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10/02/2012
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The Kia Track'ster, the Korean company's latest concept car has been unveiled at the Chicago Auto Show. The performance-oriented three-door coupé concept is designed to be a hint towards what could be the future of Kia's Soul.
 "The idea was to make the Track'ster tough looking, like a bulldog," says Tom Kearns, chief designer at Kia Motors America. "But the car had to be approachable as well. We wanted to base the car in reality so people instantly knew it was a Soul, but with a lot of attitude. It had to be a bold interpretation that would change people's conceptions of what a sporty Kia could be."
The bold attitude Kearns refers to starts with the eye-catching Whiteout and Inferno Orange paint scheme. While the white portrays complex layers and shades that contribute to dramatic depth, the orange is perfectly suited for racing. Kia's signature grille features an air intake slit and is trimmed in lightweight carbon fibre. Smoothly integrated head lights sweep back suggestively over the sculpted front-wheel arches. The deeply recessed lenses echo the trapezoid themes found throughout the Track'ster and are accented with compelling LEDs.
Most striking up front is the Track'ster's lower intake grille. Flanked by immense LED driving lights with billet aluminium surrounds, the Track'ster is capable of devouring prodigious amounts of air to keep the engine running cool even under the most gruelling conditions. The lower valance, trimmed in carbon fibre and accented with Inferno Orange, rides just inches off the ground and lends to the car's menacing stance.
KMA's design team dreamed big, but also kept their vision firmly rooted in reality. A 2-litre turbocharged in-line-four engine puts 250bhp to the road, a 66 per cent increase over that of the production Soul. Power is routed to all four wheels via an electronically controlled four-wheel-drive system. The short-throw six-speed manual transmission is capped with a stubby spherical shift lever. The Track'ster rides on a lowered sport suspension tuned for track performance.
While there are no current plans to produce the Track'ster, Kia's California design centre team enthusiastically took on the project. "Concept cars are icing on the cake," says Kearns. "They allow KMA's design team to dream about what could be. Whether that dream becomes a reality or not is a separate question."
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Author
John Challen
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