[badyellowvette]

Had my new 2017 Niro EX shipped in February from WV. I have been waiting on the licenses plate and insurance to kick in, besides the roads are covered in salt and cinders.
Saturday was beautiful here rain had cleaned off the roads so I took it for a ride, a little over 80 miles. All I can say is I LOVE THIS CAR! It is everything I wanted in a new car. The size is just perfect inside and out, plenty of power for me and I got 58 mpg for my trip. I know the on board mileage indicator is not too accurate but anything over 50 I'm good.
In my first post here in 2016 I said I thought the Niro would be the perfect car for me and I was right. After the pricing came out I also posted the pricing was too high for me as daily driver and I was out. But when I found a deal on a 2017 EX in the color I wanted and a power seat I had to go for it. I am glad I did. Now if I avoid the problems some others have had I will stay happy, so far so good.

 

[myronbg]

Good post.
I joined this forum last March ['17] as I was less than happy with my Gen 2 Volt & started to do my research for a replacement. The one thing that concerned me was the transmission "jerking". Further research found that the Niro uses a DCT & that there are 2 variations [wet & dry clutches provided by a few different manufactures] & DCT are common in high end sport cars. BUT... Kia developed their own DCT. During most driving conditions the xmission is flawless. Period. However, I think, in order to improve MPG the engine idles way down [&/or shuts off] going down hills or stoping. Then when starting up it takes a second or so for the engine/xmission to engage. You'll feel it, however if you apply the accelerator too fast, or too much, it will really jerk ahead. If a minimal pedal pressure is applied, the engagement is hardly noticeable and the engine/xmission is off & running & going through the gears as it should.
I got an '18 Niro EX with no packages the day before Thanksgiving & I'm impressed with all things Kia. I traded my '12 Kia Sportage for the '16 Volt and as I [1] missed a SUV & [2] Kia & the way the standard design incorporates stuff that other manufactures are extra & the EX has all the stuff I wanted & the packages were what I didn't want or need.
There is a lot of customization that you can do, & as you've been here for a long time you know that most questions are answered.
My only complaint is I would like to see PHEV specific issues have their own Thread.

 

[badyellowvette]

Good post.
I joined this forum last March ['17] as I was less than happy with my Gen 2 Volt & started to do my research for a replacement. The one thing that concerned me was the transmission "jerking". Further research found that the Niro uses a DCT & that there are 2 variations [wet & dry clutches provided by a few different manufactures] & DCT are common in high end sport cars. BUT... Kia developed their own DCT. During most driving conditions the xmission is flawless. Period. However, I think, in order to improve MPG the engine idles way down [&/or shuts off] going down hills or stoping. Then when starting up it takes a second or so for the engine/xmission to engage. You'll feel it, however if you apply the accelerator too fast, or too much, it will really jerk ahead. If a minimal pedal pressure is applied, the engagement is hardly noticeable and the engine/xmission is off & running & going through the gears as it should.
I got an '18 Niro EX with no packages the day before Thanksgiving & I'm impressed with all things Kia. I traded my '12 Kia Sportage for the '16 Volt and as I [1] missed a SUV & [2] Kia & the way the standard design incorporates stuff that other manufactures are extra & the EX has all the stuff I wanted & the packages were what I didn't want or need.
There is a lot of customization that you can do, & as you've been here for a long time you know that most questions are answered.
My only complaint is I would like to see PHEV specific issues have their own Thread.

Thanks for the informative post. I was looking into a Chevy Volt but I couldn't make the numbers work for my situation. If I could have plugged it in at work maybe. Besides I wanted to level load floor of the Niro. The Niro is the closest match I could get to my Chevy HHR for size loadable and MPG, I am getting 35 on my HHR.

 

[Griswald]

My only complaint on the transmission is that if you start to slow for a red light and almost come to a stop, then the light changes to green, it takes a second or two to engage. Almost like the clutches havent quite disengaged and reengaged quick enough.

Not a deal breaker, just something to think about.

Now the horrific cruise control...that is an issue.

 

[badyellowvette]

My only complaint on the transmission is that if you start to slow for a red light and almost come to a stop, then the light changes to green, it takes a second or two to engage. Almost like the clutches havent quite disengaged and reengaged quick enough.

Not a deal breaker, just something to think about.

Now the horrific cruise control...that is an issue.

What exactly is the problem with cruise control? I was using mine last weekend and see no difference then the cruise control in my other cars. Also I had no issues with surging or waiting for transmission engage. The real only issue I have is the car not moving until you press the gas pedal further than you think you should but I got used to that and don't even notice it now.

 

[RedWouldForrest]

My only complaint on the transmission is that if you start to slow for a red light and almost come to a stop, then the light changes to green, it takes a second or two to engage. Almost like the clutches havent quite disengaged and reengaged quick enough.

That is precisely why I named my Niro "Lurch".

