Thinking about buying a Kia Niro!

Fox Hound

Hey All,

Just wondering has anybody bought one of these as I am really interested and would love some feedback!!

kave2

I'm in the same boat. I like the look of it, quite spacious, drive is nice too, very quiet, relaxing. Did you test drive it?

Few things I don't like, no front parking sensors and headlights are Bi Projection headlights, so it seems not even xenons. I would expect these things on the car that cost 32500€

Dealer send me this about the headlights:

Projector headlights, a relative newcomer in the headlight world, as their name suggests they "project" light onto the road. The bulb here is mounted within a "projector bowl", which similar to the reflector housing, reflects all of the light towards the magnified projector lens.
The light then hits a piece of metal that is shaped like the pattern of light that will be projected onto the road. Why this is like this is some sort of marvel of science and magnets. The projector housing lives within the headlight.
Generally projector headlights provide superior light output with a sharp cutoff line and focused light.

ei9go

What other 32k car comes with Zenons as standard?

grogi

kave2 wrote: »

I'm in the same boat. I like the look of it, quite spacious, drive is nice too, very quiet, relaxing. Did you test drive it?

Few things I don't like, no front parking sensors and headlights are Bi Projection headlights, so it seems not even xenons. I would expect these things on the car that cost 32500€

Dealer send me this about the headlights:

I had projection headlights in 1997 Fiat Bravo...

kave2

ei9go wrote: »

What other 32k car comes with Zenons as standard?

Most of the new cars come with LED headlights, not xenon's.

Pkiernan

Why would front parking sensors be required on a vehicle thus small?

kave2

Pkiernan wrote: »

Why would front parking sensors be required on a vehicle thus small?

I don't think it's a small car. Because they are very useful, that's why.

JayeL

I've ordered one, should have it in early Jan.  It was a bit of a saga deciding which hybrid to go for; I had intended on the Hyundai Ioniq (as I have a Hyundai already) but after I was told by a Hyundai dealer that it'd start at €35k, I started looking at the Niro because it was €6k cheaper.  As it turned out, that dealer was wrong about the Ioniq but in any case, what I've heard since is that the Niro is the better car.
One thing I discovered in my research is that they're only doing one spec level here, EXL.  There'll be a version with Automatic Braking and Adaptive Cruise Control as well but pretty much every photo of the car, including on the Kia Ireland website, shows it with 18-inch alloys that are not available in Ireland.  The reason is the fuel economy and fuel emissions suffer with the bigger wheels; a few UK press reports have said they're not worth it.
Irish Niros have 16-inch "alloys" (I say "alloys" because they're actually pretty convincing hubcaps); they look a bit small on the car but the Niro just broke the Guinness record for fuel economy driving from LA to NYC - doing it with 183.6 litres of petrol (meaning you could do 5,979km in a Niro on less than €230 of fuel here) - while wearing those wheels, so they obviously work (https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2016/12/388_220313.html)!
Anyway, I had seriously considered a Prius but the Luxury spec was still a bit less than the Niro and was €4k more.  Plus Niros have leather seats, Apple CarPlay/Android Auto and seem way more practical.

elperello

How did you get on with the Niro?

tk123

elperello wrote: »

How did you get on with the Niro?

+1 Thinking of getting one too and would love to know what you think of it? I'm hoping to change from an ix35

bk

+1 I'd love to hear any reports into this car myself, very interested in it.

slave1

Never heard of it, not up on the Revenue VRT either, would have considered this last year before I purchased my SUV

tk123

bk wrote: »

+1 I'd love to hear any reports into this car myself, very interested in it.

I test drove it today and loved it! Collecting my blue Niro next week :P I was going for the ex-adas model but it turned out it wasn't in stock so I was upgraded to the plantium model - guy couldn't tell me what the difference is because it's so new and not on their system yet. I hope the difference it's front parking sensors - I can live without them if not but they're handy to have.

unkel

Well wear!

elperello

Best of luck with it.
It's an interesting package with the hybrid power and crossover/estate body type and should do well in the Irish market. There is a definite if small trend away from diesel and people seem to like the crossovers.
Please keep posting your impressions.

