The 2.0-litre turbo petrol engine starts at the press of a chromed starter button and idles quietly, but it wastes no time in raising its voice as the car sweeps up to town speeds. You’ll quickly sense why this is on your first trip beyond medium revs: it’s not engine noise you’re hearing but rather the overtures of Kia’s dashboard-mounted Active Sound System ‘sound actuator’ (as if avoiding calling it a speaker somehow makes the electronic skullduggery more acceptable). This a pretty brazen attempt to make the car’s four-cylinder engine more rich and interesting on the ear, but both in Normal and Sport driving modes, it’s simply over-cooked. It's loud enough to sound decidedly awkward and contrived. And, unfortunately, there’s no volume knob – nor an ‘off’ switch.