By Justin Berkowitz
March 20, 2008 -
Not to be confused with Reagan's Surgeon General, Dr. Koop, Kia debuts the Koup concept car today. It's a classic "beats the Scion tC at its own game" move by being a reasonably nicely shaped four-seat FWD sport coupe. The concept engine - which Kia says is real and functional - is a hopped-up turbo four with 290 horsepower…. unfortunately routed to the front wheels. What this concept should mean to you is a realistic preview of the upcoming (and disappointingly, not revealed this week) Kia Spectra sedan and coupe. Considering the current model has been on sale since 2000-2001, it's about frickin' time. Still, if they can bring something that looks like this into actual production, PR Director Alex Fedorak's hope of "standing out in traffic" might inch closer from PR dreamland to real life.
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POWERED
March 20th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Nicely chosen photo - the booth babes neatly block out most of the view this rather unadventerous vehicle.
C’mon Kia concepts are for having fun!
March 20th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
That’s pretty nice looking, actually. I hate to say it, but it’s kind of too bad it isn’t a re-skin of the RWD Hyundai coupe. I like RWD, and I want more low-buck 4-seat RWD options.
March 20th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
A Kia Koup koncept kar? Krimminy!
March 20th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
So, what nice new compact concepts did the big 2.5 show in NY?
*crickets*
Oh, yeah, I forgot they’ve already conceded that market…
I actually like that concept. It may not be very adventurous but it looks producible. Scion better take notice and do something about the tC.
March 20th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
Beating the Scion tC at its own game stylistically wouldn’t be difficult. Its problem is that it’s basically a two-door version of the Avensis sedan, and its hardpoints seem to be dictated by that relationship, which is probably why it’s so pudgy. It looks like a last-gen Celica with a serious thyroid problem.
March 20th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
@argentla:
Jackpot. You said it.
March 20th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Hot looking!
Oh, and the car looks okay too…
March 20th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
Nice photo of the, er, car.
290 hp through the front wheels? What gymnastics have they gone through to eliminate torque steer? Mazda de-tuned the turbo4 for use in the Mazdaspeed3 versus the Mazdaspeed6 to keep torque steer under control. Is Kia going to electronically limit hp in 1st gear? Some new magical front suspension set up? Or, just expect the drivers to muscle the car into a straight line when they floor it?
March 20th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
More like Korean Civic knock-off concept car.
March 20th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
I think this is pretty close to production like the Soul is. Change the headlights and the engine and you have it. I’d guess this could very easily be the next version of the Spectra in coupe form.
The Spectra is built off the Elantra platform and the first/second gen Tiburon were built off the same platform so it’s not a stretch to think they are doing the same thing here.
The engine won’t make it in a forced induction mode, or if it did it would be detuned from the 290. Hyundai corp has a history of putting much higher hp engines into their concepts than actually make it to production.