46 7August2019 http://www.autoexpress.co.uk
ROADTESTS KiaCeedSportswagonvsrivals
Infotainment Which multimedia system is best formusic, sat-nav&connectivity?
THEKiahasaneight-inchscreenthatisbrightand
colourful,butitsresolutionisn’tassharpasthe
Skoda’ssystem.Atleastitrespondsjustasquickly,
andbeatstheRenault’sonbothcounts.
Itgetslotsoffunctionalitytoo.Thebuilt-insat-nav
getsgreattrafficinfoandsomeotherconnectedservices,
butifyou’dratherlinkupyourphone,that’spossible
withthestandardAppleCarPlayandAndroidAuto.
Hotkeysaroundthescreenalsomeanthatyoucan
easilyjumpbetweenareasofthesystem,butgoing
step-by-stepthroughthetouchscreenisn’tbadeither,
becausethemenusandlayoutarelogical.Thisiswhere
theRenaultfallsdown,aswellasworkingsomeof
theclimatefunctionsthroughthetouchscreen.
Itwouldbeniceifadigitaldashwereoptionalonthe
Kia,butit’snotnecessaryatthislevelofthemarket.
THESkoda’seight-inchtouchscreenisgreat.It’sthemost
responsive,hasthebrightestcolours,andthegraphics
aresharperthanthesystemsineitherofitsrivals.
Yougetbuilt-innavigation,whichworksreallywell,
butallOctaviaEstatesgetAppleCarPlayandAndroid
Auto,soifyouneedorwanttohookyourphoneup,
thenit’ssimpletodosoandthetechworkswell.
Yougetoneyear’sconnectedservicesincluded,
plusvoicecontrol,butit’sashamethatyoucan’toptfor
Skoda’s10.25-inchdigitaldashpanelevenasanoption
onSEDrivetrim,whilewirelesssmartphonecharging
isn’tavailable(althoughthereareUSBports):both
ofthesefeatureswouldbeneattechupgrades
andimprovehoweasythecaristolivewith.
Asitis,theOctavia’skeyisitssimplicity.Itworks
verywell,withlogicalmenusandgoodfunctionality.
FORAND AGAINSTFOR AND AGAINSTFOR AND AGAINST
Navand greatconnectivity
included, large, responsivescreen
No digital dash, resolution
could be sharper
Big, brightscreen, strong
connectivity,built-in nav
No digital dash or wireless charging
available on entry-levelmodels
DisplayLogical menu system is fine to
use, and thereare shortcut buttons, too.
Eight-inch screen matchesthe Skoda’s
forsize, but the graphics aren’t as sharp
PortraitLarge 8.7-inch touchscreen
is greatforviewing mapsand the system
is well connected, but overall the R-Link
system is slowtorespond to inputs
ScreenEight-inch displayissharp and
responsive, and while sat-navisincluded,
so areApple CarPlayand Android Auto.
Amundsen set-up is standardwith SE Drive
Kia
Ceed
Skoda
Octavia
8-inch touchscreen navStandard
Keyfeatures:Nav, connected services
Amundsen NavigationStandard
Keyfeatures:Nav, connectivity
ȎȎ 4 L 4 L ȗȗ 4 L 4 L
score
4.0
score
4.1
GTLineistheonlytrimintheMéganeline-upto
getthelarger8.7-inchtouchscreenasstandard.This
featuressat-nav,whichworkswell,butAndroidAuto
andAppleCarPlayarenowbetterintegratedandare
quickertooperatethanthestandardset-up.
TherearefewfaultswiththeR-Link2system,butit’s
justabitslowtorespondandthegraphicsaren’tasgreat
asitsrivals’.Atleasttheportraitscreenisgoodformapping.
Someclimatecontrolfunctionsareoperatedthrough
thescreen,sosimpletaskslikeadjustingthefanspeed
canbeabitfiddly,butyougetusedtoit.
GTLinealsogetsadigitaldialpack,butitcan’tdisplay
averywiderangeofinformation;whileit’llshownav
directions,forexample,itcan’tdisplaythewholemap.
Althoughit’sthecheapestcarhere,theMéganegets
plentyoffeaturesandabigscreen,whichisuseful.
Renault
Mégane
R-Link 2Standard
Keyfeatures:Big, portrait screen, nav
ɃɃ 4 L 4 L
score
3.8
Bigscreen, portrait orientation good for
viewing sat-navmap,digital dial pack
Digital dash can’t displaymap
fully,sometimesslowtorespond