Archive for Kia

The new Hyundai-Kia Motor Group Theta II GDI engine you saw earlier this week will be making its way into Kias as early as the first half of 2010 in South Korea. It will then make its way into UK models in 2011 and probably then the rest of the world.

We don’t get many normally aspirated gasoline direct injection engines here in Malaysia. So far only a handful of cars have featured non-turbo FSI engines here in Malaysia, such as the 2.2 liter JTS engines in the Alfa Romeo range here including the 159, and the Volkswagen Jetta 2.0 FSI.

BMW has stayed away from bringing in the new direct injection N53 engines and have stuck to the sweeter-sounding port injection N52 engines. Even for the 4-pots, it is the reason why our 320i still puts out only 156hp instead of the 170hp+ available overseas. Even the Lexus GS uses a conventional port injection engine instead of the D4 engine available overseas, however the LS has direct injection.

Most companies quote the issue of fuel quality when asked on why normally aspirated direct injection engines are not available here. The NAP Review says there will be a timeline formulated for the introduction of better petrol (and diesel) here in Malaysia so hopefully by that time it will be just right for GDI Hyundais and Kias to be introduced here in Malaysia.

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.

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

The “original” Korean market facelift

Kia changed their mind pretty quick about how they wanted their Korean market facelifted Optima (called Lotze Innovation in Korea) to look like. Sometime in mid-2008 they updated the Korean market Optima’s front and rear end to a younger and more dynamic look featuring sharper headlamps, the new Schreyer grille, and new LED tail lamps. They also updated the interior with new red backlighting and a new three-gauge meter cluster.

Chrome grille abandoned for sportier mesh look

For this latest minor facelift the front grille has lost its horizontal chrome slats and this is replaced with a mesh grille from the export market model. A comparison is shown above. For more details on the facelift check out our story from when the facelifted Optima was first unveiled last year in the related posts below:

Related Posts:
Kia Lotze Innovation: facelifted Optima in Korea
2009 Kia Optima facelift unveiled at NYIAS 2008

The Kia No3 Concept has been translated into a production car. Presenting: the Kia Venga, a new B-segment MPV (not exactly an MPV in the three-row 7 seater sense but more of a tall hatchback) designed and built in Europe. The name Venga is derived from the Spanish verb “to come”, which in the language sounds like invitation to move from one spot to another. For some reason I find this amusing as it is similiar to the Tamil word “vange” which also means “come”

It looks small but the Kia Venga is actually bigger than a Hyundai i20 – its got a wheelbase of 2,615mm thats a whole lot longer compared to the i20’s 2,525mm wheelbase. The previous generation Kia Carens/Rondo had a wheelbase of 2560mm but with the latest generation (called the Citra II Rondo in Malaysia) it used the Optima’s platform and grew to a massive 2,700mm.

This definitely makes some space for a smaller MPV to be slotted in under the new Rondo. The Kia Venga is 4,068mm long and 1,600mm tall. Like most new Kia designs it looks pretty alright, nothing to hate about it, though I think that Schreyer grille isn’t really working that great on that Fiat Bravo-like nose. But the rest of the car is quite cute.

Kia claims the Kia Venga offers C-segment space in a B-segment footprint, and hopefully price. It will feature a 1.4 liter gasoline engine or a 1.6 liter turbodiesel engine at launch, putting out 75 PS and 115 PS respectively.

Both engines will be fitted standard with ISG (Idle Stop & Go) technology which auto-stops your car engine when your car stops, and restarts it automatically when it is time to move again, useful during traffic jams or stop lights. Optional is a tilt-and-slide all-glass panoramic roof.

The production Kia Venga will be shown to the public at the Frankfurt show in September, and more photos will probably be released then. For now, check out 4 initial photos released by Kia after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of New Kia Venga set to debut at Frankfurt 2009

Kia has added the Peter Schreyer grille to the Kia cee’d facelift, and here we are shown some initial glimpses of both the normal hatchback model and the wagon model. The grille looks a little out of place on the cee’d in my opinion, as it is very angular and works well on angular cars like the Forte and the new Sorento, but not very suitable for a more curvy car like the cee’d. The new bumpers make the new facelifted cee’d about 25mm longer but no changes to wheelbase. Kia says there are also some changes on the interior such as all-red instrumentation lighting as well as new suspension settings. The facelift range will also debut a new variant with automatic start-stop for the 1.6 diesel under the new ECO-dynamics label. The new U2 family 1.6 liter turbodiesel will get a new 6-speed manual. Look after the jump for more photos of the new facelifted cee’d.

Click here to read the rest of More photos of the Kia cee’d facelift released

These are the initial batch of 3 images of the new Kia large sedan codenamed “VG”, which will replace the Opirus/Amanti. I’ve actually seen the Amanti around KL before, probably driven by some Korean expatriates. It’s somewhat like Kia’s take on the now discontinued Jaguar S-Type, meant to look large and stately. Before you argue that these kind of cars don’t fit well in Kia’s image, they are all over the roads in South Korea. The people there tend to buy Korean cars exclusively from the low end to the higher ends of the model segments.

Click here to read the rest of Kia teases 3 shots of the new VG sedan