KIA GT Svelte (2014)

 

  

CARBARN | KIA GT Svelte (2014) | Kia's first rear-wheel-drive concept car, the GT sports sedan, is almost Certain to Become a reality within a couple of years the mold-breaking production version Could emerge with V8 firepower and the same rear 'suicide' doors as seen on the car show. Described by the company's chief design officer, former Audi designer Peter Schreyer, as "exactly the kind of car Kia Should Be making", the svelte GT concept combines a rear-wheel drive layout with muscular proportions and a four-seat interior for the first time in a Kia.

 

Asked how easily it Could be put into production, Mr. Schreyer said the GT's stance and proportions would not only influence future designs model from Kia but Could transfer directly to a formidable new model from Kia showroom. Kia does not build concept cars for nothing," he said, adding the production GT That may also eschew the show car's 291kW/534Nm turbocharged 3.3-liter Lambda V6 GDI - the Hyundai-Kia group's first turbo V6 engine - for a high -performance 'Tau' V8 engine from the Hyundai Genesis sedan, at least for the U.S. market.

 

Like the latest Genesis V8 sedan, the GT is fitted with Hyundai's own new eight-speed automatic transmission. Kia's parent company Hyundai has finally confirmed the next-generation Genesis Coupe Will be produced in right-hand drive configuration for Australia, but is yet to commit to a RHD version of the even more impressive Genesis sedan, upon the which the Kia GT is believed to be based.

 

Kia has released Few technical details for the GT, except That it rides on a 2860mm wheelbase (significantly shorter than the Genesis sedan's at 2936mm), measures 4690mm long overall - making it almost 300mm shorter than the 4976mm Genesis, and slightly shorter than the mid -size Optima sedan - and is the same 1890mm wide while being about 100mm lower than the Genesis at just 1380mm. While the Optima - known as the K5 in Korea - is Kia's largest model in Australia, it is dwarfed in Korea by the Hyundai Grandeur-based K7, the which Itself is expected to be dwarfed by Kia's first large rear-drive limousine, based on the Hyundai Equus.

 

Kia is also believed to be working on a compact rear-drive sports car in the vein of Mazda's MX-5, the which Could emerge at the Detroit show in January, but for now the GT represents Kia's first foray into the rear-drive sports sedan market . "This concept allows us to explore exciting new design directions, as using a rear-drive layout creates very different proportions compared to a front-wheel drive car," Kia said. Kia said work on the GT concept started in November 2010, but the idea of a powerful rear-drive sedan has been on the agenda of the Korean maker's European design team for some time. The Kia GT features a number of aeronautical themes, including a multi-piece propeller-style alloy and carbon-fiber wheels, jet-like rear-view cameras, a low-slung front air intake, an aerodynamically efficient rear diffuser and Winglets That curve in from the front flanks to the headlights - a motive That draws inspiration from Mr. Schreyer's first landmark concept for Kia, the "seminal" Kee coupe seen at the 2007 Frankfurt show. While it also shares a number of central design elements with the Kee and last year's Pop Concept, Kia says the GT's long bonnet, cab-rearward stance, powerful rear shoulders and truncated rear-end make-its proportions unmistakable for anything other than an athletic rear -drive sedan. Headlining a list of unique design features is a signature copper That line runs from the base of the A-pillar along the roofline to the base of the rear windscreen, comprising a tick-shaped motifs That recalls the front quarter-light windows of the rakish That inspired GT cars the Kia design team.