Kia Matrix...lol

[tangerine]

Looks like a matrix with Kia badging...I'd totall rock one as a daily driven car though.----------------------------------------------------------------------------Hot Kias to be called XRKia is planning to release a range of performance saloons and hatchbacks over the next three years all under the "XR" badge, and Autocar can bring you an exclusive preview of the first of them.The maker dropped a considerable hint when it revealed this re-styled, XR-badged Kia Cee’d at a press gathering near the company’s Korean HQ last week.Officially this is just a standard Cee'd with Kia's accessory styling kit. Judging by the well-resolved nature of the bodykit and the discrete badging though, we'd say it’s likely that the production versions in Kia’s performance range will look very similar.Powering the XR brandAlthough this car was powered by a stock normally aspirated engine, Kia sources told Autocar that engineers were working on both turbo and supercharged engines for future models."Turbocharged engines would be aimed at Europe and supercharged engines at the American market because of different customer demands," the source said.A "glocal" strategyKia says that it is currently operating a "glocal" (globalised, but local) growth strategy. Significantly boosting Kia’s brand image between 2005 and 2008 should help move the company into profitable growth by 2009, bosses say.A high-performance sub-brand will be a part of this brand-building that Kia hopes will help grow sales from 1.32m in 2006 to 2.5m by 2010. Company bosses say they also want to boost European sales by nearly 100 percent from last year’s 308,000 to 609,000 in 2010.The plans for North American are only slightly less ambitious, with an aim to go from 315,000 units to 627,000 over the same time frame. A new plant in Georgia, capable of building 300,000 cars annually, will be on stream by 2009.

[Mavrik]

That looks alright to me lol

[GrayFox]

Silly Kia! Trix are for... um... Toyota?I guess since the Matrix might not be around anymore thanks to the "Blade" they figured Toyota wouldn't be using the xR thingy huh? hahaI like it but it looks more like a Kia-Mazda 3 to me LOL

[tangerine]

it does seem to have Mazda 3 profile with murano rear.

[northvibe]

not bad...... im still semi weary of the korean car reliability but it just keeps going up so it will be interesting to see how this car fairs.

[GrayFox]

question.... why don't we get the turbocharged version? Silly Americans like turbochargers, too you know!?

[tangerine]

Quote, originally posted by ANO_Vibe »question.... why don't we get the turbocharged version? Silly Americans like turbochargers, too you know!?a quote from a mod on the forum I found this on explains that prett well...Quote, originally posted by mhoward1 »there is some good reasoning behind the S/C vs turbo in the US.1) it has lower tq that American prefers2) The Power delivery is instant3) One item important to Kia/Hyundai - The S/C Unit can be optimized for the stock power configuration so that modding it has minimal gains. That way the vehicles stays with in stock spec ranges for warranty and reliablility claims.

[ajflan]

Not too shabby!

[GrayFox]

hmmm... makes sense. Any idea what kind of power we're talking here?

[02csnow]

Half Matrix/ Half Mazda 3. The side it very close to a mazda 3.

[tangerine]

There was no word in that post, I'm trying to find some info on it. Between this and the possible V8 Tiburon coming out Korea is stepping it up.

[ColonelPanic]

That's a pretty snazzy little car, it even has the subaru rally heritage gold wheels! lol I likes it. Pretty much the same car as the Hyundai i30 which will be arriving in the US badged as an Elantra wagon here shortly.In markets overseas, you can actually buy a Hyundai Matrix. A little mini-minivan thingy.I got an invite to go test drive the Kia Rondo, which is a midsize crossover type thing with 3 rows of seats, and they had the Toyota Matrix and Chevy HHR listed as competition (in addition to that Mazda with the 3 rows of seats.) The frist two was kind of a strange comparison, esp. with the Rondo having a V6 and 3rd row. The ceed would definitely be more comporable to the Matrix than the Rondo...

[kevera]

I would never be caught dead in a KIA.I would rather walk or crawl,KIA is a POS.No offence.True fact.Cheers

[ColonelPanic]

The ones that date back to when a Kia was a Kia, I'd be inclined to agree. But with any of the new Hyundai-derived models though, I must respectfully disagree. My Accent is the twin of the Rio, it's far from a POS... It does things that all those other cars I've owned couldn't do, like stay out of the shop. They really aren't that laughable anymore...Anyway, yes, don't be caught dead in a Kia, as they say, Kia stands for "killed in automobile."

[kevera]

Yeah but your Vibe was a turd.I had a Accent when the Vibe was in the shop,hated it,but I'm glad you haven't had any problem with yours.To me,KIA is a big turd.

[nygiantzz1]

I agree with you CP, my wife has a 2005 Kia Optima, she has put 28,000+ miles on it over the last 2 years problem free. They have gotten a lot better.

