Archive for Kia

Here are spy photos taken of the upcoming sporty performance hot hatch variant of the 5-door Kia cee’d hatchback. The badge on the grille indicates it will be called the Kia cee’d xR, and it is rumoured to be powered by a 2 liter turbocharged engine, most likely in the 200 to 230hp range. This performance engine will also appear in performance Hyundai models.

Overall, the look of the car looks nice and sporty, however somehow all good designs just have to be spoiled by something - I don’t like that strange bit of chrome right above the rear number plate holder.

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How many of you go to motorshows not for the cars, but for the scantically clad ladies standing around the cars? I know that sometimes the intention can be split 50:50 between the two. If so, and you happen to be a Korean, or someone heading for the 2007 Seoul Motor Show in South Korea, you’re going to be in for a disappointment.

Hyundai and Kia wants to cut down on the number of models at the show, as well as switch to more modest dressing, hoping the attention will be focused more on the cars on display instead. “We would rather have the spectators’ attention on our cars than the attractive ladies,” said Jake Jang, a spokesperson for Hyundai Motor Company.

Renault Samsung Motors has already made a similiar move at last year’s motor show, where it’s usual skimpy models were given business suits and handheld computers to help them answer questions.

Source

Kia’s attack of new and upcoming models on the European market continues with Project Snowflake, which will be a sports car similiar to the likes of the Audi TT. Now, the codename Snowflake sounds very similiar to Raindrop, the original codename for the first generation Audi TT when it was still in development. A snowflake is quite similiar to a raindrop, both are small amounts of H2O falling from the sky, except a snowflake is much much more cooler than a raindrop, literally. I suppose this is what Kia intended it to be interpreted, heh! Shown above is Kia’s previous Kia KCV III Concept.

Kia’s Snowflake is rumoured to come in both front wheel drive and all wheel drive variants, and will be equipped with a powerful 2.0 liter 4-cylinder turbocharged engine, a formula that has worked so well with the likes of the Golf GTI and Lancer Evolution. This new engine will give Kia it’s much needed performance engine to give it a hot hatch in the European market. The engines in the Tiburon are weak, to be generous.

Proton is not the only one with a sedan modified to go the hybrid way - the Koreans have their Kia Rio Hybrid for display at he 77th Salon de lAutomobiles in Geneva as well. This Kia Rio Sedan has it’s 1.4 liter CVVT petrol engine mated to a 12 kilowatt, 95Nm electric motor, and like the GEN2 EVE, uses a CVT gearbox, a first in any Kia car.

The CVVT engine makes about 90 horsepower and 120Nm of torque, and is hooked up to the electric motor which is placed between the flywheel and the gearbox. This electric motor ‘assists the petrol engine during starting, accelerating and hill-climbing. The electric motor switches off at cruising speeds, and also has ‘regenerative braking to store energy and re-charge its Ni-MH 144 volt power pack. There’s also a start-stop system for shutting off the petrol engine when not needed and restarting it automatically.

Zero to 100 km/h takes 12.2 seconds, top speed is 180km/h, and compared to a standard Kia Rio, air pollutants are reduced by 37% (down to 126g/km) and fuel efficiency is improved by 44% (now rated at 4.4 liters per 100km). To help with the fuel consumption, the body of this Kia Rio Sedan has also been changed slightly, saving about 220kg of weight through the use of an aluminium bonnet, boot lid and front seat frames, plus lightweight road wheels, low-friction tyres and an electric power steering.

Three more photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Kia Rio Hybrid introduced at Geneva 2007

Kia’s latest in it’s cee’d series of cars will be revealed at th 2007 Geneva International Motor Show - this time a cabriolet soft top version. The Kia ex_cee’d was based on the Kia pro_cee’d 3-door hatch, and shares the same platform, but the most obvious change is the absence of a roof, instead replaced by a automatic fabric roof.

But why soft top instead of an automatic hard top like all the other car manufacturers are doing? “I’m convinced that the fabric roof will have a renaissance. We’ve all lived with the romantic idea of open-air driving for a long time and for me, the fabric roof is the quintessential element of a truly rewarding cabrio,” says Peter Schreyer, Kia’s new Chief Design Officer.

One more photo after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Kia ex_cee’d Concept to be shown at Geneva 2007

The second production variant of Kia’s new cee’d range for the European market will be launched at Geneva 2007 on the 6th March 2007. The 4.5 meter long wagon has a long wheelbase, helping with a large and comfy passenger cell.

