Kia Ceed review

If you avoid the GT-Line S trim, even tall people will be able to get comfortable in the front of the Ceed, thanks to seats that go back a long way, good head room and plenty of room in the footwell. As we mentioned before, that trim has an electric driver’s seat that doesn't lower as much as the manually adjustable seats, reducing head room a little.

Elsewhere, the door bins are a reasonable size, plus there’s storage under the front armrest, a couple of cupholders and useful cubbies for wallets and phones.

GT-Line S trim has a sunroof that contributes to the lower slightly head room, but the rest of the range provides enough for a couple of six-footers in the back. Leg room is merely average, though, and it's tighter than in rivals including the Ford Focus, Skoda Octavia and Skoda Scala.

The rear bench is well shaped and comfortable, and the floor is almost flat (there’s a very small central floor tunnel), making life sweeter for someone in the middle seat than in most rivals. Rear storage is limited with small door bins, but access to the back is good because of the decent-sized door openings.

The Ceed has 60/40 split-folding rear seatbacks as standard (the Kia Ceed Sportswagon version gets the more practical 40/20/40 seats) but that’s about it. If you’re hoping for a sliding and reclining rear bench or a fold-flat passenger seat –which some versions of the Skoda Octavia get to help you load really long items – you won’t find them here.

Front passenger seat height adjustment is standard on all models except entry-level 2 trim. Passenger lumbar adjustment is added on 3 trim, but only the driver gets electric seat movement.

The Kia Ceed's boot has a reasonably low loading lip, is impressively deep and is a usefully uniform shape. It offers 395 litres of space (a little more than you'll find in the VW Golf and Ford Focus), which is enough for five carry-on suitcases under the parcel shelf. That's good, but no match for the Skoda Octavia and Scala, which can swallow 11 and seven cases respectively. 

The Ceed comes with a useful height-adjustable boot floor as standard on all models. With the rear seats folded, you get a smooth and mostly flat extended load bay right up to the back of its front seats.