Archive for Kia

Kia showcased three differently styled concept versions of the Kia SOUL, an upcoming production model set to be launched at the Paris Motor Show this year.

The Kia SOUL Diva is aimed at the conscious young-at-heart woman who regards her car as part of her outfit. The Kia SOUL Burner is the “bad boy”, while the Kia SOUL Searcher is meant to project a sense of tranquility within the urban jungle, somewhat like a comfort zone.

“Because this new Kia model is not a replacement for an existing vehicle and will play a unique role within the Kia range it can be a bit of a rebel! The trio of concepts shown at Geneva are ‘appetisers for the Paris introduction. We are making a bold ‘fun statement to highlight ‘the world of possibilities that this new Kia will bring to the marketplace,” said Gregory Guillaume, Chief Designer Kia Motors Europe.

Guillaume led the Kia SOUL Concept trio’s design team, under the guidance of Kia’s Chief Design Office Peter Schreyer. Mr Schreyer is shown above with the concepts.

More photos and a video after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Kia SOUL Concepts - Burner, Searcher, Diva

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The new Kia Soul is a small SUV that seems targetted smack at the typical Scion buyer, a lifestyle car for the young and young at heart. Kia will be displaying three Kia Soul concepts at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show.

The three concepts will probably be more aesthetics-focused than anything else, and this teaser image of one of the concepts called SOUL Burner which Kia says features a satin black finish and dragon “tattoos”.

Related Posts:
Kia to produce 2009 Kia Soul crossover
Production Kia Soul sighted!

Source

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The Naza Sorento (rebadged Kia Sorento) has been facelifted in Malaysia, and while we do not gain the new powerful VGT turbodiesel thats available in Europe, the 2.5 liter intercooled turbodiesel engine still remains one of the more powerful ones in the segment, producing 140 PS at 3,800rpm and 294Nm of torque at 2,000rpm. This is mated to a 5-speed (1 overdrive) automatic gearbox, with Active Torque Transfer between the front and rear wheels, high/low ratios, and a limited slip differential.

The facelifted Naza Sorento features a 3-bar chrome radiator grille and a new front bumper with circular fog lamps. The Sorento also gets new front headlamps with a blackened out design - these are of the projector type. It has 16 inch 5-spoke alloy wheels, and a new rear bumper.

Because of the new bumpers, the new Naza Sorento is 4,590mm long, 20mm longer than the pre-facelift Sorento. Ground clearance is 203mm, wheelbase is 2,710mm, track is 1,580mm for both front and rear, width is 1,865mm, and height is 1,730mm (1,810mm with roof rack). Exterior colours consist of a choice of 4 colours - Ebony Black, Sand Beige, Clear White and Clear Silver. All are two-tone matched with Pewter Gray.

The interior upholstery is grey with brown high gloss wood trim. Its too bad Naza Kia did not choose black for the interior as they did with the Kia Sportage - that would have given the interior a more upmarket feel, as it did with the Sportage. The interior instrument cluster is now brighter thanks to the use of LED lighting instead of the pre-facelift Sorento’s bulb lighting.

Interior legroom for the second row is now 890mm - 30mm more than the pre-facelift Sorento. Another new feature is dual zone climate control. There is a trip computer on the overhead console that shows a compass, distance to empty, average speed, elapsed drive time, and external temperature.

Kia Motors has retuned the Sorento’s suspension for better ride and handling. The front is an in-wheel type double wishbone suspension while the rear is a solid axle 5-link suspension with coil springs.

The front suspension now has larger bushes for improved ride, while the caster angle has been changed from 3.3″ to 3.89″ for improved straight line stability. The rear suspension has a longer lower arm length (now 655.1mm compared to pre-facelift 591.3mm) and adjusted angle to reduce the bouncy feeling associated with solid axle suspensions. Upper arm angle has also been adjusted for improved ride, and the upright shock absorber has been moved outside of the frame for improved ride.

Safety features include dual airbags and ABS. The new facelifted Sorento has a 5 star NHTSA NCAP rating, compared to the prefacelift Sorento’s 4 star rating. For the IIHS overall frontal test, the rating is now Good, compared to the prefacelift’s Acceptable grade. Euro NCAP test results revealed a 4 star score for both front and side impact.

The new facelifted Naza Sorento comes with a 5 year or 125,000km warranty, and a 2 year or 50,000km free service package, inclusive of lubricants and labour. Prices start at RM138,888 on the road.

More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Naza Sorento facelift launched in Malaysia

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The Naza Suria is now available in 6 colours (Galaxy Black, Orange, Scarlet Red, Liquid Silver, Samba Green & Cobalt Blue), each with matching “Edisi Grafix” body stickers. Above is the Scarlet Red version.

UPDATE: These stickers are at no extra cost and is valid 31st December 2007. If you prefer a normal Suria without the stickers, it’s also available.

Have a look at the rest of the new colours and body stickers after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Naza Suria Edisi Grafix

Haldex has just received a prototype order for an all-wheel drive system from its first Asian customer - Hyundai-Kia. The prototype will be based on Haldex’s 4th generation limited slip coupling and the all-new electronic LSD called the Haldex XWD. The system also functions as a torque vectoring system.

Current Haldex all-wheel drive customers power Volkswagen’s 4MOTION system and is used on cars from its owned brands like Audi, Seat and Skoda. It’s technology also gives the Volvo S80 traction on all four wheels. It’s most recent customer is Saab, which will use Haldex’s systems for the Saab 9-3 XWD.