JayeL

Collected by Niro earlier this month and love it so far. It's very impressive, build quality is streets ahead of my old Hyundai and it's a pleasure to drive. One thing that concerned me was the fuel consumption, which didn't impress in the first week. Generally around 7.2l/100km, which is ok but nothing amazing and achievable in my old 1.6 petrol manual.

I took a 600km round trip two weeks ago and it managed 6.7, which was ok but from what I've read it's not much of a motorway cruiser. That's ok because I didn't buy it for that but still, surprising.

Then the following week, my 23km commute (half-motorway, half city traffic) dropped to 6.0l/100km and had dropped since, down to 5.5 today. It's a pleasant surprise and I'm not entirely sure what caused it. You can keep the binnacle display (between the dials) at a diagram of the power distribution but I've been keeping it at a real-time fuel economy display, showing an orange bar that shows how much fuel you're using that second and going blank if the electric motor takes over.

So I think I may have trained myself to drive more efficiently - or else the engine has bedded-in a bit better; I took delivery when it only had 8km on the clock and it's over 2,000km now so maybe that's what it takes to get the fuel economy down.

The interior is massive; it's kinda Tardis-like - way more roomy than it looks on the outside. The "leather" (I assume imitation, it doesn't smell like leather anyway) seats are very comfortable and the heated seats (and wheel) are absolutely brilliant in the recent weather. The touchscreen interface is the best I've ever used (no Apple CarPlay yet but it's coming to dealers within a month), so intutitive and quick, and the visibility is excellent.

Performance-wise, again I wasn't entirely chuffed with it at first. It's a heavy car for its size (1.9t) and my first overtaking manoeuvre was a chaotic mix of howling overdrive and delayed torque. Thankfully it's improved a lot since; again this could be me just getting better at judging how best to drive it but one thing the Niro is great at is quick overtaking at low speeds or whooshing up to the lights in city traffic. I think at speed, a gradual/brisk push of the accelerator works better than stomping in it. That seems to engage the electric motor to assist whereas any quicker seems to force the petrol engine to drop down a gear and howl with little results to start with.

Other than that, it's been a great car to drive and use day in, day out. Have yet to see another one on the road, apparently 49 were registered last month and I've one of only 6 grey ones! I'd highly recommend it!

cros13

We can expect a Plug-in Hybrid version of the Niro this year as well.
Almost certain to be a bit pricier even with the grant... but we'll see.

Rumor mill has a full electric version launching in Q1 2018.

JayeL, have you tried Android Auto out on the Niro by any chance? Is it working well?

JayeL

I tried using Android Auto using my work phone, which is a Galaxy A3, but no joy. Not sure if it just isn't compatible or I need a software update.

cros13

Did you install the Android Auto app?

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.projection.gearhead&hl=en

JayeL

Yup, no joy!

jca

How many kilometers to a full tank of petrol? Is there a big difference in fuel consumption between town and long journeys, fill to fill, not what the display tells you. I haven't seen one in the wild yet but they look very nice in the pics.

JayeL

Well now, jca! The day I took delivery, the range was something insane like 815km. Given the tank is something like 45 litres, that'd be some fairly-amazing fuel economy like 5.5l/100km. I finished that tank with very little left (having done 5 days of a 45km commute and Dublin to Mitchelstown) and the trip computer was at 640km. So not amazing.

I got around 660km from the second tank and right now the trip computer is at 400km with an indicated 340km of range, which would indicate I'll get 740km this time. That'll go down as the range drops, it always does, but it still looks like I'll get over 700km from this tank. So that'll be €55 or so for 700km; for comparison, I got 705km from a RAV4 diesel I drove recently and that took €60 worth of diesel.

