Archive for Koreans

Kia has already started dabbling in motorsports in Europe but the car above is part of its US motorsports program which it unveiled at the 2009 SEMA tuner car show. Two Kia Forte Koups built together with the Kinetic Group will be racing in the 2010 GRAND-AM KONI Sports Car Challenge Series in the Street Tuner (ST) class.

The ST class uses race cars based on production vehicles and uses weight and intake restrictions to maintain a level playing field for all entrants. The two Kia cars will be piloted by Nic Jonsson, Andy Lally, Adam Burrows and Trevor Hopwood.

This is the new Naza Picanto, just launched by Naza Kia Sdn Bhd a few days ago at The Curve. Yes, this is the CKD Picanto that was previously called the Naza Suria, but now the Suria name has been dropped and replaced by the Kia name, though the Naza badge remains. The Suria name was probably inspired by the Picanto’s Korean market name, which is the Kia Morning.

The most obvious change is of course the aesthetic update to the latest look that has been available from Kia internationally. With the latest facelift in Korea, there were actually two different front ends available but Naza has picked the version with the rounded foglamps to sell here. There is another one with leaf-shaped look foglamps and funkier alloy wheels, probably some kind of special edition.

On the inside, the interior has been updated with orange backlighting for the controls and meter cluster. The meter cluster is complete with an RPM meter but there is no water temp meter. The head unit provided is a 1-DIN design with USB support so you can read your MP3 files off a USB thumbdrive and do away with carrying CDs in your Picanto. The 1.1 liter engine revs up to 6k RPM and puts out a peak of 64 PS at 5,500rpm and 96Nm of torque at 2,800rpm. I like the fact that peak torque is made under 3,000rpm, which is usually the point an automatic car would shift gears if driven gently. But in any case acceleration from 0 to 100km/h will take a long 15.1 seconds.

In terms of safety, the front passenger and driver get two airbags – one each. The airbags are only available on the more expensive EX model. None of the models have ABS. There are four 3-point belts and a lap belt for the rear center. Wheels are 14 inch steels for the LS and 15 inch alloys for the EX, wrapped with 165/60R14 and 175/50R15 tyres respectively. The EX goes for RM46,800 while the LS goes for RM44,500. If you are in the market for one I’d recommend you just go for the EX since you get alloys and two airbags for a premium of RM2,300.

Also note that the Picanto is basically the original car that the Hyundai i10 was based on, and the i10 is sold at a higher price of RM48,888 in Malaysia. But the i10 comes with ABS brakes and a 5-year warranty while from the Naza Kia website it appears the Picanto gets 2 years, though it looks like a (optional?) 2 year extended warranty program is also available. Also, the i10’s CKD packs come from India, while the Picanto’s CKD packs probably come from Korea.

Look after the jump for an E-Brochure and a gallery of the Picanto.

Click here to read the rest of Naza Picanto: latest facelift now in Malaysia

It’s official – no matter whether you’ve been calling it the Kia VG or the Kia KND-5 Concept, you’ll now have a new and official to refer to it by – the Kia Cadenza. But Kia noted that the name Cadenza would be one used outside of Korea. In Korea it might be called the K7.

The name Cadenza was derived from an Italian musical term used to describe an elaborate, ornamental flourish for a concerto or aria. In line with its upmarket sedan status, there will be a number of creature comforts introduced in the Cadenza that are not common in a Kia – heated steering wheel, powered extendable seat cushions (for thigh support), windshield automatic defogging, and ventilated front seats.

The Kia Cadenza production car will make public debuts at the Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Dubai international motorshows towards the end of 2009. Look after the jump for an initial set of 4 hi-res images released officially by Kia.

Click here to read the rest of Kia Cadenza – the official name for the VG sedan

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A larger Forte with softer lines to match its more stately demeanor can’t be a bad thing. And Kia agrees – here’s the new Kia VG.

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That is just a codename. It’s official name is not known yet, but it’s large sedan that’s bigger than the Optima, with a wheelbase pegged at 2,845mm, which is shorter than the Hyundai Genesis’s 2,936mm but much longer than the Optima’s 2,700mm Euro D-segment wheelbase.

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For now all we have are these pre-announcement leaked production photos, but Kia previously unveiled a concept version of this new large sedan to us as the Kia KND-5 Concept so you can check out the previous post covering that for some extra details.

The most luxurious Hyundai ever has just been launched in South Korea. The long-wheelbase version of the Hyundai Equus callled the Equus Stretch is the largest and most expensive vehicle in the Hyundai line-up.

The vehicle is longer than major competitors by as much as 310 mm. Backseat legroom is longer by up to 376 mm. The new model is fitted with the most powerful engine ever built for a Hyundai production car – a 5.0-litre V8 producing 400PS and 500Nm of torque.

Rear passengers will find they have the world’s first power-driven footrest (I know for a fact that MAS first class gets a powered footrest), seat leg support, relax posture control and a massage system. It’s quite clear that an airplane’s first class seating is the inspiration for the Equus rear passenger room.

There is also a bulletproof version of the car and 3 units have been delivered to the Korean President. Hyundai is the first Korean company to develop a bulletproof car with its own technology.

Click here to read the rest of Hyundai Equus Stretch goes on sale in Korea

The GEMA alliance has ended this month. GEMA stands for Global Engine Manufacturing Alliance, and was a joint venture between Mitsubishi, Chrysler and Hyundai-Kia to develop a family of 4-cylinder engines.

There are currently three different sizes available – 1.8 liter, 2.0 liter and 2.4 liter. In Malaysia, there are a few cars that use engines derived from the GEMA project – the 2.0 liter motors in the Lancer and Lancer Evolution X, and the 2.0 liter motors in the Hyundai Sonata, Kia Optima and Naza Rondo.

