On paper, the Kia Niro is a tempting proposition.
Here’s a crossover with space for the family and their luggage, but with the attractive running costs of a hybrid and low tax bills to match. It even squares up well on looks and Kia’s seven-year warranty further sweetens the deal.
But on-paper enchantment isn't like real life, and over eight months and more than 6800 miles, we?Ve found Kia?S first dedicated hybrid to be something of a combined bag. And, as Frank Sinatra as soon as sang, I?Ve discovered some things that best time can train.
Where the Kia sincerely observed its footing was in the course of my weekday go back and forth, seven gnarly miles alongside a mix of tight urban streets and twin carriageways, with the top speed of 50mph on a clean run. Here, the Niro could use its electric powered energy in forestall-begin site visitors, minimising the gasoline intake. Or that?S the principle: in the real global, disappointingly, my average hovered around forty five-46mpg.
Even while we drove as cautiously as we ought to, we have been not able to get near Kia?S claimed gasoline financial system figure of sixty four.2mpg (mixed). In truth, the first-class we noticed became fifty one.9mpg.
We travelled a long way and wide inside the Niro, too, from my home county of Northamptonshire to the Lake District and into mainland Europe. That gave us plenty of time to assess how it executed on motorways. There was sufficient overall performance from the 1.6-litre petrol engine to get you up to speed, but the vehicle turned into a long way from quiet in terms of wind and street noise. When I used the cruise manage, the Niro oscillated both side of the pre-set velocity instead of retaining a steady speed.
There have been things we preferred, though. Executive editor Matt Burt changed into impressed through how the Niro dealt with united states lanes, in which at slower speeds the hybrid system could merrily flit between its petrol and electric energy assets.
It’s also worth noting that the Niro’s interior, despite not offering the same quality you’d find in rivals such as the Volkswagen Tiguan, was comfortable. The seats were supportive, and when I filled the rear bench with friends, there weren’t any complaints about leg or head room. I was grateful for our car’s heated seats and heated steering wheel during the cold winter months, too.
The Niro was ninety% of the way toward being a very good vehicle to live with, but it become the final 10% of the enjoy, which manifested itself in small niggles and issues, that could put me off buying this model. A bit extra engagement inside the ordinary riding experience, a extra linear throttle response, better great inside and an boom in fuel financial system, and this version may be extra appealing.
I say ?This model?, due to the fact I wouldn?T rule out the Niro completely. Plug-in hybrid and pure-electric versions are at the manner. As a plug-in hybrid, I reckon the Niro would be a far more performed automobile. It could be a crossover that would cover my short go back and forth on electric electricity on my own and still offer a terrific driving variety for weekend trips. If you?Ll permit me to return to Ol? Blue Eyes, the nice is (in all likelihood) but to come. DM
LIKE IT: SPACE - Swallowed airport luggage and extra passengers conveniently. GEARBOX - Six-velocity automobile is a whole lot better than the CVTs we?Re used to in hybrids.
LOATHE IT: INTERIOR QUALITY - Cabin is snug however there are too many tough plastics on show. DRIVING EXPERIENCE - From dead steering to a non-linear throttle, there?S little engagement. FUEL ECONOMY - Despite our fine efforts, the Niro isn?T as gas efficient because it must be.
PREVIOUS REPORTS:
When confronted with every week?S holiday with my parents in the rural Lake District, preferably I could have sought out a rugged diesel SUV in place of the Niro, that is defined through its maker as an ?Urban crossover hybrid?.
In truth, the Niro became a certified success on our experience. As I located with the Toyota Auris Hybrid I once ran, lengthy toll road journeys at a regular cruising pace don?T surely offer a danger for the electrical motor to install so that you grow to be lugging round heavy batteries which are in large part redundant.
In the Lakes, although, the Niro turned into greater gifted. I quickly realised that, in a few methods, Lakeland roads aren?T too multiple from urban areas: your average velocity within reason slow because space is tight and there?S plenty of braking, preventing and pulling away. Those elements play to the strengths of the Niro?S hybrid powertrain.
Then there are the steep hills,which give opportunities for the regenerative braking machine to recharge the battery on the declines however also spotlight a scarcity of useful torque, as a minimum while the Niro is inside the default Eco riding mode. Given how we?Re regularly informed that a benefit of an electric motor is immediately torque from 0 revs, it?S disappointing there isn?T extra low-quit punch whilst it is needed maximum.
My brim-to-brim gas calculations for our 424-mile week recommended the Niro again 48.8mpg; no longer too horrific, however not notably extra than a cautious motive force ought to assume to achieve from a preferred diesel-engined vehicle.
KIA NIRO 1.6 GDI HEV three DCT
Price £24,695 Price as tested £25,240 Economy 45.6mpg Faults Battery drained Expenses None Mileage 4968
PREVIOUS REPORTS:
Okay, so a small hybrid crossover probably wasn?T the perfect automobile to scrounge for my week off.
Let me explain: I’d set myself the rather ambitious task of building a brick wall in my garden for a new greenhouse to sit on. The job involved carting many, many bags of sand and cement from a DIY store back to my gaff. Custodian Darren Moss kindly offered the Niro’s services and, well, it was that, a Morgan 3 Wheeler or a Renault Twizy. Easy decision.
