There are just two common body panels between the three and five-door Cee’d models: the bonnet and front wings. Everything else is new.
With a lower roofline and slimmer glasshouse, the Pro_cee’d has a noticeably sleeker profile, which if nothing else gives a clear differentiation between it and the regular hatch. It’s a visual trick helped by redesigned bumpers units, both front and rear, adding 15mm to the overall length.
Like most of its competitors, the Cee’d has lost weight in its conversion to three doors, but while the Focus and Astra benefit to the tune of 20kg, the Kia sheds a more meaningful 84kg, good for both economy and performance.
Although the exterior looks different, the Pro_cee’d is much more familiar beneath, sharing its drivetrain, suspension geometry and, despite the extra length, wheelbase with other Cee’d variants.
The standout point worth recapping is the presence of independent rear suspension. Although the suspension architecture is the same, Kia has strived to give the Pro_cee’d a keener drive, thickening the anti-roll bar and, on models fitted with 17-inch wheels, uprating the dampers. Similarly, the electric power-assisted steering has been reprogrammed to give more feel and quicker response.
Engines choices are 104bhp 1.4-litre or 124bhp 1.6-litre petrols, a 1.6-litre diesel with either 89bhp or 113bhp, and a range-topping 2.0-litre oil-burner with 113bhp. The three trim levels are 2, 3 and Sport – Kia predicts the 113bhp 1.6 diesel in Spec 3 will take most sales and it’s the car tested here.