6 weeks in....so what's it like?

The place to discuss everything else..
Emperor
Posts: 21
Joined: Wed Mar 22, 2017 10:42 am

Post by Emperor »

After 6 weeks ownership I am beginning to draw some conclusions about my Niro2 with ADAP.
Having waited 6 months for it, I was concerned that it just would not come up to my long awaited expectations.
I had not seen the blue colour I ordered until the day it arrived. Now having seen other Niro around the dealership and out on the road, the blue colour for me has the edge, giving it a little more of a refined and defined look. Friends have been equally complimentary and say it's is quite a "unique and stunning blue."
Next the performance. Having read and watched endless reviews, I was rather put off by criticisms of liveliness and fuel consumption. Having previously driven a 2L Diesel Merc, I have not been disappointed by the Niro's turn of speed in either eco or sports modes. The latter's "take off" has in fact been quite surprisingly quick on the few occasions I've had to use it.
Some reports flagged up braking as unresponsive unless great force is applied. I have found the braking as responsive as my previous vehicle and have never felt compromised by any "unreliable braking behaviour".
Fuel consumption had appeared to disappoint some new owners. Whereas my last car gave me 36 mpg in mixed driving and mid 50s on long runs, I am regularly achieving up to 60 for mixed and a couple of long runs up to 75 mpg.
The overall interior quietness of the cabin is a blessing after a chugging diesel. This is heightened by commendable suspension and a whispering engine, which is often totally soundless.
All-round vision is an improvement on my Merc and comfort in both front and back seats easily matches what I had been used to. My blind grandson finds getting in and out of car a lot easier than he has been used to and is thrilled that his somewhat hard of hearing grandpa can actually hear him from his back seat.
Admittedly the boot space is less capacious but so far perfectly adequate though may be a little more challenging for holiday excursions.
The technical stuff rather threw me at first but I am learning by the day and an occasional trip back to my dealer is most helpful.
The young guys seem to delight in showing off their know-how and talking through how things work in slow deliberate language for a poor old technophobe!
Compared to many, I suspect I do few miles, having only put 350 miles on the clock in 6 weeks! Such is retirement and the time consumed by a huge, demanding garden but can honestly say I have had almost nothing that leads me to believe that I will regret my purchase.
For me the Niro is a sedate and smooth trailblazer, if there can be such a thing, and I am quietly growing very fond of it.

djbobbins
Posts: 132
Joined: Fri Mar 03, 2017 7:57 pm

Post by djbobbins »

I am just over three weeks in with exactly the same car, covering close to 900 miles in that time (below average mileage for me).

I have to say, it is growing on me. I was initially disappointed with the interior, relative to my previous car (Skoda Yeti Elegance trim level = heated leather seats) but am reconciling myself to the fact that I picked the Niro 2 rather than a 3 or First Edition owing to the lower company car tax. I have updated HMRC of the change of vehicle and my tax code has increased, my tax free allowance has gone up by about £1600 per year which means close to £700 per year lower tax.

The drive is quiet and I like the ADAP features, which will get a much longer run in the next few weeks as we are off to Europe on holiday, during which I expect we will cover the thick end of three thousand miles. In another one of my postings you will see that I have adapted the boot accordingly and increased the capacity significantly.

Economy is inching up, perhaps linked with a mellowing of my driving style - on my 11 mile commute I get between 52mpg (if the roads are quiet and / or I drive with any aggression) or about 58mpg if more relaxed. Today I did a 24 mile trip to see the in-laws, via some stop-start traffic in Stratford upon Avon, the average per the trip computer was 59.2mpg. Assuming all car odometers are broadly equally inaccurate, this is th first car I have had in about 13 years which is routinely delivering significantly sub 10p / mile fuel cost.

I like the colour and spotted (or rather, heard) one rather natty feature today. With the radio and sat-nav on, the navigation instructions only come through the front speakers, so the kids' music doesn't get disrupted in the back. It was one of those small things which made me think of the attention to detail in the design of the overall package.

I think I would still prefer a hand operated parking brake and I'm not convinced the interior will stand the test of time like the Yeti did, but yes, as an overall package I'm happy with the choice.
Fred_Bristol
Posts: 29
Joined: Sun Jul 16, 2017 6:10 pm

Post by Fred_Bristol »

These owner reviews are worth more than most of the journalist written ones. More please folks!
Fred
MrAnderson
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun Feb 25, 2018 3:27 pm

Post by MrAnderson »

Four weeks in & less than 200 miles on the clock, The car is a joy to drive, very smooth & quiet, I've no idea why you see people talking about lifeless brakes!!! I find them perfectly balanced & responsive. :?

Also I read that the ride was on the bumpy side with the 18" wheels which I'm not really seeing and I've driven over some bad road surfaces.

I haven't had time to check out all of the gadgets & toys yet or the mpg of the car, I put £20 in it just after I collected it from Kia Bolton & really not done enough miles to show an overall mpg figure!

From the short time I've had it I've only noticed a few 'Con's'
The boot is a tad undersized especially as I have to fit a wheelchair in there on a regular basis.
The tailgate gets very dirty quickly.
the seat belt buckles are hard to reach with the seat slightly forward.
But apart from those little things the car is very nice indeed, Big thumbs up overall to Kia. :D
Brianh
Posts: 26
Joined: Thu Feb 01, 2018 11:22 am

Post by Brianh »

I am about 8 weeks in with an ex demonstrator Niro PHEV in Gravity Blue (who comes up with the colour names?). Extremely pleased with it and it is a joy to drive in comparison to my previous Skoda Octavia diesel (which was a nice car but very noisy especially on not so smooth road surfaces). Currently getting over 200 mpg on short trips (mainly EV mode with petrol engine as necessary) and my long term average over 1500 miles is 82 mpg (mix of short and long journeys) so happy with that. Now I've got into the habit of plugging it in regularly that part is no bother and doesn't take too long (3.5 hours on 13a charger down to 2 hours on dedicated charger).