The wagon is 235mm longer than the 5-door Kia cee’d hatch, and luggage capacity is 534 liters, which enlarges to an even larger amount when the split rear bench is folder down. The top hinges have been moved forwards by 225 mm (compared to the ceed hatchback), so the tailgate has reduced outswing and upswing. This allows users to stand closer to the car and allows for the tailgate to be fully opened in restricted parking spaces.

More photos after the jump.

Related Posts:
Kia cee’d Sport Wagon

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Kia says it will introduce a production version of the Kia Soul crossover concept vehicle in 2008 as a 2009 year model. The Kia Soul crossover concept was first presented to the public last year at the Detroit Motor Show. The small front-wheel drive five-seater with a 254cm wheelbase featured a 2.0 liter four cylinder engine mated to a 5-speed transmission with manual shifting functions.

The company decided on the name Kia Soul for the small crossover for two reasons: it was first introduced in Detroit, the home of Motown soul music; and the company wanted to play on its Korean heritage (South Korea’s capital is Seoul). How punny of them. Look after the jump for more photos of the Kia Soul crossover concept.

Click here to read the rest of Kia to produce 2009 Kia Soul crossover

This is a sneak peek design sketch of another concept vehicle that will be unveiled at the 2006 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit. The Kia Kue Concept is a crossover SUV, or crossover utility vehicle as Kia prefers to call it. It is based on a monocoque chassis.

Size wise, the Kue measures up with an overall length of 4,720mm and a 2,900mm wheelbase. This compares to 4,810mm and 2,890mm for the new Sedona (Carnival) and 4,590 and 2,710 for Sorento. Kia says the Kue focus is very much about an exciting driving experience, as opposed to the typical SUV or CUV lifestyle.

Don’t expect this to be a Kia Sportage replacement though, as it is a pure concept, basically a design exercise that will show a number of strong styling indicators to the direction of Kias future models.

Naza has unveiled a new minicar, the Naza Suria, which appears to be a locally assembled rebadged Kia Picanto. At a glance from the image of the Suria appearing in the local dailies, the new Naza Suria gains a slightly sportier facelifted bumper with a different foglamp design as well as a new mesh grille sporting the Naza logo.

The advertisement says the car has a 1.1 liter SOHC engine, which should be the same unit in the CBU Picanto; a 1,086cc unit making 65PS at 5,500rpm and 99Nm of torque at 2,800rpm, this is coupled with a 4 speed auto.

There are rumours of prices floating around, the car is reported to be in the mid RM40,000 to RM50,000 range, but I’ll get official prices before putting it up here. In other news, mStar reports that Naza will be releasing another 3 cars in the year 2007, one of which will be a 1.5 liter saloon model.

UPDATE: Prices are confirmed to be RM43,888 for the standard version, and RM45,888 for one with a sporty bodykit, think Novus.

UPDATE #2:

There is not much difference between the lower spec and the higher spec version of the Naza Suria. The additional RM2,000 that you have to fork out for the high spec version gives you a front lip, side skirtings, a rear spoiler, sportier foglamps in a black insert, as well as rims similiar to the one available on the Naza Sutera. You also get this black piece of plastic at the rear window as you can see in the image above. On the interior, the high spec version gets cloth trim on the doors for both the front and rear doors, while the low spec only has cloth on the front doors, the rear is just pure plastic! The Naza Suria will be launched on the 20th of November 2006.

UPDATE: More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Naza Suria - locally assembled Kia Picanto

Yet another Kia display at the 2006 Paris Motor Show was the new 2007 Kia Magentis, with an entirely new platform different from the previous model. The new Kia Magentis based on the same platform as the Sonata NF, except for some differences like different suspension systems - the Sonata NF uses double wishbones while the Magentis uses McPherson struts and multi-link at the rear.

This particular model shown is a turbodiesel model, which can be identified by the CRDi badge on the boot - a 2.0 liter CRDi with a Variable Geometry Turbocharger, similiar to the one found in the Porsche 911 Turbo. Of course, VGT has been around in turbodiesels for quite some time already. Performance stats are 138hp at 4,000rpm and 305Nm of torque between 1,800rpm to 2,500rpm. The turbodiesel is also equipped with a Diesel Particulate Filter for better emissions. If you prefer petrol, the UK market has a 2.0 I4 CVVT and 2.7 liter V6, but in other markets there is also a 2.4 liter I4 CVVT.

Click here to read the rest of 2006 Paris Motor Show: 2007 Kia Magentis