The occasion was a visit to South Korea -“ which is, of course, home to the rapidly growing automaker (the Germans and Japanese are quaking in their tyres). We dashed over to this fascinating country to visit Kia’s plant and drive various models within the range -“ not least of which was the Koup. Luckily, we were able to drive it on a test track (that’s always the best place to test a new vehicle; it’s normally much safer than a public road). Unluckily, we were joined by colleagues from other countries-¦
But more about those other colleagues and the racetrack later. First a bit of feedback about the car and our experiences on the highways of South Korea.
The first thing that I must report that both are hugely expressive (the car and the highways). The car itself is delectably designed -“ I love its sporty profile, swooping roofline, large wheel arches and funky LED lights. Some of my colleagues felt that the previous generation Koup -“ which was considerably more angular and chunkier -“ was more appealing. I don’t agree. The new Koup looks like a fun, fab, sleek sports car -¦ and that’s good enough for me. It’s anything but dull-¦
And those highways? Well, they are just sensational. South Korea is massively mountainous. In fact, some 70% of the country comprises mountains. This could mean that driving would mean going up and down and round mountains -“ right? Not in South Africa. The highways (all in perfect condition) go straight through the mountains -¦ meaning tunnel after tunnel. My co-driver and I marvelled at the ingenuity of the engineers and road builders in the country, while giggling at the navigation system, which cursed us in Korean throughout the journey. (I have no idea what it was trying to tell us -¦ it sounded horribly unladylike -¦ but it really did get hot under its little collar.)
We certainly didn’t (get hot under the collar, that is). While the satnav swore at us non-stop, we appreciated the upmarket interior, premium materials and ever-so-comfortable seats (they are sporty but you don’t need to visit a physiotherapist after a long journey). We also appreciated the power afforded by the 1,6-litre GDi turbocharged four-cylinder engine, which produces 152 kW of power at 6 000 r/min and 264 Nm of torque between 1 750 and 4 500 r/min. It’s matched to either a six-speed manual or automatic transmission. We had the latter -“ which was rather a pity (I suspect that the manual will be nicer to drive). The inclusion of this engine is worth noting; the previous generation Koup, while admired for its spunky looks, was criticised for having a rather puny engine. Those complaints are now a thing of the past with the latest model.
This was confirmed when we later hit the racetrack-¦ and almost one of our foreign colleagues. Granted, English was not his home language. But, prior to doing our track driving, the instructor explained-¦ very patiently and carefully-¦ that we would be driving in procession and that overtaking was absolutely prohibited.
I don’t know what part of the instructions he didn’t get. Maybe the excitement of driving the Koup attacked his one and only lonely brain cell. But this clown (who started at the back of the procession) proceeded to pass each and every car in the convoy -“ often on the wrong side and using the most insane overtaking manoeuvres I have ever seen. (And remember, I live in South Africa. So I have seen some pretty insane ones.)
At first it was so ridiculous it was almost funny. The problem, you see, is the Koup handles superbly. It clings to the road. So the Kia turned this maniac into a moderately good driver. With any lesser car, he would have been tossed off the racetrack.
Eventually he almost sideswiped the second car in the procession and then tried to overtake the driver trainer, who was leading the cars. One of my South African colleagues couldn’t resist commenting on the lunatic’s driving. I think he was repeating what the Korean satnav system had told us earlier. But thankfully in Afrikaans-¦ otherwise an international incident would have ensued.
The Kia Cerato Koup Turbo GDi will join its sedan and hatch siblings here in South Africa at the end of January 2014. We cannot wait to drive the manual! Watch this space for the pricing.
Text: Charleen Clarke
The occasion was a visit to South Korea -“ which is, of course, home to the rapidly growing automaker (the Germans and Japanese are quaking in their tyres). We dashed over to this fascinating country to visit Kia’s plant and drive various models within the range -“ not least of which was the Koup. Luckily, we were able to drive it on a test track (that’s always the best place to test a new vehicle; it’s normally much safer than a public road). Unluckily, we were joined by colleagues from other countries-¦
But more about those other colleagues and the racetrack later. First a bit of feedback about the car and our experiences on the highways of South Korea.
The first thing that I must report that both are hugely expressive (the car and the highways). The car itself is delectably designed -“ I love its sporty profile, swooping roofline, large wheel arches and funky LED lights. Some of my colleagues felt that the previous generation Koup -“ which was considerably more angular and chunkier -“ was more appealing. I don’t agree. The new Koup looks like a fun, fab, sleek sports car -¦ and that’s good enough for me. It’s anything but dull-¦
And those highways? Well, they are just sensational. South Korea is massively mountainous. In fact, some 70% of the country comprises mountains. This could mean that driving would mean going up and down and round mountains -“ right? Not in South Africa. The highways (all in perfect condition) go straight through the mountains -¦ meaning tunnel after tunnel. My co-driver and I marvelled at the ingenuity of the engineers and road builders in the country, while giggling at the navigation system, which cursed us in Korean throughout the journey. (I have no idea what it was trying to tell us -¦ it sounded horribly unladylike -¦ but it really did get hot under its little collar.)
We certainly didn’t (get hot under the collar, that is). While the satnav swore at us non-stop, we appreciated the upmarket interior, premium materials and ever-so-comfortable seats (they are sporty but you don’t need to visit a physiotherapist after a long journey). We also appreciated the power afforded by the 1,6-litre GDi turbocharged four-cylinder engine, which produces 152 kW of power at 6 000 r/min and 264 Nm of torque between 1 750 and 4 500 r/min. It’s matched to either a six-speed manual or automatic transmission. We had the latter -“ which was rather a pity (I suspect that the manual will be nicer to drive). The inclusion of this engine is worth noting; the previous generation Koup, while admired for its spunky looks, was criticised for having a rather puny engine. Those complaints are now a thing of the past with the latest model.
This was confirmed when we later hit the racetrack-¦ and almost one of our foreign colleagues. Granted, English was not his home language. But, prior to doing our track driving, the instructor explained-¦ very patiently and carefully-¦ that we would be driving in procession and that overtaking was absolutely prohibited.
I don’t know what part of the instructions he didn’t get. Maybe the excitement of driving the Koup attacked his one and only lonely brain cell. But this clown (who started at the back of the procession) proceeded to pass each and every car in the convoy -“ often on the wrong side and using the most insane overtaking manoeuvres I have ever seen. (And remember, I live in South Africa. So I have seen some pretty insane ones.)
At first it was so ridiculous it was almost funny. The problem, you see, is the Koup handles superbly. It clings to the road. So the Kia turned this maniac into a moderately good driver. With any lesser car, he would have been tossed off the racetrack.
Eventually he almost sideswiped the second car in the procession and then tried to overtake the driver trainer, who was leading the cars. One of my South African colleagues couldn’t resist commenting on the lunatic’s driving. I think he was repeating what the Korean satnav system had told us earlier. But thankfully in Afrikaans-¦ otherwise an international incident would have ensued.
The Kia Cerato Koup Turbo GDi will join its sedan and hatch siblings here in South Africa at the end of January 2014. We cannot wait to drive the manual! Watch this space for the pricing.
Text: Charleen Clarke