Downsides - boot space but not too much of a problem. No spare wheel and nowhere to put one as the bit of storage under the boot floor is full of battery. I also miss the electric tailgate from the Skoda especially as mentioned previously in this thread the design means that the tailgate of the Niro gets very dirty (which also means the reverse camera can be a bit useless once it is covered in salt/dirt). Would have also liked a CD player but Apple Carplay works very nicely.

Overall though I think it is an excellent car and I am definitely a Kia convert.
JOL54
Posts: 64
Joined: Mon Feb 19, 2018 4:37 pm

Post by JOL54 »

Have had mine 5 weeks now and 1300 miles. Love it and last 2 weeks not used any petrol, showing 999 mpg! Plug in at work and in eve each day.
Use heated seat and steering wheel.

Downsides - hill start assist dodgy - rolls back sometimes and brakes bit odd on lifting foot off pedal - seems to stay on (see other thread).
Comfortable, easy access, quiet unless pushing hard and back door catch gets VERY dirty and rev. camera not much good in wet.
RichS
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Oct 29, 2017 3:08 pm

Post by RichS »

Well, I’ve had my Niro 2 with ADAP for some ten weeks now, and done 1500 miles. I must say, I’m liking it more and more as time passes and look forward to every outing in it.

After my Renault Scenic, the seats seemed just a little more spartan, and luggage space more restricted. But that is now forgotten. Leg-room is much better in the Niro, and the folding rear seats much easier to deal with. The overall dimensions of the car aren’t that different, but the Niro feels much nippier and more fun.....no more struggling to keep going in second gear on entering a roundabout. If it flags on a hill, then knocking across to sports mode makes a real difference.
And yet it is very relaxing and very quiet. If anything it is the tyre noise which intrudes the most, especially on the coarse tarmac of most British roads. The adaptive cruise control is excellent , particularly on the motorway, whether on the open road or in a ten-mile 50mph roadworks zone.

The Niro is perfectly suited to my driving style – it consistently reckons 94% ECO and 6% normal. (Does that make me abnormal??) A 150 mile round trip across the north to Bridlington in very mixed conditions – fast A-roads, slower country roads, traffic jams, hills – resulted in an average 72mpg. On a cold winter morning the petrol engine runs for the heater, of course, even if it isn’t powering the car. If the engine comes on in a traffic jam, then turning off the climate system cuts the engine for more emission-free driving. I expect mpg figures to be better still when warmer weather comes.

The brakes are quite interesting. They are not quite as progressive as a standard car’s, but I have no problem with them. I do sense the car appearing to change down as I approach a roundabout, for example, which makes deceleration a little less smooth. The foot-operated parking brake is a strange thing, but it doesn’t bother me. Neither do the odd times when the transmission seems to be trying to decide what to do next! It doesn’t like to almost stop at a junction before continuing.

I like the lower roof-line which means that the sun visors really do keep out low sun.
In the Scenic I was forever being dazzled by stray beams around the rear view mirror.
While on that subject, the auto-dimming rear view mirror is also very effective.
I’m not keen on the tinted rear windows, though. Reversing out of my drive at night is a bit dicey. The tinted windows are possibly my main gripe, so that can’t be bad.

I love the way the wash-wipe gives exactly that – a wash-wipe without the extra wipe a few seconds later which tends to wreck things.
I like the fact that I can have the rear lights on with the running lights if I select the side lights position.
I like having two reversing lights and two rear fog lights.
I like the fact that there are short-cut buttons for key features, like climate control and satnav. I wouldn’t want to negotiate a menu screen while driving.
I like the fact that the passenger seat is height adjustable.

So far, then, a happy bunny. I had no real need to part with my Scenic. It and its predecessor had given me 110,000 miles of comfortable, totally trouble-free motoring over 12 years, but I was encountering longer traffic jams and didn’t want to add to diesel emissions.
I just hope the Niro proves to be as reliable….
JOL54
Posts: 64
Joined: Mon Feb 19, 2018 4:37 pm

Post by JOL54 »

PHEV3 now nearly 2000 miles. Overall very pleased. Work commute 14 each way done on elec. (Charge up at work). Brakes not releasing when nearly coming to a halt and then accelerating my biggest problem -takes seconds to release. See other posting. Anyone else found this?
Overall mpg showing 243, which I am very pleased with. Comfortable and easy access.
Oh and front parking sensors need to be switched on every time - grrr :-)

PS No handbook for sat nav - should there be one? How do I make enlarge map?
JOL54
Posts: 64
Joined: Mon Feb 19, 2018 4:37 pm

Post by JOL54 »

Sorry - how do I enlarge map.................
Suman
Posts: 103
Joined: Tue Apr 11, 2017 11:19 am
Location: London

Post by Suman »

To zoom in on the map, you can turn the right hand knob clockwise.

I prefer the way Kia have set the front parking sensors to only activate if you've gone into reverse (and then not exceeded about 10 mph in drive), or manually press the button, otherwise they would forever be going off in traffic.
Kia Stinger GTS in Panthera Metallic Grey
Previously: Kia Niro First Edition in Pearlescent White, Mercedes GL 420 cdi, Lexus LS460 SE-L, Renault Laguna Initiale 2.0 dci, Lexus LS 460 SE-L, Renault Megane 1.9 dci, Toyota Supra 3.0 Turbo
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