Kia cee’d five-star winner is a real Safety Car

The Euro NCAP five-star rated cee’d has proven it’s a safe car in more ways than one – it has been employed as an official Safety Car at a number of motor racing circuits around the UK. The job of a Safety Car is to intervene in serious and dangerous incidents during races to control the pace of the cars or motor cycles until the incident is resolved. It’s a tough role, but the Kia cee’d is up to it.Building on the inherently stiff and dynamic chassis, few changes were needed to make the cee’d more circuit friendly. Uprated suspension and a wheel and tyre package have made the cee’d Safety Car even more dynamic than the acclaimed standard package. The UK’s Motor Sports Association (MSA) has detailed regulations for the lighting fitted to Safety Cars. Consultation with vehicle lighting specialists, Vision Alert, resulted in an ultra hi-tech and low weight amber LED based package which met the MSA criteria. Despite having good road manners and independent suspension all round, a rare attribute within the C-segment, the cee’d Safety Car was upgraded further to help with the high speed demands of the job. The suite of modifications also lowers the car by around 20mm with the help of leading suspension company, Eibach. A colour-coded rear spoiler and black 18-inch Rimstock alloy wheels wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport tyres complete the look. The standard cee’d braking system was initially earmarked for upgrades to cope with the increased speeds and repeated harsh braking of circuit life, however initial tests proved that the standard disc brakes fitted to each corner are more than up to the task. The cee’d Safety Car package has recently been seen at Silverstone and Castle Combe making safe numerous situations during car and motor cycle races. Spokesman for Castle Combe race circuit, Rodney Gooch, said: ‘The cee’d has proven extremely popular with the Safety Team, competitors and spectators alike. The car has been called into action quite a few times already and it has earned its wings in extreme conditions proving to be quick and dynamic in the most demanding of situations. No doubt – this is a very capable car.’ Paul Philpott, Managing Director, Kia Motors (UK) Ltd, said: ‘Thanks to the independent suspension cee’d lends itself to the dynamic circuit environment quite easily. The Safety Car is a demonstration that if a ‘warmer’ cee’d came along it would certainly have The Power to Surprise.’