Kia pro_cee’d GT Oz-bound, only market out of Europe

kia proceed gt 21

You know the thing about saying something is designed specifically for a certain market? Well, taking things out of a much-shouted designated loop is becoming more commonplace, by the looks of it – case in point, Hyundai’s VF wagon, otherwise known as the i40 Tourer. Supposedly ‘dedicated for Europe’, we’ve seen its entry here.

Then, there’s this one, the Kia pro_cee’d GT. The standard five-door cee’d and three-door pro_cee’d is exclusive to Europe, and so, you would think, would be the likes of the pro_cee’d GT performance version. Well, not quite – the car is heading out of Europe, to a single export market, in this case Australia.

The 201 hp and 265 Nm three-door hot hatch has been announced for the country, and the 1.6 GDI turbocharged GT will be available Down Under in base GT and GT Tech forms, the latter adding in extra kit such as panoramic sunroof and push-button ignition.

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Like the TF Optima which arrived there in 2011, the Australian-spec pro_cee’d GT will feature a different suspension tune than the European version, revised to best suit conditions of the country’s blacktop. Changes to the damper/springs calibration as well as a specific steering mapping supposedly makes for a sportier, yet more compliant offering.

Now, imagine this Korean pocket rocket being sold here – prior to this, such an idea might sound far fetched, but these days, it looks very much a case of never saying never, or exclusive. Since we’re on the topic, do you think there’d be decent take up for the pro_ceed GT here? Not that it’s likely to happen, of course.

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Anthony Lim

Anthony Lim believes that nothing is better than a good smoke and a car with character, with good handling aspects being top of the prize heap. Having spent more than a decade and a half with an English tabloid daily never being able to grasp the meaning of brevity or being succinct, he wags his tail furiously at the idea of waffling - in greater detail - about cars and all their intrinsic peculiarities here.

 

Comments

  • superdriver on Mar 20, 2014 at 10:40 am

    Really good looking car.Would love to have one…slurrrp

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 52 Thumb down 4
    • superbomoh on Mar 20, 2014 at 12:36 pm

      Suprima R3 who??

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 17 Thumb down 19
    • Agreed.

      And I wonder why Proton is not creative as Kia…

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 38 Thumb down 2
      • oh no on Mar 23, 2014 at 11:46 am

        because they are proton not KIA lol….proton can never be like kia or hyundai..give them another 50 years maybe can be at what KIA/Hyundai are now…but 50 years later…i think others might have very sophisticated cars..where proton only managed to make decent cars!

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 1
    • Hyundai De La Junk on Mar 20, 2014 at 2:58 pm

      U have cheap taste.. lol

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 11 Thumb down 47
    • Sam Loo on Mar 21, 2014 at 12:13 am

      You will be the totally opposite of good looking when you try to sell 1 year later

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 17 Thumb down 26
  • seancorr on Mar 20, 2014 at 11:04 am

    Wow, this is really one hawt looking hatch. Interior also better than our run of the mill KIA models here. Dare I say the Ford Focus design also kalah!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 44 Thumb down 2
  • Steve Kok on Mar 20, 2014 at 11:07 am

    As long as it’s not a Dual Clutch DCT / DSG … it will be good :)

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 30 Thumb down 3
  • A M Nadzim on Mar 20, 2014 at 11:17 am

    i want this!!!!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 14 Thumb down 1
  • Mango on Mar 20, 2014 at 11:30 am

    Great performance figure, Great Exterior but Interior just typical Kim Chi. No touch screen head unit and also something is wrong with the steering.. No flat bottom, too big and just odd.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 51
    • Touch screen is not the essentail for a performance car…

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 11 Thumb down 1
      • BLT Club (Member) on Mar 20, 2014 at 3:00 pm

        Check you the Porsche 918. Touch screen control panel.

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 6
  • Denaihati on Mar 20, 2014 at 11:38 am

    Hope we will see on our road too. i believe everybody will love to see this high performance car.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 17 Thumb down 1
  • axel_stig (Member) on Mar 20, 2014 at 11:40 am

    Satria Neo R3 145hp cant beat this yol

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 16 Thumb down 24
  • kslee on Mar 20, 2014 at 11:59 am

    look at how kia evolved.

    proton is slow like turtle

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 45 Thumb down 5
    • Not design by Korean designer but by paid ex-Audi & VW designer… memang lerrr cantik…

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 20 Thumb down 4
    • trololol on Mar 20, 2014 at 1:29 pm

      proton boleh close shop already.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 23 Thumb down 4
    • Syameer (Member) on Mar 20, 2014 at 4:26 pm

      Proton have evolved and getting better nowadays as compared to few years back at least in term of quality (not to the standard of Benz nor Bentley just in case if you feel like manipulating the statement). Guess, you are the one that is as slow as a snails.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 23
  • Aceonz on Mar 20, 2014 at 12:06 pm

    overall is ok but front-end and the brand logo is damn ugly

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 39
  • Pohmar on Mar 20, 2014 at 12:12 pm

