| First Drive | Liverpool, England | 2010 Kia cee'd range |

You might be asking why we're using up precious Internet space with another report on the new Kia cee'd when we've only just driven it. A reasonable question, but there are three good reasons: firstly, we got the chance to drive it on UK roads, which is always useful because generally the difference between the silky roads in continental Europe and ours is like the difference between a pubescent teenager's forehead and a celebrity's.

Secondly, we've had a go of the revised SW estate variant. And thirdly, most importantly, we've tried Kia's version of the vaunted engine stop/start technology becoming ever more widespread. Kia calls its version 'Intelligent Stop and Go', or ISG. Some time ago we drove a prototype of the technology in Germany - when the I in ISG stood for 'Idle' - but now we've tried it during a damp afternoon in Liverpool city centre. Perfect.

In the Metal

We've already said how much we like the job Kia has done on the revised cee'd, and of course our opinion hasn't changed; the SW's 'tiger's nose' rhinoplasty is as successful here as it is on the hatchback's. The attractive new Kia corporate face gives the cee'd estate a vibe of revitalised dynamism, and behind the rear wheels, where it counts, the cee'd SW is as was: neatly styled albeit with more than a hint of Peugeot 207 SW. The facelift endows the Kia with no extra boot space or practicality-boosting accoutrements.

What you get for your Money

Trim levels for the entire cee'd range are re-named as per the Soul crossover, with base models badged '1', mid-level '2' and top-level... have a guess.

Kia won't offer ISG in base-level cars, so if you want to stop all traces of filth spewing from your backside at traffic lights, you're going to have to have a 2. For that you'll need £14,195, or £13,895 for the three-door pro_cee'd and £14,995 for the SW. Paying the extra dosh to take a number two rather than having a number one does mean your cee'd will sit on some nice 16-inch alloys, though, plus the ISG car gets iPod connectivity and Bluetooth as standard.

For the time being, ISG is only available with the lower-powered version of the 1.6-litre diesel, though Kia wants no less than 85 percent of its cars to have ISG by 2014 and will to that end shortly be adding the technology to other cee'ds.

Driving it

The 1.6-litre diesel of the ISG-equipped car packs 89bhp and 188lb.ft, but it feels stronger than that because its torque swell is fully realised by just 1,750rpm before running out at 2,500rpm.

It's the ISG itself that we're really interested in here though, and of the five such systems that this writer has tried recently (including those from BMW, MINI, Land Rover and Volvo), Kia's seemed to cut in (or out, rather) with the greatest frequency. To avoid engine damage and other mechanical issues, all current stop/start systems will only become active when engine coolant reaches a certain temperature, and when battery-draining electrical stuff isn't working too hard. Kia's is no different, except that it works from virtually the moment the engine is running, only ever refusing to play ball when the air conditioning is working overtime. Sometimes the engine stops before the car quite has.

As you'll know, pressing the clutch starts the engine back up, and although there's a slight shudder and start-up is slightly slower than instantaneous, you'd have to have Roberto Carlos's left foot to catch it out.

And so to the all-important fuel economy and CO₂ statistics because, after all, if they're not much better then this whole thing's been a waste of time. Make your own mind up: CO₂ drops from 119g/km to 110g/km and mpg jumps from 62.8 to 67.3. VED, therefore, remains.

Worth Noting

Kia has labelled the ISG-equipped cee'd the EcoDynamics edition. And that's nothing like EfficientDynamics - as Kia's lawyer no doubt said to BMW's. The tag will also apply to anything green that Kia does in future, including hybrids, battery electric vehicles, fuel cells and, of course, other ISG cars.

Summary

The ISG system itself is certainly impressively keen to shut down the engine, but as ever with these systems, how and where you'll use the car will determine how advantageous it will be. If you're commuting into a rammed city centre daily, and you don't need the extra grunt of the identically priced (but non-ISG equipped) high powered diesel, this will return useful economy gains.

As for the revised SW, it's as per the hatch, with an appealing visual boost added to an already enticing combination of compact-bodied practicality and cracking value.