Right now I'm confident that I'm already exceeding diesel fuel economy (best I got from the RAV4 was 6.4) and adding to that the convenience of automatic (that and the electric mode are godsends in crawling traffic), the fact that diesel is probably going to be taxed more pretty soon and hybrids cost less to maintain (they don't go through half the amount of brake pads a regular car would, for example) and I think it's a good choice that'll keep making more and more sense as I rack up the mileage.

tk123

The sales guy told me that they had a competition when they were doing training to see who could get it lowest and he managed to get it to 4l/100km but he was driving like Miss Daisy to get it! It dropped to 9 when I was on the motorway but the whether was crap and it was busy enough so everyone being a bit cautious.. on top of me being extra cautious driving the dealers car I can't remember now whether it was the one I test drove or the other one they have but they put €20 of petrol in in Nov and it only needs to be topped up now lol!
I'm the opposite - all my driving is stop and start city traffic so I can't wait to see what kind of economy I get from it. My last few cars were auto too so well used to it - I didn't feel any lag on the motorway when I put the foot down say compared to my current car which might hesitate as it goes up through the gears if I put the pedal down quick.

JayeL

I've no doubt if I was driving at 50-80km/h for an hour, it'd drop to 5 or below but therein lies the path to hypermiling madness! I drive it pretty much like I'd drive any other car and if I get diesel-esque figures from it, I'm happy!

jca

JayeL wrote: »

Well now, jca! The day I took delivery, the range was something insane like 815km. Given the tank is something like 45 litres, that'd be some fairly-amazing fuel economy like 5.5l/100km. I finished that tank with very little left (having done 5 days of a 45km commute and Dublin to Mitchelstown) and the trip computer was at 640km. So not amazing.

I got around 660km from the second tank and right now the trip computer is at 400km with an indicated 340km of range, which would indicate I'll get 740km this time. That'll go down as the range drops, it always does, but it still looks like I'll get over 700km from this tank. So that'll be €55 or so for 700km; for comparison, I got 705km from a RAV4 diesel I drove recently and that took €60 worth of diesel.

Right now I'm confident that I'm already exceeding diesel fuel economy (best I got from the RAV4 was 6.4) and adding to that the convenience of automatic (that and the electric mode are godsends in crawling traffic), the fact that diesel is probably going to be taxed more pretty soon and hybrids cost less to maintain (they don't go through half the amount of brake pads a regular car would, for example) and I think it's a good choice that'll keep making more and more sense as I rack up the mileage.

Not wild figures I'm a bit disappointed tbh. I had a few decent journeys in the Octavia, 1.4 TSI 7 speed DSG over the last two weeks. 710 km to €57@ 1.37. If I'm doing a lot of short trips on a tank of petrol I'd manage to squeeze 600 km from a tank. 800 km has been achieved a few times on long spins.

slave1

JayeL wrote: »

Right now I'm confident that I'm already exceeding diesel fuel economy (best I got from the RAV4 was 6.4) and adding to that the convenience of automatic (that and the electric mode are godsends in crawling traffic), the fact that diesel is probably going to be taxed more pretty soon and hybrids cost less to maintain (they don't go through half the amount of brake pads a regular car would, for example) and I think it's a good choice that'll keep making more and more sense as I rack up the mileage.

Well done, I'm getting 5.0 from my diesel (CRV) with mostly straight longish runs, would certainly consider the Niro as an option when it hits 3 years old and drops in price

tk123

My blue Niro! Can't believe it's mine!

grogi

tk123 wrote: »

My blue Niro! Can't believe it's mine!

Awesome. Wear well

JayeL

tk123 wrote: »

My blue Niro! Can't believe it's mine!

Well wear! Do the wheels change the fuel economy/emissions band much?

jca

jca wrote: »

Not wild figures I'm a bit disappointed tbh. I had a few decent journeys in the Octavia, 1.4 TSI 7 speed DSG over the last two weeks. 710 km to €57@ 1.37. If I'm doing a lot of short trips on a tank of petrol I'd manage to squeeze 600 km from a tank. 800 km has been achieved a few times on long spins.

Smaller car, perhaps larger fuel tank ?

tk123

tk123 wrote: »

My blue Niro! Can't believe it's mine!

Nice best of Luck with it !

