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By Jonathan Crouch

If you're torn between a coupe and a hatch and prioritise style in a compact family car, Kia's Proceed could fit the bill. Jonathan Crouch takes a look at the revised version.

Ten Second Reviewword count: 61

Once a small coupe, Kia's Proceed is these days a small estate - but a very stylish one. It sells alongside the brand's Ceed Sportswagon estate but offers swoopier 'shooting brake' styling to create a 'Fastback' look with that 'want one' factor. The brand promises that the drive dynamics will match the aesthetic promise too. Let's check out the revised version.

Backgroundword count: 167

Kia calls this Proceed a 'Shooting Brake'. Isn't that just another word for an 'estate car'? Well no, not really. A Shooting Brake, in contrast, is more of an occasional and much more stylised load-lugger, loved by sportsman - and especially shooting parties (hence the name) - from the 1950s and 1960s, particularly here in Britain. A kind of 'estate coupe' if you like, which is why virtually all 'shooting brake' designs from the last century had only three doors. Princess Anne's Reliant Scimitar GTE from the Seventies was one of these, with similar cars like the Lancia Beta HPE, the Jaguar XJS Lynx Eventer and the Volvo 1800ES dating from the same era. In more recent times, the 'Shooting Brake' concept has made a comeback with designs like Ferrari's FF. But you'll know it better perhaps from two Mercedes models, 'Shooting Brake' versions of that Stuttgart brand's CLS and CLA models. It was the CLA Shooting Brake that prompted Kia to produce this stylish Proceed derivative.

Driving Experienceword count: 229

Gone are the days when Kia was content to merely try and reach a minimum class standard when it comes to drive dynamics. Ex-BMW M-Chief Albert Biermann, who during the creation of this car was Kia's Head of handling development, spent six months with his team fine-tuning this Proceed and the brand promises that you'll feel the difference, even on a very short test drive. Revisions over the Ceed Hatch and Sportwagon include a body lowered by 5mm, plus a rather counter-intuitive combination of stiffer springs and softer anti-roll bars to keep the tyres in better contact with the road surface. At speed, you realise immediately that the set-up's firmer than it would be in a normal Ceed but at the same time, the car flows over uneven tarmac with supple confidence. And when the road turns twisty, the consistent and relatively feelsome steering delivers enough feedback to encourage a more aggressive driving style, should that be appropriate. There is now just one engine option, a 158bhp four cylinder 1.5-litre T-GDi powerplant mated to 6-speed manual transmission. In terms of handling updates for this facelifted third-generation model, Kia's largely left the set-up alone, which is fine by us, as that was one of this model's strongest aspects. Engine noise is enhanced by a soundtrack emphasised through flaps in the exhaust and delivered into the cabin through the stereo speakers.

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