I just watched the video and those numbers are way off, inside line did a 14.6 quarter at 98 with the optima turbo
That car won’t last 6 years of daily use without needing some type of major repair.
all i can think of every time i see the front end is photoshopped jetta.
I love how they look, and consider the new optima and the forte koup to be two of the better looking cars that are for sale right now. Kia’s got someone in their styling department that really knows what they are doing.
The optima turbo should really be faster though (the one in this vid wasn’t right, since the sonata turbo pulled around 6.2 0-60, but I’d love to see high-5’s). Its amazing they manage to pull the power numbers they did (on 87 octane, if I’m not mistaken), and still get the 34 mpg on the highway, but from the videos I’ve seen of them, they aren’t fast off the line (haven’t gotten to test drive one yet). I’m sure it doesn’t feel like there is any shortage of power once you are rolling, and the car is probably awesome as far as passing is concerned. It seems like either the automatic transmission is killing it, or there is some sort of torque-limiting system in place to nerf down the takeoffs. With that kind of power, the thing should be roasting the tires on takeoff, even with the automatic. At least that’s what my friend’s old Volvo S80 T6 did (with similar power levels, and a 4 speed auto).
Maybe they don’t trust the 6-speed auto to survive hard launches. I’d really love to see them bolt the turbo motor up to a manual transmission to see what the car would do then. And after that, drop the turbo motor + manual trans into a forte koup, just to piss off civic Si’s.
Yeah something’s not right. Its either a pig or there is something limiting the power from getting to the wheels early. My car with over 100hp and 100lb/ft of tq less than this runs pretty much identical times.
But like said earlier they aren’t marketing to performance car people, also odds are the salesman will say “turbo” and the husbands ears will perk causing another sale to his wife.
Hyundai/Kia seems to have an interesting strategy going on, at least with their regular cars (meaning everything except the genesis/genesis coupe). In the mainstream market, there seems to be two types of buyers, the people that just want a comfortable, quiet appliance of a car (that buy camry’s and corollas), and people who want something a little bit more interesting, and would buy hondas and nissans because they drove sharper, looked more agressive, etc.
Hyundai is going after the toyota buyers with softer, comfier cars, while using their Kia brand to go after the honda/nissan buyers. The changes are little more than sheetmetal and suspension tuning, but that is all it takes. If they can actually get quality product out there, and convince the buying populace, they are in an extremely advantageous position, without having to really compromise.
I gotta say, despite being a bit of a honda fanboy, I don’t like a single one of their current offerings. Nothing in the showroom excites me. Just waiting for kia to actually go balls-out and give us the turbo motor in a car with a clutch pedal, then they will likely have my money (or at least they will a few years after, so I can buy a lightly used one after it’s already depreciated).
They are definitely turning a corner in a good direction with their new product, I just don’t think the market they are going after is ready to pull the trigger just yet. Also yes a manual would be awesome, but also a manual in a mid/full size sedan is a dieing breed of its own in the US so a manual option may never come around.
Then again, because a manual in a midsize sedan is a dying breed, that could give them that niche market the nissan maxima used to enjoy for a while.
lol why do you say that? Even the old way shittier Kias/Hyundais held up fine.
2004 elantras will survive LOADs of abuse.
It’s the other way around, Hyundai manufacturers the engine parts for Mitsubishi.
more like they got someone in that department that knows how to imitate and emulate other popular designs on the market
This.
The forte coup looks like a civic front end mated to an RSX rear end.
And looks better than either of them.
Well looks are kinda up to the viewer, some people liked the looks of the pontiac aztec too. It’s definitely not bad looking at all but it does look like they take notes on which body styles are popular at the time and emulate them a bit.
looks like they will be running in World Challenge GTS class next year :eek3
Oh, I’m not saying the forte koup doesn’t look like a civic, but I think they improved it. When I first saw one I thought that is what the civic Si should have looked like.