Kia Niro



If you want a crossover that's frugal around town and you're not interested in diesel power, then Kia can now accommodate you with the Niro petrol-electric hybrid. It's a very mild electrification programme and it leads to a car with a very mild personality - not exciting, but easy enough to get on with.

Test Car Specifications

Model tested: Kia Niro
Pricing: expected to start from c.£22,000
Engine: 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol with electric motor and lithium-ion battery
Transmission: front-wheel drive, six-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission
Body style: five-door, five-seat crossover
CO₂ emissions: 88g/km (£0 VED)
Combined economy: 74.3mpg
Top speed: 101mph
0-62mph: 11.5 seconds
Power: 141hp at 5,700rpm
Torque: 265Nm at 1,000- to 2,400rpm

What's this?

An all-new crossover from Kia. Nope, the Niro is not built on the platform of the Sportage - instead, this petrol-electric hybrid has its own bespoke underpinnings that were designed to take electrification from the start. It uses a 1.6-litre normally aspirated GDI petrol unit up front that uses the more efficient Atkinson cycle of combustion, plus cooled exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and a 'long stroke, narrow bore' spec, so that it can sip unleaded at the most decorous of rates. A 32kW (44hp), 170Nm electric motor with a 1.56kWh lithium-ion battery mounted underneath the rear seats supplements the 1.6's modest outputs of 105hp and 147Nm, with the system maximums pegged at 141hp and 265Nm. Drive goes to the front wheels alone via a six-speed dual-clutch transmission (yay, not a CVT!) and the aerodynamic coefficient of drag figure of the Niro is an impressive 0.29.

That leads to potential eco-returns of 88g/km and 74.3mpg, which is heady stuff for a non-plug-in EV like this, although you need to resist the temptation of fitting 18-inch rims to your Niro; do so, and the green data alters to 101g/km and 64.2mpg. The former of these is key, as that means the Kia crossover is no longer free from VED requirements, instead costing £20 per annum in road tax after the first 12 months are free. As an additional way of minimising running costs, the Niro - like any other Kia - benefits from the seven-year, 100,000-mile warranty.

Styling-wise, the Niro looks fine, albeit there are one or two details that will split opinion (the bonnet shaping and the striking lower bumpers, in particular) and in the simplest terms it's bigger than a Kia cee'd, smaller than a Sportage. The Niro, though, does have a 30mm longer wheelbase than the Sportage, so it's extremely spacious in the back in terms of leg- and headroom. There's also a decent boot of 427 litres and plenty of equipment, optional or otherwise, although the cabin is rather uninspiring in terms of design. Nice instrument cluster, though, with that stretched central display reaching into the power dial on the left.

How does it drive?

Proficiently. Quietly. Smoothly. And, er, dully. Kia tried to assert that SUVs are dynamic and that customer feedback suggests potential buyers prefer the high-riding vehicles' driving characteristics, hence why the Niro is a crossover and not a hatchback. Yet there's little joy to be had in throwing the Niro about, or even in trying to make it go quickly. The low-rolling resistance tyres begin to make muted noises of dismay as soon as you begin cornering in anything like earnest, the steering is light and lacking feedback and there's a little more body roll than is strictly necessary. And the powertrain offers very, very modest acceleration. Unkinder souls might even say 'feeble'. The Kia's dynamic, in as much as it moves. It is not in the least bit exciting, though.

Having said all that, what the Niro excels at is smooth, easy-going refinement. A small, naturally aspirated petrol engine doesn't vibrate anything like as much as, say, a 2.0-litre turbodiesel, so even when the engine is active, there's little in the way of shudders through the steering wheel, seats and pedals to discomfit the occupants. And when the petrol engine lays dormant, the Niro is extremely quiet and supple, with Kia's decision to pay particular attention to noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) suppression in all departments reaping real benefits. The ride quality is fluid, especially on the eco-boosting 16-inch wheels, the drivetrain is silky (provided you don't thrash the 1.6 to the ragged edge, whereupon it becomes coarse) and the decision to go with a DCT over a CVT is one that the Korean company should be rewarded handsomely for. So unless you're genuinely after 'corner on the door handles' road-holding, the Niro is an unusual alternative to a mid-sized diesel SUV and it's well worth checking out.

Verdict

A very pleasant, inoffensive hybrid crossover, the Kia Niro offers just the right sort of driving manners required for a family-oriented machine that should spend a large proportion of its life commuting through suburbia. At no point does it prove a scintillating vehicle to steer, but it does do comfort to a high standard, it looks attractive and it's very spacious. UK pricing and specification is going to be key to its success, because at the moment a starting price of £22,000 is considerably more than the larger Sportage's entry ticket of £18,000. Nevertheless, given the Niro is a lot more likeable than the £26,000 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid, about its nearest analogue, it should prove to be another sales success for the ever-improving Kia marque.

Exterior Design

Interior Ambience

Passenger Space

Luggage Space

Safety

Comfort

Driving Dynamics

Powertrain