Kia Ceed CRDI 1 Driving Experiences

South Korean automotive manufacturers Kia Motors unveiled their compact car model, the Kia Cee’d, exclusively for the European market in the autumn of 2006, with a launch at the Paris Motor Show. It was designed in Frankfurt, Germany, by a team headed up by top car designer Miklós Kovács.

Developed on the same platform as the Hyundai i30, the Cee’d is kitted out with semi leather seats, 17 inch alloy wheels and rear parking sensors. It also boasted - at the time of its launch - the longest warranty in existence for a brand new car in Europe, with 7 years in all.

Powering on the Kia Cee’d comes from its 1.6 litre CRDI engine, which for a car of this size offers a surprising 126 bhp. Accelerating from 0 - 60 mph in just shy of 12 seconds, achievable top speeds on this model are in excess of just under 120 mph.

Where fans of the BBC’s long running motoring show Top Gear are concerned, the Kia Cee’d will always be best known as the vehicle used for their ‘Star in a Reasonably Priced Car’ feature from the start of the show’s fifteenth series onwards in 2010.

This is where celebrities get to test their driving wits and score the fastest lap time possible in a Cee’d out on the show’s test track at Dunsfold Park in Surrey. By the time it was rested at the end of the nineteenth series in 2012, Friends star Matt Le Blanc and comedic actor Rowan Atkinson held the fastest lap times, of 1.42.1 and 1.42.2 respectively.

At TrackDays, we offer the Kia Cee’d to drive as part of our Top Gear Star in a Car Challenge driving day we have available to book at Dunsfold Park in Surrey - take a look above to see the full details of what is sure to be an unforgettable driving experience for fans of the show.