2023 Kia Niro HEV Review Is it worth the money
This week it’s kier’s 2023 Nero hybrid electric vehicle on going to take you through some of its features and then we’ll take it out on the road and I’ll tell you what I think of it I think you’ll agree that this model looks considerably better than the model
It replaced they’ve done away with that tiger noose Peter shre Grill and now they’ve gone to this boxy look but they’ve taken the boxy look and they own it every line is strong and it kind of means something the headlight Arrangement unusual and very complex and
From the side you can see that it is an SUV sort of they call these SUVs or crossovers there’s nothing really very SUV about it it’s really just a little hatchback Kier have kept the range really simple there’s either the s or the GT line and they’re both front-wheel
Drive and they’re both with the same hybrid system it is a bit of a shock if you’re not used to it like me to have to get a key out of your pocket to lock and unlock things and you also need it for the ignition in this base model the top
Model of course has all that covered but this is a fairly generous Boot and under the floor is a space saer spare which I like a lot I’ve never had a repair kit work yet there’s little handy things inside like bag Hooks and all the stuff that you expect from K
Look it’s not a huge luggage space but it’s certainly okay for the segment the seats go down 60/40 uh and they’re not quite flat and as you can see the tailgate is a manual Affair that’s pretty easy to operate the biggest surprise for me by far was the amount of
Room in the back this is kind of like a tardis look how much space there is for my knees and that’s with the seat set for me there’s a couple of USB points for rear passengers so up here where they’re useful a couple of Vents and the
Upholstery is nice and neat and even the part on the top of the back doors where most brands really cheap out on the entry level models this is hard but it doesn’t feel cheap the backs of the seats they’re hard but that doesn’t feel cheap either the headlining know that some looks like
Felted cardboard which I’m not all that fast on the front though is a Triumph it’s simple it’s elegant even these surfaces here this sort of textured surface it feels like quality there’s a little bit of ribbing down here and this plastic here and this is something that I’m always critical of
With car manufacturers that make this area piano black and it shines every time the car moves in afternoon sun you get blinded by this light not so here this is afternoon sun and there’s no light blinding going on and I’ve been driving this car around all week and I
Didn’t realize that what was in front of me wasn’t an LCD screen it’s only this little bit in the middle that’s an LCD screen the rest is imitating LCD it looks like LCD to me and I’m okay with that the next model up the GT line does
Have twin 10.25 in screens but this is plenty this is another bit where people often come unglued in ke this is a two-way touchcreen so that’s for Vents and climate control and so forth and that’s for audio and uh menus and what have you there’s a couple of
USBS in front and a 12volt a nice little tray but have a look at this the clever little armrest has a lift out bit so it all becomes one bit let me Chuck that in the glove box and disappearing cup holders so you can have
The whole thing used as a cup holder or as whatever you want it to be used as all righty let’s go for a ride and see what this is like so the hybrid is mounted on the gearbox the gearbox in this is a six-speed DCT so a proper one not a bloody
CVT as you know I hate I put it into gear and nothing happens this is in EV mode so the battery’s got enough power to move me off here’s the battery flow here but I’m going to go back and I’m going to show you something that really
Made me cheer when I got into this car there’s nothing connected by cable and I’ve got carplay look Kia finally has Wireless carplay horah so they’ve sorted out their issues so I will go into my save places there we we go lovely and start now the only difference is of
Course that that won’t show up in my cluster whereas if I use the inbuilt navigation it will the electric handbrakes released and I’m moving off the engines just started I just heard that start I didn’t know what to expect of Nero and I wasn’t quite sure where it
Fitted in because it is quite expensive as far as entry level ke go but it’s not expensive as far as entry level hybrids go and for hybrids we always look at Toyota because Toyota are the hybrid Kings they may be resisting evom with every fiber of their being but they’re certainly making a