    I will definately trade in my kia rio for this if it ever land in Malaysia.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 20 Thumb down 1
    • ch3 m4t on Mar 20, 2014 at 2:19 pm

      bro..any advice on rio..can’t hardly find one comment onit..plan to get one soon..tq in advance

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 1
    • magpie on Mar 24, 2014 at 9:44 am

      good luck for your kia rio rv…

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 8
  • parkjw on Mar 20, 2014 at 12:25 pm

    kimchi car? no.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 25
  • amin1984 on Mar 20, 2014 at 1:13 pm

    love the fog light.. wish the steering was bit smaller (or its look bigger in the picture) and flat bottom.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 1
  • BLT Club (Member) on Mar 20, 2014 at 2:58 pm

    The red front lip reminds me of the A Class. But this is a serious hot hatch! Kudos KIA. And meanwhile Proton still hung up on the Suprima. What a joke.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 2
  • ss427 on Mar 20, 2014 at 2:58 pm

    Where’s Sam Loo? Oh dear the Pro-Ceed will have zero RV again. Avoid it at all cost! Buy Proton, Vios, Hilux instead!

    People this is the best example of how far the Koreans have come…

    This thing can outrun the Toyota 86 hor… and the Hyundai 1.6L GDI Turbo makes loads of low end torque… stop light take offs will be a breeze… plus it has a 6MT. :)

    Toyobaru 2L boxer engine has very poor low rpm torque. RWD may be fun when the roads are wide and dry, but during heavy rain, the Pro_Ceed is surely faster

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 12 Thumb down 10
    • This outrun the 86?i know your social standard in kiasuland….

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 8
    • Kia pro_ceed TURBO 0-100 = 7.9s
      GT86 NA 0-100 = 7.6s

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 4
      • ss427 on Mar 21, 2014 at 11:39 am

        Haha I rest my case lor. With only 0.3s apart, can the Toyobaru actually win the stoplight race realistically?

        With such poor low rpm torque, Toyobaru driver will need to rev the shit outta engine just to do a proper launch at the traffic lights.

        And when the roads gets slippery, the Pro-ceed with will be able to achieve traction much better thanks to its FWD, taction, VSC etc…

        6MT is the way to go. Oldies is still the best till date… superbly reliable too. No need to worry if it will die on you on the NS Highway

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 1
    • Sam Loo on Mar 21, 2014 at 12:12 am

      No time to tiew kimchi owners nowadays

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 10
  • kimcilover on Mar 20, 2014 at 3:08 pm

    hope that Naza Kia will bring this to our bolehland..Surely i’m the first to own it.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 16 Thumb down 1
  • breal on Mar 20, 2014 at 4:17 pm

    if this thing ever reach our shore it will be priced like a proper GT…and the cheapest we have rite now i think is 140k for the pug208GT

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 0
  • Syameer (Member) on Mar 20, 2014 at 4:29 pm

    Impressive looking car. Peter Schreyer is doing a good job in Kia :)

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 1
  • ryanit (Member) on Mar 20, 2014 at 10:05 pm

    looked like A45 AMG

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 3
    • Sam Loo on Mar 21, 2014 at 12:11 am

      Yeah, when come to sell 1 year later, even my 3 Hilux will not be enough to tell you that I won’t accept even you wanna sell for RM10k

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 17 Thumb down 16
  • conventional stick shift means this hot hatch lacks special sound during shifting as produced by a DCT box when sprinting. That storm alike sound really a head turner and a manifestation of latest technology in a street car. W/out that, this kia proceed just as good as satria neo.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 2
    • tokmoh (Member) on Mar 21, 2014 at 1:50 am

      Butthurt asyik masuk workshop DSG rosak la tu…

      X reti bawa mt, salahkan gbox. Bodoh x bole diajar kot ko ni.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 1
  • xeryus on Mar 21, 2014 at 8:58 am

    meh..still a KIA, cant hide that..see inspiration from many cars, all up it looks ok. But it will be worthless in no time and build quality will be typical KIA, panels misaligned, squeaks and noisy engine…not a nice noise, typical kia diesel noise from a petrol car.. evidence is at any set of lights while you wait, listen to the noisy ass KIA’s and Hyundai’s

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 15
  • DrCooper on Mar 23, 2014 at 7:27 am

    the Torque meter, that’s one of a hell new innovation

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0
  • come to Malaysia on Mar 23, 2014 at 11:52 am

    hopefully the price will beat 308, then there will be many on the road…who cares about resale value once you land yourself in a korean brand….this kind of cars is not meant to fetch good RV…want good RV then look for something else…please.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 0
  • If the price around 150k. I will go for Renault Clio. Korean car… Junk car after 5 year. No value

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
 

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