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Kia's new Hot Hatch?
Kia shows off GTI rival
DateJanuary 28, 20David McCowen
Turbocharged hot hatch to have 150kW.
Kia has revealed a production version of a turbocharged hot hatch to take on Europe's finest.
The Pro-Cee'd GT will be a close relative of the Hyundai Veloster Turbo, which went on sale in 2012.
Kia says the hot hatch will share the Veloster's 150kW, 265Nm turbocharged 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine and six-speed manual or automatic transmissions.
Its official debut will be held at the Geneva Motor Show in March, with production starting not long after.
The company showed a concept hot hatch, dubbed the Track'ster, at last year's Sydney Motor Show.
The car has not been confirmed for Australia, but Kia spokesman Kevin Hepworth said the brand was “investigating getting the car at the earliest possible opportunity”.
“There's no doubt it would provide a hero car for Australia,” he said. “The Pro-Cee'd GT is definitely a car we are working on business plans for.”
Kia has not been shy in chasing turbocharged engines for its sportier models.
The brand's local chief operating officer, Tony Barlow, told Drive in January that customers were keen to see Kia sell performance cars.
“Certainly [given] the amount of questions we get about turbos and engine configurations, I think the latent demand is out there," he said.
"It's something that people can really see fitting well with the Kia range. And we tend to agree.
“Those sort of vehicles are big statements for brands like us.”
Kia plans to increase its market share in Australia by changing public perceptions of the brand.
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150kw, 265NM. That would be a luke warm hatch.
While KIA (and all Korean cars) have come a long way very quickly, they still have a bit to go.
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Kia's new Hot Hatch?
If its as light as Veloster (sub 1300kg) it mightn't be a bad thing.
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Looks nice, the koreans need to work on thier names though, as good as the car might be I could never own something called a Pro-Cee'd. Massively lame, what are you driving these days? Yeah i got the proceed. Great. Maybe they should stick to a number designation system if they can't some up with any decent names.
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I reckon it looks cool. Power and torque figures are great too (it's not designed to enter the record books) might prove to be a cheap sporty option for buyers.
Yes it's a KIA. But they seem to have picked up over the last few years. Their designs look much nicer now!
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Nothing wrong with a KIA.
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They've gone grown along way since their first few cars, But I dunno still only a Kia
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Brother looked at buying a new Kia a few years back (was one of those boxy things.
Brand new, still had the delivery plastic on it.
The seat squeaked, rattled and the steering wheel was off centre.
Didn't really inspire him to test drive it.
However, I looked at a new Kia a few months ago, and the improvement from the car my brother looked at to this one was far better than the improvement in the same time as any jap, euro or Aussie car.
Hyundai is the same
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