Kia Motors will supply the Korean Ministry an additional 3,390 hybrid vehicles over the next two years, which includes the Kia Rio Hybrid shown in this post. This is part of an on-going “real-world” test program for Kia to develop hybrid vehicles for the future. The program currently already consists of 780 cars on the roads.

A recap from a previous post - under the hood of the Kia Rio Hybrid is a 90 PS, 126Nm 1.4 liter CVVT gasoline engine from the Alpha II family mated to a 12kW 95Nm AC synchronised electric motor. The Rio Hybrid’s combined torque of 221Nm is equivalent to a conventional modern 2.4 liter engine. If you’re wondering where the battery for the motor is located, a photo of it together with a severely compromised boot space is available after the jump.

Drive to the front wheels is via a CVT gearbox, and the electric motor is positioned between this and the engine flywheel. The gearbox “assists” the gasoline engine during starting, accelerating and hill-climbing. The car uses regenerative braking during deceleration to recharge its 144V Ni-MH battery pack. The powertrain also uses an engine start-stop function to further save fuel.

0-100km/h takes 12.2 seconds, top speed is 180km/h and the Kia Rio Hybrid returns a fuel consumption of 5.29 liters per 100km, while emissions of CO2 is 126g/km. Special lightweight components such as an aluminium bonnet, boot lid, front seat frames, lightweight road wheels, low friction tyres and electric power steering help reduce fuel consumption by cutting down weight by 220kg compared to a conventional Rio sedan.

More photos after the jump.

Related Posts:
Kia Rio Hybrid introduced at Geneva 2007

Click here to read the rest of The Kia Rio Hybrid in action

No, Kia did not put the Kia Mojave pick-up truck concept into production. This new large SUV from Kia is called the Kia Mohave, and it is basically the Korean domestic market version of the Kia Borrego that will be sold internationally.

Like the Borrego, the Kia Mohave will be built using a ladder frame construction and will be powered by Kia’s first V8, or a smaller V6.

Click here to read the rest of Kia Mohave: Korean domestic market Borrego

Naza Kia Sdn Bhd is having a roadshow for their newly launched Kia Optima, Kia Sportage facelift and Kia Spectra5 models. Many have decided to forever shun Korean cars, especially Kias, after bad experiences with the Sephia. But these are the latest generation of Kias and it would be interesting to go have a look and see if they have made any progress over the years or not.

• 23-25 Nov 2007 – Sunway Pyramid, Kuala Lumpur (New Wing)
• 27-29 Nov 2007 – Damansara Intan, Petaling Jaya
• 30 Nov – 2 Dec 2007 – Danga Bay, Johor Bahru

Kia cars registered during these roadshow dates will be eligible to get a free Samsung SGH-L760 phone, a slider phone featuring 3G, MP3/WMA/ACC player, microSD expandable memory and a 2 megapixel camera.

The Kia Borrego shown above will make its world debut at the 2008 Detroit Motor Show, and it will be Kia’ first mid-sized SUV, larger than the Kia Sorento currently on sale in our market as the Naza Sorento. Named after a breed of bighorn sheep native to California, It is based on the Kia Mesa concept shown back in 2005.

Like the Sorento, the Kia Borrego will use a body on frame construction. It will seat 7 with three rows of seats. There are still a few modern SUVs which use body on frame, like the Toyota Landcruiser and its Lexus LX counterpart. The Kia Borrego is aimed at US market needs and will feature V6 engines as well as Kia’s first V8 engine.

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Frankfurt 2007 brings us another concept based on the new cee’d family of cars - the Kia eco_cee’d concept. It is based on the 3-door pro_cee’d hatchback and is powered by a 1.6 liter CRDi turbodiesel engine. Through minimal Volkswagen BlueMotion-style modifications to the base vehicle, CO2 emissions drops to 104g/km and fuel consumption is now just 3.9 liters for every 100km travelled.

The 1.6 liter CRDi engine power output remains at the stock 115 PS output levels, and the brake system remains unchanged. This improved emissions and fuel consumption level is thanks to a reduction of drag coefficient to 0.29 cD from 0.33 Cd. This is achieved via lowering the suspension by 15mm, fitting under-floor coverings to the front, middle and rear of the vehicle, adopting plastic wheel arch linings with spoiler lips to smooth airflow around the wheels, a special front grille designed for low-drag, ultra-low rolling resistance Michelin Energy 205/50R17 tyres, and special alloy wheels designed to generate minimum disturbance to airflow along the sides of the car. The car has also been lightened with the use of a tyre repair kit in place of a spare wheel.

The powertrain is also fitted with Kia’s Idle Stop & Go system, which uses Smart Battery Power Management jointly developed with automotive electronics specialist Bosch. This system recharges the battery automatically during deceleration and switches the engine if the ECU determines that the car is in a stopped and idle status with conditions that are appropriate to switch the engine off. When first gear of the 6-speed manual gearbox is selected, the engine is restarted instantly.

The new 6-speed manual is an improvement over the standard 1.6 liter CRDi pro_cee’d’s 5-speed unit, with higher ratios for the last 3 gears to reduce engine RPM while cruising, taking advantage of the turbodiesel’s good low end torque. The ECU also displays the optimum gear to be in on a shift indicator fitted in the instrument cluster.

Have a look at the redesigned undercarriage after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Kia eco_cee’d Concept at Frankfurt 2007