I want a electric car that is roomy, if they make a proper EV of this I'd consider it, only if it had power though and not a 80 Kw motor or anything like that.

Looks like an all leccy version would tick many boxes for me.

https://cleantechnica.com/2016/08/10/fully-electric-kia-niro-suv-plug-hybrid-kia-niro-suv-planned/

Nissan need to wake up !

bk

Deleted User wrote: »

I want a electric car that is roomy

I know they are ridiculously expensive, but FYI the Tesla Model S is a ridiculously large car. Seriously sitting in it, I felt lost! Probably wouldn't big good for narrow Irish roads and car parking spaces. Would be a nightmare I think. Robert Llewellyn has said much the same about his Model S.

I wonder what the Model 3 will be like, more US sized or EU sized.

grogi

Deleted User wrote: »

https://cleantechnica.com/2016/08/10/fully-electric-kia-niro-suv-plug-hybrid-kia-niro-suv-planned/

Nissan need to wake up !

Why are you cheering for Nissan so much?

By the looks of it, they will become the second Toyota in EV... They started nicely and were in the lead for a while, then stopped pushing forward; the rest of the world is moving fast.

tk123

JayeL wrote: »

Well wear! Do the wheels change the fuel economy/emissions band much?

Yeah didn't they do the Guinness world record with the smallest wheels? I got a free upgrade to those wheels so we'll see what happens! Sadly there was a delay with my blue niro so they loaned me a black one. Hopefully they don't mind a few dog hairs when they get it back(!)

jca

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Smaller car, perhaps larger fuel tank ?

According to the handbook it's a 57 litre tank I let it go as far as the yellow light and fill it very soon after that. The most I've put in is 52 litres. I don't like running around with low fuel it doesn't do in tank pumps any good.

tk123

Ok so my lovely blue niro was delivered to my work on fri I love it... except that the back door thinks it's open 9/10 time I close it which is getting frustrating! Back to the dealer tomorrow for them to take a look!

edanto

Any further feedback from Niro owners with the passing of the first year?

I'm looking at the PHEV model, a lot of my driving are round trips of less than 40k. That said, the rest of my driving is Dublin-Galway so I am not fully sure if HV or PHEV would be cheaper for us to run.

Any PHEV Niro owners on the thread?

unkel

The Hyundai Kona EV (even the cheaper model) launching this summer and can do Galway - Dublin at 120km/h (without charging) with plenty of juice left. Same for Niro EV launching next year

Shefwedfan

I sat into the Kia PHEV today.....lovely car

Pricing was odd to me anyway. Retail is 39,745 which seemed high and then price to customer was €32,245.,....this was due to VRT???

Anyway really a nice car to sit into, didnt want to waste time test driving it as not in market for PHEV but if I was it would be close to top of list

unkel

Shefwedfan wrote: »

Pricing was odd to me anyway. Retail is 39,745 which seemed high and then price to customer was €32,245.,....this was due to VRT???

That's spot on. You get a €2.5k discount on the VRT (PHE- on an EV it is €5k) and you get a €5k (EV / PHEV) subsidy

So €7.5k between price before and price after incentives.

Would you not wait for the Kia Niro EV next year? €10k incentives, cheap toll, cheaper tax, cheaper insurance, cheaper fuel, cheaper maintenance, should I go on?

ewj1978

would we think the Niro EV will be priced same as the PHEV? was the ioniq EV same as PHEV? ( or did it even have a PHEV?)

Shefwedfan

unkel wrote: »

That's spot on. You get a €2.5k discount on the VRT (PHE- on an EV it is €5k) and you get a €5k (EV / PHEV) subsidy

So €7.5k between price before and price after incentives.

Would you not wait for the Kia Niro EV next year? €10k incentives, cheap toll, cheaper tax, cheaper insurance, cheaper fuel, cheaper maintenance, should I go on?

You asking me?

Shefwedfan

ewj1978 wrote: »

would we think the Niro EV will be priced same as the PHEV? was the ioniq EV same as PHEV? ( or did it even have a PHEV?)

The electric was actually cheaper :p

Don't see that happening with the Niro