My New Toy (KIA Niro)

I picked up my new car last Friday afternoon and our Venga went to its new carer on Saturday.

As some here know I am a mod on a motoring forum and members often post detailed reviews of any new model launched. I am no exception.

I also do some ghost writing for a motoring journalist and my reviews go to him to be edited and turned into magazine text. I tend to write reports rather than easy to read stories

I ordered the new car back in October and have been putting together the outline of my review which required a lot of browsing the internet for the technical stuff about how the KIA hybrid system works. hence much of the attached review was done in advance - I have needed to do just the second part covering my first impressions.

It's 14 pages - so is likely to be of interest only to those with an interest in technology, especially hybrid technology

https://1drv.ms/b/s!AsWeojYaF3Xu3iXwEsU8CMXQgqFT

Will read this Alan but can you give me leave of absence. Things to do 

Very impressive Alan, I'm glad that you are happy with your purchase.
It will take some time to learn the new vehicle idiosyncrasies, I got my new car last September and I am still learning and I still have plenty to explore.
I hope you will enjoy it, you did enough research and you certainly know your stuff... being an engineer!
I am delighted for you....you deserve it !

Looks nice Alan. Many happy motoring days ahead.

Cars have advanced so much since my Vauxhall Chevette  in 1976. White Chrome bumpers and wheels.  I used to clean and polish every Sunday. Enjoy 

Lovely car Alan. I hope you'll be very happy together. :) A well-written and informative review too.

malcolm wrote:

Very impressive Alan, I'm glad that you are happy with your purchase.
It will take some time to learn the new vehicle idiosyncrasies, I got my new car last September and I am still learning and I still have plenty to explore.
I hope you will enjoy it, you did enough research and you certainly know your stuff... being an engineer!
I am delighted for you....you deserve it !  

Malcolm
I did considerable research on the Hyundai/KIA hybrid drive and its development, followed by even more browsing as I waited for it to arrive. I also downloaded a pdf of the owners manual and had browsed that a lot so I was quite clued up on the cars controls etc before I took delivery.  The media and sat-nav is almost the same as in my previous two cars so I had a head start with that anyway. The car settings are so well presented on the screen it was a doddle to set up. Hence I was already well up the learning curve.

It is a car with two personalities. You can drive it to get the best economy or for outright performance. I don't like buying petrol so I generally drive for economy which means cruising at 60 to 65 mph on the motorway and keeping within speed limits on all other roads.

I have used a heavy foot on a few occasions to overtake and I have been surprised at how much torque you get when the electric motor joins the party and adds more power.

My jag has four different drive settings, one for hazardous weather conditions, one for economy driving, one for 'normal' driving and one for 'sports' .... I just use the normal setting but I do use the two litres for overtaking slow or poor drivers ...into third, foot down and whiz past then make sure I am under the speed limit.

ah torque heh - I was watching a tv ad last night about a cleaning tool for the home mostly bathroom and shower with various size brushes - it did say this brush has plenty of torque - now I know what they meant!

Enjoy your new car.  I am almost certainly on my last car, it should see me out for the rest of my driving days.

andsome wrote:

Enjoy your new car.  I am almost certainly on my last car, it should see me out for the rest of my driving days.

I feel the same as you mate...even though I'm slightly younger