KIA drivers who really want to stand out from the crowd have an obvious choice – the fiery flagship pro_cee’d GT.

The 210 horsepower, three-door coupé is capable of twice the legal speed limit but comes with a major snag – a price tag topping £23,000.

But the cunning Korean firm has come up with a clever plan to draw in the sports-hatch enthusiast with a model offering a lower price and running costs.

Enter the GT-Line trim level, which gives buyers most of the styling and trim features of the sporty flagship, but with lower fuel, insurance and taxation costs.

The model driven here came with a sparky 1.0-litre ecoTurbo petrol engine, and there is also the choice of a 1.6-litre turbo-diesel.

The new petrol engine makes its debut in the latest cee’d family and Kia says it will replace 70 per cent of its engines with new, more fuel-efficient alternatives within the next few years.

Not that the little 998cc engine feels at all underpowered, producing a healthy 118 horsepower which is more than enough to allow the five-seater to cruise effortlessly at motorway speeds, while still offering excellent fuel consumption.

But more importantly the oddly-named pro_cee’d, which is only sold in Europe, rides like a tight, taut, crisp-handling European car. That’s no fluke, as it was designed and engineered at Kia’s European design and technical centres in Frankfurt and Rüsselsheim and made at the company’s plant in Slovakia.

While there are no special suspension, steering or braking revisions to GT-Line models, all versions of the pro_cee’d have a fully independent suspension system to improve comfort and handling.

GT-Line models are nothing if not distinctive – distinguished by a deep front bumper flanked by ice cube-style LED daytime running lights. These are housed in black high-gloss black panels along with the foglights.

The lower grille is black and the black high-gloss mesh main grille has a graphite chrome surround. At the rear, there are twin exhausts, LED rear lamps and the number plate and rear foglights are encased in high-gloss black panels. Sill extensions boost the sporty side profile and the car rides on five-double-spoke 17-inch alloy wheels.

Nice theatrical touches include white lights illuminating the door handles and the bottom of the door mirrors as you approach the car at night.

Inside, the cabin lives up to the sporty exterior looks with driver and front passenger seats trimmed in black cross-stitch upholstery with grey inserts. Both are fitted with power lumbar adjustment.

The leather-trimmed steering wheel, which sports 13 buttons, has a perforated grip and silver stitching, which is replicated on the gear shifter, back door centre trim and seats. Steering weight can be adjusted between three settings at the touch of a button.

There are also alloy pedals with rubber grip inserts and faux black leather door inserts.

Standard equipment is good across the range and includes everything from tilt and telescopic steering wheel adjustment, height-adjustable driver’s seat, air conditioning and Bluetooth phone link to electric windows, remote central locking and a cooled glovebox.

Move up to GT-Line and you get a seven-inch touchscreen with European mapping, Traffic Messaging Channel, UK postcode entry and a choice of fast, short or economical routes. The sat-nav is linked to TomTom Connected services and the screen acts as a monitor for the colour reversing camera.

Safety systems are excellent and range from electronic stability control and vehicle stability management, to hill-start assist control. Six airbags are standard.

And despite being a three-door car with the accent on style, the pro_cee’d is extremely practical, with a decent-sized boot, complete with net and lashing points and a flat-folding 60:40 split rear seat.

AUTO FACTS
Insurance group:
12
Fuel consumption (Combined): 57.6mpg
Top speed: 118mph
Length: 431cm/170in
Width: 178cm/70in
Luggage capacity: 13.4 cu ft
Fuel tank capacity: 11.7 gallons/53 litres
CO2 emissions: 115g/km
Warranty: Seven years/100,000 miles