2017 Kia Soul Facelift Will Make European Debut in Paris, Adds 1.6 T-GDI Engine

We first laid eyes upon the 2017 Kia Soul exactly one month ago, when it made its debut and went on sale in South Korea. Now, though, Kia has confirmed the Soul will get dressed in its finest jacket for the 2016 Paris Motor Show. Hence, next week we’ll see the Euro-spec model up close and personal before it goes on sale all across the Old Continent in late 2016.

Although plentiful, exterior modifications haven’t changed the visual character of the Soul too much. It just made it more hip, more alluring to youngsters as a means of personal transportation. Everything, from the updated tiger-nose front grille to the redesigned daytime running lights and fog lights, help the Soul get in with the in crowd. The interior also benefits from small updates, including a selection of funky color combos.

But visual freshness isn’t all there is to the face lifted Soul. Some people will be more thrilled to find out that Kia has made the Soul safer than before. The key update in this regard is Blind Spot Detection with Rear Cross Traffic Alert. For the more tech-savvy among us, the big news is the integration of Android Auto (Android 5.0 or newer), as well as Apple CarPlay (iPhone 5 or newer).

The big news, however, is the addition of the 1.6 T-GDI engine. The 1.6-liter turbocharged unit is pretty much the same powerplant you might find in the cee’d GT warm hatch, with 201 horsepower (204 PS) and 195 lb-ft (265 Nm) available to play with. And just like the cee’d GT, the Soul 1.6 T-GDI comes exclusively as a front-wheel-drive affair. But then again, this is a crossover in tune with city life, not rutted roads, green lanes, muddy fields, or sand dunes.

In combination with the 7DCT seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, the 2017 Kia Soul 1.6 T-GDI is pretty quick for this type of vehicle. 0 to 60 mph (96 km/h) in 7.5 seconds is no slouch. By comparison, the most powerful model in the Renault Captur range, which is 80 horsepower down on the most powerful Soul, struggles to hit that in 10.7 seconds.

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Kia GT RWD Four-Door Coupe To Launch Six Years After Concept's 2011 Debut

Next year, the production-variant of Kia's 2011 GT concept car will hit the market and offer a package previously unseen from the carmaker.

Some five years in the making, the road-going Kia GT is expected to remain true to the formula of the concept. That means it will retain the four-door coupe-like design and be available exclusively with rear-wheel drive, promising much better dynamics than Kia's other rear-wheel model, the K900 sedan.

While some had hoped the concept would in fact spawn a true two-door coupe, Hyundai-Kia design boss Peter Schreyer said that there simply isn't enough demand for the company to produce such a model.

“I think that acceptance or demand for two-door models has changed. I think it’s more towards four-door coupés or saloons, or coupé-like saloons, if that’s what you want to call them. Two-door coupés are a little bit on the decline. It would be nice to make a new coupé, but if there is no demand, what’s the point?” he said.

When it reaches the market as Kia's range-topping model, the GT will be available with a plethora of different engines. One of those is expected to be a derivative of the 315 hp turbocharged four-banger that debuted within the GT4 Stinger concept. Elsewhere we're expecting to see a 2.2-liter diesel with 197 hp and a 3.3-liter turbocharged V6 squeezing out 380 hp in standard guise. With some tweaking, power from this engine could exceed the 425 hp of the BMW M4.

The car's name remains somewhat of a mystery. It certainly won't be called the GT but with a launch next year, we won't have to wait too long to find out.

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Kia Sportage makes a funny face in Frankfurt

The all-new Kia Sportage has made its big debut at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show, introducing sheet metal inspired by the brand's previous concepts. Our first post on the new model only featured a trio of exterior images, we now have shots of the redesigned cabin.

As we said originally, both the Provo and Niro, a pair of 2013 concepts from Geneva and Frankfurt, inspired the exterior design. We still aren't sold on the new fascia, which reminds us of the old Subaru B9 Tribeca. Perhaps it'll grow on us.

As for the interior, which we're seeing for the first time, it's, well, kind of exactly what we expected. The quality appears to be good and the overall design conservative. Conventional instruments flank a small color display that looks to be no more than four inches, while a larger touchscreen sits atop the center stack. Its main functions are controlled via a series of buttons found below the screen and above the HVAC controls.

While the model on display in Europe sports a manual transmission, we'd expect no such gearbox to be offered in the US. Here, the smart money is on a six-speed automatic being standard, and we're betting there won't be any huge changes in the engine lineup. That should mean a 2.4-liter, four-cylinder in the base and volume models, while the range-topping SX will likely offer Hyundai/Kia's popular 2.0-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder, just like today's Sportage.

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Spyshots: 2016 Kia Sportage Testing on the Nurburgring, Debuts This September

The all-new Kia Sportage has been spied by our photographers undergoing track testing at the Nurburgring. Being based on an all-new platform and powered by advanced engines, this small SUV will be superior to its predecessor in many ways.

With testing going on at the Hyundai-Kia Technical Center in Russelsheim for a year, it's pretty clear that this model will play a crucial role in their expansion plans. Even though it's heavily camouflaged, this prototype confirms that design changes have been made.

The grille has been moved down, while the headlights are on the edges of the bonnet. This will make the new Sportage appear similar to the Nissan Juke and the Niro concept from a few years ago.

Inside, the dashboard will sport similar switches to the Sorento and Sedona. Full-spec models with navigation will also integrate Android Auto into the 7-inch screen.

The platform will be a little wider than before, improving handling. However, refinement is what the Koreans are after. The engine range will start with a 1.6 GDi offered exclusively with front-wheel drive. Just like on the new Hyundai Tucson, there will also be a turbo version of that, packing the same 1.6 T-GDI with 185 PS as on the Cee'd GT. A small 1.2 turbo GDI with over 130 horsepower is also rumored, but no confirmation has been made.

In the diesel range, the 2016 Sportage will debut with an economical 1.7 CRDi that's available with a 7-speed DCT. There will also be a 2-liter CRDi coupled to a conventional automatic.

Specially designed for the US and maybe even the South Koran market, the Sportage 2.0T should offer the best performance, with 245 horsepower being sent through a 6-speed with paddle shifters.

Various sources have confirmed that the new-generation Kia Sportage is likely to be revealed in September. That date coincides with the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show, but there could be a separate event in Korea.

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Next-Gen Kia Sportage to Debut in September

A new report is indicating the 2016 Kia Sportage will make its world premiere in September this year.

No further details regarding the debut are available at the moment but this information suggests the next generation of the South Korean SUV will be revealed during the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show.

The 2016 Sportage is expected to share many of its design cues with the KX3 for the Chinese market which means a new front fascia and repositioned headlights are planned. Spy photos of the model have revealed it will also adopt a sloping roofline, longer rear doors and a dual exhaust system.

The fourth generation Sportage will likely get a four-cylinder 1.2-liter turbocharged gasoline unit with around 132 bhp (98 kW), as well as a more powerful 1.6-liter with 204 bhp (152 kW) and 245 bhp (183 kW). A couple of diesel units are also expected.

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