 

[Griswald]

My cruise control seems to have a mind of its own. If I set it to 60, it will drop to 58 then raise to 62 then it may settle down to 60 or it may slowly creep up to 64 or drop again to 55. Resume only sets it to whatever speed I am going when I press the resume switch, it does not go to the last set speed. The "up" or "down" switches sometimes work, and sometimes they dont. I can be moving along at 62 in cruise and pass somebody and after a while, I see them gaining on me because my cruise decided that 62 was not what I really wanted, and 59 is fast enough. Then I hit the "up" switch and it jerks me all the way to 64 before I shut it off and reset it. Its MADDENING!!! There needs to be an adjustable gain control somewhere.

I did figure out that I cannot be touching the gas pedal when I engage cruise, I have to speed up over the required speed and let it drift back down and then engage cruise for it to work fairly consistently.

The problem is that I drive 60 miles on a 60 MPH divided highway every day and I use cruise the entire drive, so cruise is a big deal to me.

Oh, and I have ZERO smart features, no adaptive or self-braking or lane keeping assist, so none of that could be causing an issue.

 

[Griswald]

That is precisely why I named my Niro "Lurch".

Its not a big deal, just something to get used to.

 

[grnd0]

My cruise is the same, so it's not just yours.

 

[badyellowvette]

My cruise stays put pretty much where I set it. If I am set on 55 it might bounce to 56 and back occasionally but never any further. Maybe i need more miles to find out if I have any of these issues.

 

[myronbg]

I agree the CC is less than smooth or consistant.
One of the things that were noticeable with my Volt was the difference between the CC response during EV [immediate] and the engine [the infamous "chuggele" somewhat similar to our "stutter" but far more disconcerting].
For the Niro, I think it's the engine/transmission/computer agreeing on what to do & the engines response could be depending on a whole host of variables [accelerating, go up/down hills, temperature, etc.] for the engine to catch up.
I have my Instrument Cluster Panel LCD display [I needed to look up what it's called] using the digital speedometer so every little change is seen, and it can be a couple of MPH depending on what's going on. What I do like, as I have a couple of big hills to go over, if I have the CC on, it keeps the set speed going both up & down the hills. The DCT does a good job especially going up the hills when it downshifts & increases the accelerator & downhill as the xmission maintains the set speed.
Some of my trips go from 55 to 65 to 70 MPH. I typically go 2-5 MPH over the limits. I usually get up to speed, engage the CC when it sets I then use the +/- 1 click up or down to change change the speed. My right thumb is my version of Adaptive CC & it hasn't required a service adjustment so far.

 

[npaladin2000]

Is all this the regular cruise system or the adaptive one? And is it being caused by inclination changes maybe?

 

[Griswald]

One other nit to pick with the cruise control. On my Fusion Hybrid, there was a setting called "Eco-Cruise" that softened all features in cruise control. I do not understand why a vehicle that's being marketed as an economy car must have the cruise control floor it to get up to speed...kinda defeats the purpose of driving gently to get maximum fuel economy. In the Fusion Hybrids case, it was a very gentle transition to the throttle when changing speeds, but in the Niro, its like John Force is in control of the throttle.

I asked my dealer if there was any software update for the cruise and they told me no.

Oh well...if there wasn't something to pick on, it would be no fun to have forums!

 

[morestuff]

On my EX level Niro PHEV the cruise control has 3 possible settings for how aggressive it will be with pulling up to speed. Useful, but none of them is quite as good as a human can be at managing acceleration. Also when using the adaptive following distance feature, the cruise control does not anticipate the need to slow down as well as a human, probably because the radar cannot see as far ahead. Still, it is miles ahead of the cruise on my old car, and the adaptive following distance feature is a godsend in heavy traffic.

 

[yticolev]

The issue only happens if your foot is on the pedal when you set the cruise control. For some reason the Niro gives the pedal full priority and will not increase or decrease to the set speed until your foot is off the pedal. When your foot is removed completely from the pedal, it takes a second before the the CC engages and takes action. If you are somewhere around the set speed, or below, that second may cause it to slow a couple miles an hour before accelerating towards the set point. If you are above the set point, again it takes a second to engage and then regen will actively slow the car to the set point. If you are going more than say five or ten miles above your set point, the deceleration can be a bit violent.

This is very different behavior from any other CC I've used, but apparently it is a "feature", not a bug.

 

[Jason Carmichael]

My cruise control seems to have a mind of its own. If I set it to 60, it will drop to 58 then raise to 62 then it may settle down to 60 or it may slowly creep up to 64 or drop again to 55. Resume only sets it to whatever speed I am going when I press the resume switch, it does not go to the last set speed. The "up" or "down" switches sometimes work, and sometimes they dont. I can be moving along at 62 in cruise and pass somebody and after a while, I see them gaining on me because my cruise decided that 62 was not what I really wanted, and 59 is fast enough. Then I hit the "up" switch and it jerks me all the way to 64 before I shut it off and reset it. Its MADDENING!!! There needs to be an adjustable gain control somewhere.

I did figure out that I cannot be touching the gas pedal when I engage cruise, I have to speed up over the required speed and let it drift back down and then engage cruise for it to work fairly consistently.

The problem is that I drive 60 miles on a 60 MPH divided highway every day and I use cruise the entire drive, so cruise is a big deal to me.

Oh, and I have ZERO smart features, no adaptive or self-braking or lane keeping assist, so none of that could be causing an issue.

When did you get your Niro? What is the build date? (On the drivers door jam)