Fabulous job of hybrids I think key is caught up as I said outside the thing with hybrids that always concerns me I do have Drive modes by the way I’m just going to put this into sport I’ve got a choice of Eco and Sport I’m going to change back to
Eco because frankly Eco is plenty this is a city car and it’ll be used in the city the one thing that you want out of a hybrid is good fuel economy otherwise why bother this is getting as low as 4.2 L per 100 km at the moment I’m on 4.7 L
Per 100 km and that is because I left the system active while I was doing the outside bit you can hear humming along quite nicely I could if I want put the cruise control on let’s take that up to 80 lovely and I’ll put the automated steering on the
Good thing about this is that I can have the automated steering on anytime I don’t have to have it on just when the cruise control’s on it is smart cruise control as well and you can hear when I stop there’s just the whisper of the air conditioning this feels like an EV in
Many ways the cabin is reasonably quiet too though I noticed on the highway I took the old girl down to the gong which is a three and a bit hour round trip and the Nero really excelled as far as safety gear goes we’ve got active cruise control active
Blind spot monitor active Lane departure it tries to steer you back in now a lot of people don’t like those active features they find them a little bit um disturbing but to be quite honest with you I think once you get used to them they’re very difficult to live without
Now that I’ve stopped we can talk about overthe air updates where the car company will send updates to your car you’re probably all familiar with it now but I’ll tell you about it anyway the updates are the ones you used to have to go to your dealer to get now the car
Company can send them to the car via its inbuilt SIM card and you get that subscription free for the first X number of years depending on the brand in Kia’s case it’s 5 years after that in order to get those extra features you want to have a subscription they don’t know how
Much that is yet but cuz no one’s got there but it’s probably going to be $5 or $10 a month and although the top model has all the best things in it this still has lots of stuff we’ve got a camera that you can activate from down here on the center
Console every button is exactly where you expect it to be and does what you expect it to do so to sum up the fuel consumption is excellent oh we’re back down to 4.5 L per 100 km now I don’t know what the 5.4 was about power in sport mode is pretty
Good the look I think is lovely it’s not cutting edge it’s nothing unusual but it looks handsome the interior feels like its quality and feels like it will last for a while the question you have to ask yourself is is 41,000 and some change too expensive for a base model hybrid and is
71,000 and some change too expensive for the same car in the top trim as an electric car a pure electric car because it is up against Tesla at that price and some see Tesla as a luxury brand I don’t but some do that’s all this week from the KERO
Hvv I think it’s a handsome looking car and I thinkir has done a really good job of Designing it making it look simple and making it work properly above all it does what all hybrids should do but not all do and that is that it is fuel
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Kia Niro comes as a hybrid or EV, as an S or a GT-Line, but unlike the hapless emperor of the same name, does not fiddle while you burn.
GayCarBoys story and specifications HERE: https://gaycarboys.com/niro-s-hybrid-good-but-is-it-value/car-reviews-by-brand/kia-reviews/
Clever old Kia packaged the pluck out of this bijou box. The 75 grand GT-Line EV costs as much as a Tesla Model Y, making even the hardest core of the Kia crowd consider a travelling in a Tesla.
Meanwhile, the entry level Niro S is far better value, and is my pick of the Niro range.
For 44 grand and some change ($49,435 drive away), you get a nicely designed, high-riding hatchback. Rear space is capacious, and the driver is spoiled by LCD screens, cupholders and USB sockets. There are driver aids, and a plethora safety gizmos. Get the specification sheet HERE:
It is a comfortable little conveyance, and for a change, the promised economy is not too far off the claim of 4.0L/100k.
GT-line has nicer additions, like a dial for gears, and twin 10.25” screens.
The hybrids drive steadily but leisurely, with a 0-100kph in excess of 10 seconds. Steering is nicely weighted, brakes feel progressive, and the ride is firm yet compliant.
SEE WRITTEN REVIEW FOR THE FULL KIA NIRO STORY
with Alan from gaycarboys.com
#kianiros, #kianirohybrid, #alanzurvas, #gaycarboys
