THERE are people who cannot see past a good estate car - the long sweeping lines, the great luggage space, the comfort.

Now Kia has bought into this and produced what is ostensibly an estate car but with the kind of performance more related to a hot hatch. It's the old wolf-in-sheep's-clothing story.

The four door ProCeed replaces the three door pro_cee'd a name that defied grammarians and caused no end of bother among motoring writers unsure where to put that darn apostrophe and underscore - or was there one there at all?

So finally the Korean company resolved our pain and got rid of both and at the same time gave us a couple more doors - for which all those with chronic back problem will be eternally grateful.

The ProCeed is an estate car but one which has been designed to be sporty, good-looking and fast and different from the Ceed Sportswagon, Kia's other, more traditional estate.

It is sleek with lines sloping back to the coupe rear with an elegant and composed presence on the road. The deep Kia grille has been narrowed and there are splashes of high gloss black and chrome on the car with the tinted windows outlined in chrome.

These are twin exhaust pipes at the rear at the rear with an integrated spoiler and the overall feeling is one of a decidedly sporty car.

The ProCeed is kept separate from the Ceed Sportswagon with the limited option of top-of-the-range trims. I was driving the GT-Line which comes in faux leather with heated front seats, dual air con, steering wheel mounted controls and an automatic defog system.

The car sits low on the ground so that you get the feeling of sitting in it rather than on it and this adds to the spirited feel of the ProCeed when you drive.

With a 1.6-litre turbo charged diesel engine this sporty little car gives you the best of both worlds. You get great performance with the 134ps it delivers, low CO2 and extremely good fuel economy - an average of 56.5mpg.

I had not driven the ProCeed for some time and it came as a welcome reminder when I got behind the wheel just how responsive and smooth it is. The six-speed manual gearbox is lovely and the bite as you put your foot down is very satisfying.

Like most Kias it comes very well-equipped with lane keep assist, high beam assist, driver attention warning and forward collision avoidance.

There's DAB, MP3 capability, USB and aux-in ports for charging devices, Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and sat nav on an 8ins touchscreen.

It has not surprisingly got plenty of storage as well as that extra room at the rear and the seats do that 40/60 split for extra convenience.