportional balance of the weighty bow, a large radiator grill, elegant consoles of the head optics and smooth lines of the wedge -shaped body of the machine are created in the trend of the latest trends in European design. Asian cars have more sharp features. Remember the “slaughter of a smile” Mazda 3 and compare it with a predatory squint of Ford Focus or Opel Astra, and you will immediately understand what is being discussed.
By the way, the shape of the five -door Kia Ced body is very close to the proportions of the German hatchback from Opel. It is good or bad, but the fact remains — many automobile experts focus on this nuance. Although, by and large, with the same success, you can compare any representatives of European hatches of class “C” — occupying one niche, the exterior of these machines should be like each other.
If the hallmark of the Focus card is a complex backlight of the dashboard, Opel Astra selects the star scattering of the keys on the dashboard, then its multifunctional multi -function and meticulous pedantry of the ergonomics of the governing organs are the main “chip” of CEED.
Sitting in the chair of the Ced pilot, you immediately understand how much attention the Koreans paid these nuances. The clarity of reading of the keys and the availability of functions is the feature that determines the quality of the car more than even the materials and assembly of the salon. Although with this CEED is all right. Moreover, Kia is proud of the salon of the new CEED, considering it one of the main achievements in the development of this model.
Indeed, comparing the CEED materials with classmates, I can say that the dashboard, torpedo, armchairs and “manipulators” (such as the automatic transmission, the keys on the steering wheel and panels) of this car are made significantly more qualitative than most of the French models “C” and nothing in anything Not inferior to German. There is a feeling that manufacturers tried to give the salon of this machine the appearance of a representative of a more expensive class. By the way, which is also not typical of the representative of the Middle Class layer, even in the basic configuration of CEED has six airbags.
Another interesting detail — the equipment of our test CEED included a panoramic roof, the glazing area of which occupied almost the entire car ceiling. I saw something similar only in the expensive premium segment machines, for example, in Range Rover Evoque or Audi A5 S-Line.
As for the purely utilitarian capabilities of the CEED salon, they correspond to the class, but do not stand out in anything supernatural. Having set the front seat, I easily sit down «behind me», having a good supply of space from knees to the back of the front seat. Convenient, although «falling apart» will not work. A rather spacious and functional trunk in a standard position holds about 350 liters of cargo (from 340 to 380 liters.), and by folding the rear seats can be increased to 1318 liters of useful volume.
In general, the interior leaves an interesting impression: on the one hand, it is still a budget car — which is indicated by the materials and range of seats adjustment, a fairly simple multimedia system and the ease of the lightness of the doors. But on the other hand, few classmates boast of a panoramic roof glazing, the possibility of choosing a steering mode (“Comfort”, “Normal” and “Sport”) or the key of automatic parking assistant.
However, the latest functions are more likely to be the running functionality of the machine and require «checking».
So, we start a car, select the position of the automatic transmission lever and touch.
What do you pay attention to first of all — Ceed reacts to the gas pedal quickly enough, a little sharper than the “Germans” similar in volume, and much faster than his classmate from Ford. It’s all about electronics parameters. Due to the filigree settings of the fuel card and the gas distribution system, the Koreans managed, preserving the high class of environmental safety, getting rid of the main scourge of the electronic pedal — delayed reaction at the start.
This is a pleasant trifle, but at the same time with good sensitivity, the car is still quite calm — the “top” gasoline engine with a volume of 1, 6 liters gives about 130 liters. With. and 157 n • m Twisting. For a car weighing 1200 kg, this is a little. This ratio of values gives acceleration to the first hundred within 12 seconds. About the same, maybe a little slower, the unloaded station wagon Lada Largus accelerates. For comparison, having similar characteristics, the last generation Honda Civic “makes a hundred” in about 9 seconds.
If you look at this nuance in terms of utilitarian functionality, CEED is reasonably configured — such a dynamics can significantly save gasoline. In urban mode, he «eats» about 8-8, 5 liters per hundred. According to this indicator, the Korean surpasses its competitors by fifteen, or even twenty percent. And on the highway and even more so — the consumption of 5 liters per 100 km of path is indicators of a hybrid or low -power low -profile, although neither the same option, unlike the new CEED, boasts a maximum speed of 195 km/h.
As for the suspension, the new CEED exceeds its predecessor, other Koreans (for example, Elantra or Solaris) and even Germans (comparing with Astra). The fact is that KIA decided not to save and equipped the rear axle of the car with a full multi -link suspension, while the overwhelming number of «Odnoklassniki» are forced to be content with a «beam». But this does not mean that CEED has become tough. Rather, on the contrary, the new generation of this model goes much softer and quieter of its predecessor. Plus, as we have already mentioned, the car has three stiffness modes of the steering wheel — “normal”, “comfort” and “sport”. For my taste, “comfort” is empty — too monotonous, cotton softness of the steering wheel almost completely smooths out feedback, which does not allow you to feel the way. Another thing, in the «sport» mode — the steering wheel is pleasant to the fabric, accurate and tie. If you like to “understand” the road, and not just go, I advise you to choose exactly this position.
Summarizing the impressions of the appearance, equipment, speakers and habits of the suspension, we can say with confidence that we have one of the most successful cars of our price segment. For example, “automatic” CEED, with a volume of 1, 6 liters, is accelerated noticeably faster than the “armed” Ford Focus on a manual gearbox, despite the fact that its suspension is not inferior to the best German representatives of the “C” class. There are a lot of dositeal capabilities, flexibility of sets and an acceptable price — all this suggests that the new CEED must repeat if you do not surpass the sales indicators of its predecessor. After all, the former Ceed has repeatedly set sales records, becoming the best -selling foreign machine in our country.