Revealed first as a five-door hatchback, the hot Kia Cerato GT has now been unveiled in sedan form in South Korea, where it is badged the K3 GT. Like its tailgate-wearing sibling, this booted variant gets a more powerful engine and a number of other performance-oriented tweaks.
Under the bonnet sits a 1.6 litre Gamma turbocharged and direct-injected (T-GDI) four-cylinder petrol engine, the same one that you’ll find in the Ceed GT. It makes 204 PS at 6,000 rpm and 265 Nm from 1,500 to 4,500 rpm, and unlike its European sibling – which is available with a six-speed manual gearbox – the Cerato GT is only offered with a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission.
The chassis has been given a revamp and now sports rear multilink suspension rather than the standard car’s torsion beam setup; together with the revised springs, this improves both ride comfort and cornering stability. Meanwhile, the steering ratio is quicker to improve response, and there are also larger front disc brakes to rein in the increased power and torque output.
Other upgrades include four driving modes (Eco, Sport, Comfort and Smart), an Electronic Sound Generator (ESG) for a rortier engine note and Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tyres wrapped around intricate 18-inch multi-spoke alloy wheels. Kia is also offering an optional tuning package consisting of Bilstein monotube dampers and stiffer springs, anti-roll bar and control arms, along with even larger front brakes and a less restrictive intake.
To distance itself visually from the cooking Cerato, the GT gets a dark chrome grille with red inserts, as well as side skirts, a red-trimmed gloss black rear diffuser and dual exhaust tips. Inside, you’ll find a GT-badged flat-bottomed steering wheel, bucket seats, alloy pedals and a six-colour ambient lighting system integrated into the dash and door cards, with a variable dot pattern.
Kia has also updated the entire K3 range in Korea for the 2019 model year. All models now get Forward Collision Warning and Avoidance Assist (FCW/FCA), Lane Keeping Assist (LKA), Lane Departure Warning (LDW), Driver Attention Warning (DAW) and High Beam Assist (HBA) as standard, and adaptive Smart Cruise Control (SCC) and Blind-spot Collision Warning (BCW) have also been added to the options list.
GALLERY: Kia Cerato GT hatch
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I’ll take Kimchi Kia over Bakuteh Proton anytime..
No, thanks, T4 engine more powerful
1.6turbo with 204ps at less than rm150k. I remember a golf gti mk5 used to have only 200ps from its 2.0 turbo selling at rm200k with less gadget than this….bravo kia
Why compre with MK5? Why not MK7 2.0 220hp?
Bravo VW
because golf gti has increased its price from 190k back during mkV and now to 230k….at 230k might as well get the 330e bmw…bravo kia
This is what you call research. Kia research and work hard until they can get over 200 ps from a 1.6
Unlike our Proton, the past 20 years, no research on improving their engines. Same old engined. No technology at all.
Now you know why Kia and Hyundai sell 8 million cars globally vs Proton which sells 50,000 in Malaysia alone.
You compare older engine with new one. Tarak otak ka?
How you know they don’t do this kind of research? Just because tak kluar production, doesn’t mean they don’t have this tech.
hahahaha… kalau kau belajar tapi tak score exam, maksudnya kau salah belajar la tu…
sama la kau research tapi produk xde… maksudnya research tu bengong.
Kia Cerato GT oso better than G20 BMW 3Series..
Nice! pls bring in this & sell under RM 110k. Sales will beat the Civic. The interior is way better than the Elantra 1.6T low quality dated interior & ugly red leather.
GT will not sell at that price hahaha
At least make it under 115,000. Don’t be as high as Elantra Sport. Most people don’t dare to spend more than 110,000-115,000 on kimchi car no matter how good the car is. People have more trust on Honda C-segment for the higher price.
Exterior may not be as exciting as the civic’s , but it is handsome and will age well….
Interior is 2nd best to the new corolla ( latest one yet to grace our shores )
a tempting proposition
Can you see the new Cerato’s rear design, Proton?
That’s how Proton Preve rear buntut design should looks like but nope, your syok sendiri chief designer decided to screw it up and people hated it, a huge loss of sales.
It’s time for Proton to hire a truly talented European as chief designer and undo the damage!!
Nope. Borui looks much better than this Audi copy
It is original, copycat Audi
So lame
Kia design vp is from audi. And he brings his ideas to kia….so nope its the otherway around now…the audi is copycat of kia..guess who keeps the design rights haha
Kimchi is kimchi cannot beat luxury audi
Don’t worry. Dr M protiga project will make the koreans eat protiga dust. If proton is asia BMW, i wonder what protiga will be? Asia Audi?
The koreans will never stand a chance when compared to Malaysia national pride project.
If masuk Malaysia, the pricing please don’t do like Elantra. Turbo top spec make under 110,000 only please. Sure can see more Cerato on the road.
resale value can never beat honda civic.
the honda civic is an all rounder with performance, looks, prestige and excellent resale value.
Performance and cvt are never in a same sentence bro. And did you know people call it civic ketam aka crab civic..tells you a lot about looks
Hello honda SA, hari-hari civic, u tak bosan kah?
Funny to see resale value and Honda civic together in the same sentence. You must be the 1% of Honda Civic owners who buy it just for the resale value.
Honda Resale value is even more worst than any other carmakers.
Definitely a honda sale person. Talking about RV as the last resort.
Prodon only learn how to design bumpers and headlights in the last 30 years and pobably the next 300 years oso
More like perodua
No thanks.
German ,french and swede cars are much better than kimchi anytime of the day
the only problem now…the design house, testing facilities and engineering are germans…except for manufacturing in korea….
Is the bumper have vent flow for better aerodynamic, like Elantra sport bumper? Or is it just a cosmetic?