Kamis, 08 Desember 2011

Kia Rio Retro Surf, Forte Hockey By Antenna: 2011

2012 Kia Rio Retro Surf, Forte Hockey By Antenna: 2011 SEMA Live Photos

858 views November 1, 2011

Kia Rio Surf by Antenna at 2011 SEMA show

Kia is hitting SEMA as hard as ever this year with a new crop of cars to work with, including the stylish little five-door Riohatchback. These two concepts, the Hockey and Surf, demonstrate not just the tuner-worthy basis the Rio provides, but its utility as a hatchback as well. Both cars are customized by Antenna.

The Rio Surf, the copper-toned car in the gallery below, features a custom body kit, a surf rack, waterproof vinyl interior and woven floormats, and a custom rear compartment designed to hold all of the gear you'd need for a day at the beach--right down to a vinyl record player.

The Forte Hockey hatch sports a Kia Koup front bumper, carbon fiber-wrapped roof and rear diffuser, lowering springs, black vinyl interior with a black suede headliner, two 7-inch monitors in the rear headrests, a rear hatch area converted to house all the hockey gear you can imagine, and a range of other interior tweaks.

Click the link for all of our ongoing SEMA coverage.

HI-RES GALLERY: Kia Rio Surf by Antenna at 2011 SEMA show

Kia’s green technology advancements: EcoDynamics.

BY
JOSE ANTONIO LÓPEZ

– 22 OCTOBER, 2011

POSTED IN: HOME, KIA, TECHNICAL

EcoDynamics the green technology name for Kia cars Kia 27597 Kia’s green technology advancements: EcoDynamics.

In 2009 a new word entered the Kia lexicon: EcoDynamics. In just 11 characters it sums up Kia’s intention to continue to make cars which are fun to drive, practical, appealing and good value while reducing their impact on the environment. And with the all-new Rio it will reach a remarkable high.

EcoDynamics is a green umbrella for a wide range of technologies. Ultimately it will lead to alternative-fuel cars with zero tailpipe emissions, a process that is already well advanced. Kias with electrified drive trains will be emerging as early as 2012 and already the company has its first hybrid on sale in some markets, based on the new Optima.

But the biggest impact will come about through radical improvements to the economy and emissions of cars with petrol and diesel engines, which will continue to be the dominant power source for at least the next two decades.

More fuel-efficient cars do not come about by accident. They require huge investment in new engines, transmissions, materials and technologies. Efficiency has to be designed in from the start, so it is with the new Rio featuring an advanced three-cylinder CRDi diesel delivering up to 88.3 mpg whilst being the cleanest internal combustion engine in the world, emitting just 85g/km of CO2.

In 2008-09, when the world was reeling in the aftermath of the global banking collapse, Kia made the decision to invest heavily in a range of sleeker, lighter cars with advanced new powertrains and state-of-the-art fuel-saving technologies.

Soon afterwards the revised cee’d appeared with an Intelligent Stop & Go (ISG) system to stop the engine when the car is stationary in traffic and restart it again when the driver is ready to move off. Manual versions also advise the driver of the most fuel-efficient points to upshift. These features have appeared on selected versions of almost every Kia launched since. Together, they can achieve fuel savings of 10-15%.

Every new model seems to be accompanied by the introduction of smaller and more fuel-efficient engines. The 2009 Sorento saw the arrival of the R-Engine family of turbo diesels, plus a world-class six-speed automatic transmission; the Venga featured a smaller, 1.4-litre version of Kia’s European-made CRDi U2 diesel; for the Sportage, a 1.7-litre U2 diesel was added plus Kia’s first direct-injection petrol engine – a 1.6 belonging to the Gamma family; and the latest Picanto has new 1.0- and 1.25-litre Kappa family engines. A turbocharged version of the 1.0 was displayed at the 2010 Paris Motor Show, and is scheduled to start appearing in various models in 2012. And the all-new Rio has a 1.1 CRDi engine capable of 85g/km CO2. In every case, lower CO2 emissions have been achieved at the same time as greater performance.

Gasoline direct-injection (GDi) petrol engines will continue this process. The recently launched Soul facelift has a 1.6 GDi engine with increased power output and better emissions. The Optima, a car which has yet to come to the UK, was introduced in the USA with a 2.0-litre GDi turbo engine delivering V6 performance without the fuel penalty. It is only a start to what Kia has in mind.

Kia is also working on a double-clutch transmission to deliver the convenience of an automatic with even better fuel economy than a manual. And it has developed its own continuously variable transmission for hybrid vehicles, which is cutting fuel consumption by 7% compared with a conventional automatic.

The company has set itself the target of making its entire range 10% lighter by 2015, which would bring about a 3.2% reduction in fuel consumption. Lightweight materials will replace steel where it is feasible, and the number of parts will be reduced. The kind of detailed thinking that Kia designers are applying is seen to good effect in the case for the air conditioning unit in the Optima. It is made of glass bubbles rather than polypropylene and is therefore 10% lighter.