Chrysler says it intends to replace its GEMA engines with new small engine technology it will gain access to from its new Italian partner Fiat. But interestingly, despite Chrysler stating an intention to replace its GEMA products with Fiat products, Chrysler is the one who has ended up with full ownership of the GEMA plant. Mitsubishi and Hyundai have just sold their stakes to Chrysler. It is likely that the plant will be converted to a plant making Fiat engines in the future.

Technology bought to GEMA by an individual company will remain the intellectual property of that company, so Hyundai and Mitsubishi will likely be able to continue using their Theta/Theta II and 4B series of engines respectively.

The new Sonata YF has been unveiled in Korea and I must say the specs list looks very good indeed. The cost of development to Hyundai was 400 billion won (RM1.15 billion) over a timespan of 4 years, and I must say the results look pretty good so far.

Not sure how long it’ll take to recoup costs but the car will be priced in Korea at 21.3 million Won (RM61,350) to 25.95 million Won (RM74,800).

The Sonata has a particularly powerful 2.0 liter engine from the Theta II family, which is a development of the GEMA world engine. Variants of the GEMA world engine are also found in Chrysler cars and locally in the Mitsubishi Lancer and Kia Optima.

The difference is with this latest stage of tune, horsepower and torque figures have been increase and are now even more impressive. The engine can now make a peak power output of 165 PS at 6,200rpm and a peak torque of 198Nm at 4,600rpm, which is very close to the 100Nm per liter ratio.

It’s one of the highest torque outputs available in non-premium segment engines without direct injection. This engine is mated to a 6-speed automatic, which is also the best in class so far in its segment (both competitors have 4 or 5-speeders).

Although only one engine option has been unveiled now, Hyundai says a 2.4 liter version with direct injection will be unveiled in January next year when it presents the US market version. Small engines like a 2.0 will never sell over there.

The body has a four-door coupe-ish look to the roofline, and most people are instantly reminded of the Passat CC when a few shots were leaked in the past few weeks. Hyundai calls this new design language “fluidic sculpture”. It’s designed to project a more youthful image for the car, so Hyundai probably intends it to be more Mazda 6 than Toyota Camry.

Vehicle Dynamic Control is standard, and there are also other driver assist features such as Hill-Start Assist Control and Brake Assist. The car also has the Korean market Mozen telematics system. This is not really likely to make its way anywhere outside of South Korea for now but its pretty interesting. It’s basically like BMW ConnectedDrive – the car can access various information systems via the WCDMA mobile network. You get features such as SOS calls and Mozen Autocare anti-theft tracking.

Look after the jump for a video and more shots of the YF Sonata.

Click here to read the rest of Hyundai Sonata YF gets world unveiling in Korea!

Total sales for the Getz in Malaysia recently hit 20,000 units since its 2005 launch, so Hyundai-Sime Darby Motors have decided to create a new limited run Hyundai Getz SE (Special Edition) to celebrate. The Getz SE will be limited to a 300 unit run and each unit will have a serialized plate in the car starting with the number 001.

The changes are all aesthetic as the 1.4 liter DOHC engine under the hood remains the same as before. The Getz SE is only available in a colour called “Icing White”. The front end receives a new grille and bumper. The side mirrors have integrated LED indicators. At the rear, the car gets a new bumper as well. The single exhaust tailpipe is hidden behind the mesh grille of the “diffuser-like” design.

On the inside, the center dashboard and the door handles has a new brushed-aluminium look to them. The interior seats and steering wheel comes in leather. Wheels are 15 inchers of a new design and are wrapped with Dunlop D01 tyres. Hyundai says they picked the D01 because of its double V groove pattern which does well on wet roads, making it suitable for the Malaysian tropical climate.

Other than that, the rest of the car is the same as the regular Getz. The SE version is available for both the 5-speed manual and 4-speed automatic options.

The Hyundai Getz SE 1.4GL(M) is priced at RM 60,984.00 (OTR) in West Malaysia and RM 62,716.10 (OTR) in East Malaysia and the Hyundai Getz SE 1.4GL(A) is priced at RM 63,888.00 (OTR) in West Malaysia and RM 66,277.00 (OTR) in East Malaysia. Hyundai offers a 5 year or 300,000 warranty with the Getz.

Look after the jump for more shots of the Getz SE.

Click here to read the rest of New Hyundai Getz SE – 300 unit limited run

Here’s a first photo of Hyundai’s new electric i10 set to make its debut at the 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show. The Hyundai i10 Electric will begin limited series production in 2010 and will initially be offered in Korea only. It will be offered to the Korean government, state corporations, and utility companies. No price has been revealed as of now, but the press release mentions “sell” instead of “lease”.

The i10 Electric is powered by a 49kW (66 horsepower) motor, mated to a 16kWh battery which promises a range of 160km and a top speed of 130km/h. Because of the switch of powertrain, the steering, air conditioning, water pump and brake vacuum pump systems have been modified to all run on electrical power now.

The Koreans have improved the standard of their powertrains tremendously in the past decade. From the initial set of engines based on Mitsubishi products, they’ve moved to very competent engines with dual variable valve timing, new engines with turbocharging and direct injection, impressive and fuel efficient R-engine diesel engines, LPI Hybrids and now, an all-electric powertrain! Impressive!

Click here to read the rest of Hyundai i10 Electric EV set for Frankfurt debut

It’s hard to tell what real world performance and experiences will be like for now but one thing’s for sure (though you can read my first impression story when I got to drive the car in Korea), the new Kia Forte Koup is a stunner when it comes to its looks.

If you just can’t get enough of the Koup, check out this fresh new CGI-heavy video from Kia promoting its new Kia Forte Koup after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of VIDEO: Kia Koup Promotional Footage