How many genuine GT cars are on the market today is anyone’s guess, so that could mean the value of the GT badge has been debased, right?
Well, maybe. But look at it this way. The GT concept has been around for s-o-o long, and become so ingrained in buyers’ minds, that these days it’s easy to identify the car’s values pretty quickly when there’s a GT badge in view.
Whether the car delivers on those values.....?
For most people GT translates to sporty,
high performance, great handling and lots of extra equipment – all priced at a
premium of course. So that’s taken care of identifying what a GT version is all about –
done! That was easy!
So here we have the KIA Pro_cee'd GT, which
costs around $35 grand in Australia .
Apart from a truly questionable model name, the Cee'd GT does all the right things, and delivers - with excellent standard equipment inclusions, impressive performance, good roadholding, and in the grand scheme of things it will really help boost KIA’s image as a quality carmaker.
Underscoring KIA’s design-led emergence and
fast-growing sales in major markets like Europe, UK
and Australia
the Cee'd GT is a smart-looking piece of kit, with all the right credentials.
This fact should not be underplayed. After
my brief test drive in a Cee'd GT Tech, I can affirm that KMAU’s team, led by
freelance engineer Graeme Gambold, has done an outstanding job of fine-tuning
the Cee'd GT for our unique driving conditions.
1. The secondary ride quality
2. The sensitivity and feedback in the electric steering
3. The roadholding and adhesion levels
4. The spring/damper/anti-roll bar settings
It is these aspects which separate the
Cee'd GT from a number of other imported brands’ GT models, especially in
regard to their suitability for Australian conditions. The success of the local
programme has not been lost on KIA’s parent, Hyundai, which has not only
developed its own local ‘tuning’ programme, but many of the KMAU 'fixes' have
been directly translated across to some Hyundai models sold in Australia.
Leaving KMAU headquarters in western Sydney and out onto a
freeway, a quick blast up through the gears reveals impressive performance from
the turbocharged 1.6L direct-injection engine. In fact many of
the components in the guts of this ‘Gamma’ series engine have been upgraded in
strength and quality to deal with greater performance demand.
Leaving the freeway, onto a test route with
fast, sweeping corners, and swapping cogs with the slick, six-speed gearbox, the
Cee'd GT is very responsive, and is not only
good fun, but safe and predictable.
There is slight evidence of some torque steer, but it’s neither alarming, nor
detrimental. After all, it is a front-wheel-drive car and that’s an outcome
that goes with the territory.
I must comment on the steering. As tuned by Graeme Gambold and his team, it’s fabulous. Sensitive, great feedback, not too ‘nervous’ on Top Dead Centre and very progressive. It’s probably the best electrically-assisted system I’ve experienced on a mass-market car - it's a major engineering success.
Inside, the front seats are supplied by
Germany's Recaro, a company which protects its decades-long quality image by producing
outstandingly comfortable seats.
The dash is well laid-out and everything’s
easy to see and do. The controls are logical and the TFT screen with Nav and
on-board computer functions is not only functional, but intuitive to use. This
is a car a stranger can slip into and immediately drive with confidence.
The KIA Cee'd GT is an honest sporty coupe, and given the results of the excellent ‘localization’ work, its premium specification, and great combination of performance and handling, then you can honestly say that you’re getting what you paid for.
Whether in the marketplace KIA has enough
street cred to pull off the claims suggested by the GT badge, only time will tell.
The automotive press uniformly love the car - some even comparing it to the
Toyota Eight-Six for outright enjoyment! That's high praise.
I
can only say there isn’t anything at all to dislike or criticize about the
Pro_cee'd GT – just that really dumb model name!
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