Kia ProCeed – warehouse on wheels

THE options list was the longest, most comprehensive and varied I have seen for any car – and all of it obligatory.

Designer clothing, pots and pans, lamps, jackets, waste paper bins, suitcases, electric kettle, toaster, 10 pairs of shoes, fairy lights, hair dryers, tinned food, upopened cereal boxes, a mountain of cosmetics plus associated products – and a half empty bottle of tequila.

That little lot barely scratched the surface of the precious possessions or rubbish tip – depending on your perception of the situation – that needed removing from the university accommodation by close of play. In other words two journeys was out of the question.

The Kia ProCeed, the shooting brake variant of the Korean company’s popular Ceed range, is one of the most stylish-looking cars on the road with its elegantly svelte profile.

Thankfully it’s also more than just a head-turner, because it may not have the design of a traditional load-lugger but can still shift more clobber than many estate models, including those from a more premium category.

To be fair, we very nearly didn’t manage to squeeze everything in – rear vision was restricted to the wing mirrors and my wife had a bulging washing basket on her knee throughout the 80-mile drive.

But it certainly helps when there’s so much usable space – 594-litres including an underfloor storage area – along with a low ride height and no boot lip to make loading easier.

Take the university trip out of the equation and the car’s soft-touch surfaces, upmarket quality of the fittings and feel of the seats ensure the ProCeed’s cabin is a welcoming environment for its passengers.

There’s plenty of comfort and convenience tech too, the centrepiece of which is a ‘floating’ 10.25-inch touchscreen with Bluetooth multi-connection – so you can connect two mobiles at once – plus Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

Its split screen enables different elements to be shown at the same time, so the driver can follow the sat nav while passengers select tunes or check the weather forecast.

You also get Kia Live services for travel info or parking while standard kit includes the likes of auto headlights, heated front seats, smart entry, front wiper de-icer, reversing camera, rear parking sensors and a heated steering wheel.

The ProCeed features a 1.5-litre petrol engine producing 158bhp and is capable of hitting 62mph from standstill in 8.6 seconds via a six-speed manual gearbox.

Considering those racy looks the Kia’s performance doesn’t feel especially spirited, though certainly adequate for most everyday conditions, though the driving experience is both solid and well balanced.

We managed to return an average 42.2 miles per gallon over 380 miles of varied driving, including 250 miles of motorway work, which compares well with the official Combined figure of 48.7mpg.

Take into account Kia’s transferable warranty of seven years/100,000 miles, the car’s suite of safety features plus the level of standard equipment included and at £25,840 the ProCeed GT-Line represents genuine value for money.

It’s a smart alternative to a traditional hatchback, is beautifully engineered and is testament to the giant strides Kia continues to take with its products.