An Active Eco system that deters unnecessary acceleration by restricting engine torque in certain circumstances is under development, as is a Smart Cruise Control that can brake and accelerate the car as well as maintain a set speed. Both are showing promising fuel consumption improvements.

And just to show that fuel-saving need not be po-faced, Kia’s engineers have developed a system that rates how efficiently you are driving on a scale of zero to eight. Reach eight and a flower symbol appears on the dashboard. Maintain that over a period of time and the flower becomes a bouquet.

Source: [Kia]

Rabu, 07 Desember 2011

2011 SEMA Show: Sports-Themed Kia Vehicles

November 4th, 2011 Posted in Design,FYI,Kia Vehicles,Motor Shows & Events

by Kia Motors PR Team

What is the SEMA Show?

Have you ever heard of the SEMA Show? Wondering what SEMA stands for? It stands for Specialty Equipment Market Association and is the world’s largest automotive specialty products trade event. It was first held in 1963, and the event now takes place annually in the Las Vegas Convention Center, where a myriad of automakers and auto part manufacturers come to participate in the show. Of course, Kia made sure not to miss out. This year, Kia featured six one-of-a-kind sports-themed cars at the SEMA Show. Let’s take a look at these eye-catching rides!

Surf-Themed Radical Rio

Customized by Antenna magazine, the Radical Rio’s exterior gets a sunset-metallic golden-brown paint, custom body kit with a front splitter made of wood to match the surfboard on the roof and rear fascia with center-mount exhaust. To match its surf theme, the Rio’s rear center console was redesigned as a shelf to hold sun tan lotion, surfboard wax, bottled water and other items for fun in the sun. The best part is the rear hatch area, which has been modified to hold a retro style record player, mood lighting, shelves to hold sandals and clothes, and a retro gaming console that plays 80’s-style arcade games.

The interior seats are even made from bathing suit material! Any surfers or beach lovers out there? How do you like this surfed-up Rio?

Hockey-Hatch Forte

Also designed by Antenna, the hockey-hatch Forte features aviator gray exterior paint with 18-inch blue wheels. This car may look simple on the outside, other than the unique blue wheels, but you will be surprised to see what is on the inside. This power-play Forte has a custom hockey stick holder that stretches from the trunk through the center of the vehicle into the cabin. Also, this hockey-themed car gets powder-blue jersey material on the seats, rubberized flooring which reminds us of the floor outside a skating rink, a mini air hockey table for hockey fans, four hockey sticks, two jerseys color-matched to the exterior, an ice skate rack and glove hooks. If you are a hockey fan, this custom car will surely grab your attention.

“Slam Dunk” Blake Griffin Optima Hybrid

Kia has extended its partnership with NBA All-Star Blake Griffin, who has starred in Kia Optima commercials. This time, Griffin has inspired a brand new version of Kia Optima Hybrid for this year’s SEMA show. Built by the world famous West Coast Customs (WCC), the Blake Griffin Optima Hybrid has a realistic basketball-textured appearance with Blake Griffin’s personal logo displayed on the hood. Inside the car, you will see basketball court flooring in the front and back and Blake Griffin’s autograph embroidered in the front headrests. Any die-hard Griffin fans? You could take this car to the hoops anytime!

“Hole-In-One” Michelle Wie Soul

Michelle Wie, who has been Kia Motors’ official golf ambassador and spokesperson since early 2010, has refreshed the 2012 Soul with her personal artwork. The striking “So Blue” and white House of Kolor custom paint scheme features many of the drawings and characters found on Wie’s golf bags. Inside the car, Wie’s fancy artwork and personal logo are embroidered into the seats, and two of Wie’s golf bags, which she actually used in her tournaments, are mounted behind a 26-inch LED Samsung TV. Michelle Wie’s amazing talent in design and WCC’s development of her artwork has created a truly one-of-a-kind vehicle for the Kia Soul.

Rio B-Spec Racer

Kia and Kinetic Motorsports, Kia’s racing partner, has unveiled the all-new 2012 Rio B-Spec racer, which will compete against a variety of subcompact cars. This car will enter a range of motorsports events sanctioned by various organizations, including World Challenge, GRAND-AM, Sports Car Club of America and the National Auto Sport Association. You can transform a 2012 Rio 5-door LX model into a racecar with the B-Spec kit, which is available for sale from Kinetic Motorsports. Good news for current and future racers!

GoGoGear.com USTCC Optima Hybrid Pace Car

The Kia Soul has been the official Safety Car of the United States Touring Car Championship (USTCC) since March 2010. This year, the Optima Hybrid will replace the Soul to lead the field during warm-up and caution flag laps to ensure a safe start or restart of a race. The members of GoGoGear.com have modified the Optima by adding a free-flow air intake system, Magnaflow^® exhaust system, coil-over suspension kit, and much more to enhance its performance. On the outside, the USTCC Optima Hybrid features a custom exterior color scheme, series graphics, an array of lighting and an LED light bar on the roof to help direct traffic. Look for its first USTCC appearance on March 2012.

We have presented you with six different custom Kia vehicles that have been displayed at 2011 SEMA Show. Which one is your favorite? What does your one-of-a-kind, dream car look like? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!