Auto Express – August 07, 2019

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