[tangerine]

Kia and Hyundai are not what they used to be. Hell even Honda started out with a rep like Kia. I'll admit that I did my fare share of trash talking the two auto makers in the past, but now I can actually take back what I have said in the past because I'v actually seen some quality products come from them. Granted I probably wouldn't ever drive one unless they really put out some true performance, but when and if I ever wind down when I'm older and they still bring out products like they are atm I might consider one. If this thing happens to perform like the Mazdaspeed and (cold day in hell) comes in an auto with the S/C I would totally snatch it up though.

[coldmm803]

i think it looks pretty nicebring bot the turbo and S/C over and let sales decide which one to stopbased off the article that tnpartsguy posted and comparing figures, kia could be outselling pontiac soon http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=28515

[damronjr]

Sign me up!

[northvibe]

hyundai owns kia, they share platforms for cars and engines.

[TJinPgh]

Not only that, but, overseas, the "Matrix" is a car built by Hyundai. Except, it's a "mini-MPV".Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing us get the GETZ. The car in the thread is pretty sharp, though.

[TJinPgh]

Quote, originally posted by ColonelPanic »The ones that date back to when a Kia was a Kia, I'd be inclined to agree. But with any of the new Hyundai-derived models though, I must respectfully disagree. My Accent is the twin of the Rio, it's far from a POS... It does things that all those other cars I've owned couldn't do, like stay out of the shop. They really aren't that laughable anymore...Actually, that's not entirely correct either. When Kia first debuted, it was owned by Mazda.The Ford Festiva and Ford Aspire were both designed by Mazda and built by Kia (Kia Pride).They were darn good cars for econoboxes. You see a LOT of those on the road these days with gas prices being what they are.It wasn't until the Kia division went bankrupt and it was sold to Hyundai in the late 90s that they turned to crap. Of course, the late 90s Hyundais weren't anything to write home about either (though some of the early 90s versions were built with Mitsubishi components and weren't half bad).These days, most of the Kias (if not all) share platforms with one Hyundai model or another (Rio=Accent, Spectra=Elantra) and aren't bad at all.If the Spectra5 had been a little cheaper, I might have considered it when I bought the Vibe.

[ColonelPanic]

The Getz is a cool little ride. But if you really want to kill yourself, may be best to find a less painful way to commit suicide. The Accent is bad enough, the top of the car barely comes up to the lowest point on many SUV's windows. People in those things have a hard time seeing tiny cars, not sure if that's because they simply can't see them or that they have more important things to do than be on the lookout for some loser in a little itty bitty tin can. After all, the ultimate suburban warrior needs to focus on talking on the phone, yelling at the kids, and sipping Starbucks all the way to the mall.

[Atomb]

Quote, originally posted by kevera »To me,KIA is a big turd.and all along i thought that's what TRD stood for...toyota just forgot the 'u'!! i'm with the mazda 3/kia look to the Xr in this thread...and in the end i'd say it looks pretty nice! Given that the rondo could very well be my wife's next car...who knows, we might be a 2 kia family in 3 years!

[TJinPgh]

Well, keep in mind I did 2 years worth of interstate driving in a Ford Festiva, so NOTHING phases me any more, lol.I doubt the Getz could be any worse.Actually, in the interest of accuracy, it's bigger in some ways, smaller in others..From India's Hyundai website. The Getz dimentions vs. The AccentGetz:Overall Length (mm) 3825 Overall Width (mm) 1665 Overall Height (mm) 1515 Wheelbase (mm) 2455Accent: (Sedan, I think)Overall Length (mm) 4250 (375 mm longer)Overall Width (mm) 1670 (5 mm wider)Overall Height (mm) 1370 (145 mm shorter)Wheelbase (mm) 2440 (15 mm shorter)So, while the accent is longer, the Getz is higher. Width and wheelbase are neglible.

[ColonelPanic]

Yeah, I'd nothing phases you sounds right, those were tiny cars! A guy at college had a Festiva, people in his class would mess with the guy - they'd sneak out to the parking lot, pick the car up and move it. He'd come out and find the car sitting sideways in the space. Interesting comparison w/ the Getz, never knew what the specs were on those. That thing is probably a great small car for tall people!

[TJinPgh]

oh, don't get me wrong, the Festiva was NOT a highway cruiser. I'm not even sure I'd go so far as to say it was safe in that situation.I mean, the car had 50 hp and had an 80 mph top end on the speedomter!No air bags. No ABS. Did have automatic seat belts, though.But, in Ford's defense, the car wasn't created to be driven on the highway. It was a cheap little runabout that had a TON of cargo space for such a little car (I've hauled full size washing machine in mine). You could practically park the thing in the cart return at Wal Mart (you laugh, but it could be done if it the return didn't have the center rail, but you coldn't get the doors open). With the 5sp, it was actually a fairly peppy car (as 50 hp 1.3L cars go, anyway) and got WELL over the 33 combined MPG the EPA now rates them at (2008 method). The old 38 was far closer to accurate.Believe me, if I could still get parts for it, I'd still be driving it.In 95, they switched from the Festiva to the Aspire. Same engine. Same platform. The car was bigger and had air bags. A little safer on the highway. A little less MPG. But, the car seemed twice as sluggish. Given the choice, I'd rather drive the Festiva in town.