Welcome to Autodrivel

I haven’t written about a beige type car in a long time. If you want a car but don’t know what car to get, get an Auris. If you want a saloon but don’t know anything about cars, you’ll probably get a Passat because that’s the default saloon to get as a 45 year old married with children. But if you want a hybrid and know nothing about hybrids? Kia Niro De is your answer.

Kia Niro De. For the type of person who drove a Passat B4 in ’95 and/or a Skoda Octavia Tour back in 2005. They are 40-45 years old, have 2 kids, and need a car that does everything. It should have enough space in the front armrest for tissues and enough space in the rear armrest for the kids’ medicine. They road trip to a local monastery on weekends and drag along their kids willingly or not. The kids complain that they don’t want to go to the morning sermon, he argues with the spouse because they drove too slowly, and the trip took too long, but still don’t drive too fast because they have kids and you don’t know what dangers are there out on the roads. Saturday night, they return from the monastery and then he goes out with his quality drinking budies, belching after five beers while telling dirty jokes. Sunday morning, they’re a bit hungover, and by evening they’re terrified that Monday is coming, but deep down, they’re happy because going to work means to escape from the kids’ screams.

And it’s time to change the family car because 1) the family has grown, or 2) the Passat B4 failed its inspection, and they finally need to buy something newer.

Kia Niro – the Sunday afternoon visit to relatives you can’t stand but at least they have good drinks, and you have the chance to meet another guy who came just for the drinks, and you both get drunk together and get scolded by your wives on the way home because she has to drive out of necessity because you promised you wouldn’t drink BUT YOU COULDN’T RESIST. 

Kia Niro DE  is for the type of person looking for a family car that is spacious, economical, reliable, and decently priced. Essentially a larger Ioniq for those with a larger family. Because the Ioniq is more for taxi drivers, while the Niro is for the dedicated family guy. 

Kia Niro DE Engines

Hybrid

1.6 GDi Hybrid G4LE of 140 horsepower combined – The first hybrid from Hyundai and Kia was also the only internal combustion engine available for the Kia Niro. As I said, the Kia Niro is like a larger, more spacious Ioniq because they share the same drivetrain. A reliable hybrid engine, emotionless, and powerless. Like when you return from the hospital and need to recover. Just like you lose fluids in the hospital, this engine loses oil because it’s a direct injection engine. But it’s not an oil guzzling frat bro like VW or Honda, but it’s good to know it’s there.

Electric

Electric engine of 135 and 201 horsepower – Depending on the battery size, the range starts at a decent 180 miles and goes all the way up to 280 miles, with the US oficial EPA rating at 240 miles. This powertrain is borrowed from the electric Kona so the range is actually pretty large and in charge. Mind you however that the average lifespan of the batteries is 8-10 years, so the earliest models have their batteries on their way out so checking the battery’s life is mandatory prior to purchase. 

Kia Niro DE Reliability Issues

• The reverse gear starts the party because I don’t know what sound system they put in those speakers, but it’s like they called the entire squad of ultras. Which is a shame because the rest of the audio system in the car is quite bad because we’re talking about a budget Hyundai from 2015.


• You’d think that the middle ground between an SUV and a minivan has acres of interior space, but that can’t really be said about the boot space.

Kia Niro DE Verdict

The Kia Niro DE is exactly what you’re looking for if you want a family car, and that’s it. You have no other emotional criteria. It’s economical, is reliable, spacious, and reasonably priced. But that’s it. Kia Niro – the official car of the 8 to 5 job because you have an hour break INCLUDED IN THE CONTRACT BUT THAT MEANS I STILL HAVE TO STAY AT WORK FOR 9 HOURS BECAUSE IT’S NOT LIKE I CAN GO HOME OR ANYWHERE ELSE IN THAT HOUR, STILL HAVE TO STAY THERE.

Which engines do I recommend? Anyway, you only have one hybrid engine, and it’s the only engine you need. Because if you’re looking at this type of car, 105 horsepower is enough. Or 140 combined, but you’ll never really floor it hard enough to engage the electric motors and you’ll mostly potter about using the combustion engine’s 105 horsepower.