Anyway, each bag weighed 25kg, so after some quick back-of-a-fag-packet calculations, I worked out that I could legally carry 13 bags at once. To put that in some sort of context, our Audi SQ7 long-term test car could have managed 31 bags, and even our 1.0-litre Volkswagen Golf would have taken 17. That was the difference between one, two or three round trips for me, so clearly the Niro isn’t the ideal choice if you’re planning lots of home improvements. In fact, even carrying four well-fed passengers could easily tip the Niro over its maximum gross weight limit.
But the Niro?S boot is certainly sensible in other methods. Lifting heavy matters inside and outside is simple due to the fact there?S no large lip at the entrance, and the boot ground is (for me, as a minimum) roughly at waist peak. Fold down the rear seatbacks and they lie parallel with the ground with out leaving any anxious steps or crevices, so that you can surely slide matters while not having to manoeuvre over barriers.
In other respects, the Niro is a better car than I’d been led to expect, too. Kia finally seems to be making some progress improving the weighting and positivity of the controls. The steering is a long way from perfect, but it’s a noticeable step forward compared with the gloopy and imprecise racks on, say, theCee’d or Sportage. And despite all the weight I was dragging around, the Niro still averaged a very creditable 47mpg over the course of my week off. WN
KIA NIRO 1.6 GDI HEV three DCT
Price £24,695 Price as tested £25,240 Economy 45.6mpg Faults Battery drained Expenses None Mileage 3012
PREVIOUS REPORTS:
The Niro has been put through our True MPG test, which is much more accurate than the trip computer’s readout. The result suggests that 50.1mpg is achievable. That’s some way adrift of the 64.2mpg Kia claims for the hybrid. Mind you, the rival Toyota Prius fares worse, recording a 50.5mpg True MPG figure compared with a claimed 85.6mpg. DM
KIA NIRO 1.6 GDI HEV three DCT
Price £24,695 Price as tested £25,240 Economy 45.6mpg Faults Battery drained Expenses None Mileage 2705
PREVIOUS REPORTS:
Kia claims the petrol-electric Niro hybrid can achieve combined fuel economy of 64.2mpg.
I devised a fundamental test to peer what the car is able to inside the actual international. I planned to drive 100 miles from my home in Sunbury-on-Thames to go to my dad and mom in Northamptonshire, a adventure that consists of motorways, dual carriageways and urban roads.
On the outward leg I?D use some ?Hypermiling? Driving strategies in a bid to tease out the fuel economy, but for the go back leg, I?D pressure the Niro in a extra carefree fashion.
Autocar’s resident eco-driving obsessive offered advice, namely to anticipate the road ahead, avoid sudden acceleration or deceleration and stick to electric power at lower speeds. I also travelled at night when there was less traffic.
I measured the fuel economy on the trip pc. It isn?T always the remaining phrase in accuracy, but it gave me a contrast. The result become a disappointing 48.5mpg for the outward leg and forty five.0mpg for the go back experience. A fluke, perhaps? To discover, we?Re placing a Niro through our greater thorough True MPG take a look at. Stand with the aid of for the consequences.
PREVIOUS REPORTS
Battery problems
Photoshoots are part and parcel of being on our fleet. Our automobiles are shot in detail after they first arrive and once more earlier than they depart, and it?S a hazard for us to catalogue the entirety approximately our new vehicle.
For the Kia Niro, we decided to do part of the shoot outside, around our offices near Twickenham. But for the ‘detail’ pictures we moved to the security and warmth of our studio, where the car sat with its lights on and the ignition off for perhaps half an hour. And in the process we managed to completely flatten the 12V battery and leave the car stranded.
I received a call from snapper Will Williams, initially to say that, having finished with the car, it was showing a brake error message and wouldn’t start – and therefore couldn’t be moved. After giving the Niro some time to ‘reset’ itself, Will called back to say he’d managed to roll it out of the studio, but the interior lights and other electrics were playing up; even the door locks wouldn’t work. Before long, the car was completely dead, and no one was quite sure whether trying to jump start a hybrid was a good idea.
A name to Kia led to our Niro being towed away through the RAC to be identified professionally. The rationalization we received from Kia later that day showed a drained 12V battery, which was duly recharged. Kia?S diagnostics system revealed no further issues.
Now that we’ve got the car back, I’m slowly learning to adapt to running a hybrid car: how to use the regenerative brakes to pump friction energy back into the battery, and learning where the acceleration cut-off between fully electric and electric/petrol engine power lies.
We?Re nonetheless running on our gasoline economy, even though, due to the fact the 45.6mpg we?Re seeing for the time being isn?T particularly astounding. We?Ll see if multiple motorway runs to look own family and buddies within the following couple of weeks can enhance that wide variety, and I?Ll be taking a leaf out of resident frugal riding professional Tim Dickson?S massive ebook of hyper-miling recommendations to find out what?S conceivable.
KIA NIRO 1.6 GDI HEV three DCT
Price ?24,695 Price as tested ?25,240 Economy 45.6mpg Faults Battery tired Expenses None
Read our first document of the Kia Niro here
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