3-Door hatchbacks sales tanked a few years ago, so Kia had to kill the old pro_cee'd (hope I wrote that right). Somebody must have pitched a cool idea, which got approved and now we have a shooting brake, only one of the affordable kind. Good news, right?! But with every reviewer that was invited to the test drive event talking about the €33,000 price tag, we have to wonder if the car is worth it.
People are going to be taken aback by the quality and attention to detail on this beauty, which has some features you expect with a premium car. Obviously, it's not an Audi or a Porsche, but some of the design details do look... German.
This is not a wagon, but a shooting brake, with a sloping roof and a Panamera-like tailgate. Unfortunately, Kia doesn't have a performance brand like Hyundai, so the range tops off with the Proceed GT model, using a carry-over 1.6-liter turbo with 204 HP, but matched to a DCT that previous GT models never offered.
Upon hearing the specs, we suspected that it's just barely fast enough to be exciting, and acceleration tests have arrived to clarify the matter. It was clocked at 0 to 100 km/h in 7.3 seconds (measured, not official). Of course, that's with a bit of help from the launch system, but that's still on par with its rivals.
Well, there aren't any direct ones, but you can get a Megane wagon with a 205 HP 1.6-liter turbo and a very similar Peugeot 308 SW. The Pug is probably a little slower because it has a normal automatic. And if you're going to spend €33,000 on a fast wagon, there's a giant blip on the radar called the Octavia RS. The 245 model is a couple of grand more, but obviously, it all depends on what deals you can find.
From what we understand, fuel economy isn't too bad either. As you'd expect, 1.6 is going to be better than the 2-liter offered by the Skoda. But if you want to know more, we've left a good review of the Proceed GT at the bottom.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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