Straightline

Kia wants to be the sporty half of the Hyundai-Kia alliance, but that just hasn't come through in any of the brand's production cars. That might change if the Kia Koup concept goes into production, and it almost certainly will: "This is a production-ready design that could find its way into the Kia lineup and perhaps sooner than one might think," said Tom Kearns, chief designer for Kia Motors America (and owner of a '71 Porsche 911 S). When we do see it, expect "Spectra" to be part of its name, as the Koup is built on the company's front-drive, C-segment platform.



It comes straight out of Kia's new Irvine design studio, so it's no surprise to see styling cues borrowed from cars like the Honda Civic coupe and Scion tC. There's also some early '80s Lotus Esprit in there, as the lead designer, Kurt Kahl, bought one just before starting in on this 10-month project. The very angular look of the wedge-shaped coupe is quite intentional. As Hyundai goes for more organic designs (i.e., Genesis coupe), Kia will use harder lines to differentiate itself.




Naturally, Peter Schreyer, Kia's head of design, exerted some influence on the project as well. He's a fan of Miles Davis, apparently, and wanted the young design team to let its creativity flow much as Davis did on his trumpet. That's a nice image, but this was likely just a convenient talking point for Kearns and communications chief Alex Fedorak during the breakfast show-style press conference.



Just as interesting to us is the engine Kia plans to use. It's a version of the 2.0-liter Theta inline-4 in the current Spectra, but Kia has gone all modern and added a twin-scroll turbocharger and direct injection, providing huge gains in power and torque -- 290 hp and 289 pound-feet of torque, the latter available from 2,000-4,000 rpm. Obviously, all sorts of measures would have to be taken to keep torque steer in check, but Mazda has shown that big-horsepower front-drivers can be fun. The showcar has a six-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters.

If Kia really wants to change its image, this Koup coupe will have to handle well. Specifically, it will have to be much more athletic than the current Spectra. But it's hard to make any predictions now. The Koup has showy bits like adaptive damping, fatty 245/40ZR19 tires and cross-drilled brake rotors, but we doubt any of these items could survive on a production car priced to compete with the Civic Si and Scion tC. We really do like those sinister, carbon-fiber-trimmed wheels, though. -- Erin Riches, Senior Editor, Inside Line