Kia SUVs: lineup. Frame SUV "Kia" (photo)

2024 Author: Erin Ralphs | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-19 11:41

South Korean car manufacturer Kia started out with bicycles. The first Kia light SUV was produced by a subsidiary of Asia for the needs of the army.

Kia SUVs

The first civilian Korean SUV appeared in 1990 and was produced until 1997. It was called Asia Rocsta. The next two years were devoted to his second generation Asia Rocsta R2, on which this lineup ended its existence without successors. This SUV looks like an old American Jeep from World War II.

The next was the short-lived SUV "Kia Retona". It was created on the basis of the first generation of the Sportage crossover already produced at that time from 1997 to 2003.

These SUVs are no longer in production, ruthlessly supplanted by crossovers.

Today, the only representative of South Korean cars is called, and by right, an SUV. This is a Kia Mohave Jeep.

Two more crossover models can be conditionally ranked among the small tribe of Kia SUVs - the first generation Sorento and the new Sportage.

Kia Asia Rocsta

The asceticism of the military classic jeep in the civilian version has been softened with modern bumpers, moldings, plastic fenders and interesting rims. The tented top remained, but there was another modification with a hard top. The salon has also become more comfortable. The steering wheel is the same as installed on cars, the seats are adjustable.

The second generation with the R2 index outwardly differs from American jeeps, in its appearance the features of Japanese jeeps of the last quarter of the 20th century are visible.

Asia Roksta jeeps were not delivered to Russia. Those cars that drive on domestic off-road hit him in winding ways.

In the first version of the all-wheel drive SUV, which rolled off the assembly line in 1994, two variants of four-cylinder engines were installed. Diesel R2 (MAGMA) with a volume of 2.2 liters and a power of 72 liters. With. and petrol "Mazda" with a volume of 1.8 liters accelerated the jeep to a speed of 140 km/h.

The mass of the car was about 1.3 tons, dimensions (L × W × H) - 3.6x1, 7x1.8 m, ground clearance - 0.2 m, load capacity - 0.5 tons.

Sold jeeps in England, Korea, Italy, Germany.

Kia Retona

The second Kia Retona SUV at the beginning of its journey was positioned as a replacement for the Asia Rocsta jeep. At the end of the last century, Kia Motors bought Asia, and Retona was unified with the first Sportage.

Externally, especially in front, the car has round headlights, close to the radiator and protrudingoutwards with wings independent of the hood, reminiscent of a Jeep Wrangler. The bumpers and footrest are made of unpainted thick plastic, the windshield frame, as a tribute to the military style, is decorated with decorative loops that imitate the tilting of the glass on the hood.

Jeep dimensions 4 × 1, 75 × 1.8 m, ground clearance - 0.2 m. Curb weight of the vehicle - 0.4 tons, permissible weight with cargo and passengers - 1.9 tons. In the combined cycle fuel consumption was 10 liters per 100 km. The maximum speed that an SUV could develop was 125 km / h.

The SUV was produced in three versions of a two-door body: a four-seater covered all-metal and a convertible with a soft awning, as well as a two-seater with a cargo compartment behind the front seats. The maximum volume of the luggage compartment is 1.2 thousand liters. 2.0-litre, four-cylinder, turbocharged diesel engine with 83 hp. pp., five-speed manual transmission, power steering - quite decent performance for a small SUV.

Kia Sportage

Only the first generation of Kia Sportage can be attributed to SUVs. It was developed on the Mazda Bongo platform, with its own engine and gearbox.

The Jeep was sold as a four-door hardtop and a two-door softtop. Production started in 1993 and finally ended in 2004.

Outwardly, he looked simple, not too expressive, but confident, as befits a jeep. Inside - quite comfortable and of high quality, with comfortable seats.

Its dimensions are 3.76/4.34×1.65×1.73 m, ground clearance is 0.2 m, weight is about one and a half tons. The SUV was equipped with two-liter three petrol and two diesel engines with a five-speed manual and four-speed automatic gearboxes. Sportage accelerated to 100 km / h in less than 15 seconds, the maximum speed was more than 170 km / h. The SUV felt confident both on the city's cramped streets and off-road.

The first generation had a clear advantage - it was universal: SUV and SUV in one Kia car.

The second and third generation Sportage SUV models gradually lost this advantage, becoming classic crossovers.

The third generation, unveiled at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show, has a modern crossover design with maybe a touch of sportiness.

The interior is trimmed with high-quality expensive materials, the control is precise, the luggage compartment holds almost five hundred, and with the seats folded down and all one thousand four hundred liters.

Two-liter petrol engine with 163 hp. With. and diesel - 136 and 184 liters. With. equipped with five- and six-speed automatic transmissions. The petrol-powered SUV accelerates in 10.4 seconds, with a top speed of more than 180 km/h.

Kia Sorento

Kia's next car, the Sorento SUV, satisfies the requirements of the European market in both design and performance. The very first cars were equipped with a 2.4 liter gasoline engine with a capacity of 139 hp. With. and diesel for3.5 liter capacity of 194 liters. With. with a five-speed automatic transmission. The engines were later replaced with more powerful, economical and environmentally friendly models.

The Kia Sorento frame SUV with a fixed rear axle was the best suited for off-road trips. He could even wade through water obstacles up to half a meter deep. The car was produced in two versions: all-wheel drive or front-wheel drive.

The second generation Sorento, which came on the market in 2009, no longer had such off-road qualities. The crossover has become much more beautiful both outside and inside. More modern and powerful engines appeared, a five- or seven-seater saloon, an assistant for driving downhill, but the body became the carrier, all-wheel drive disappeared (only plug-in remained) and downshift.

After another three years, the appearance of the Kia Sorento became even more modern, a more powerful (192 hp) gasoline engine appeared. But this is already one hundred percent, beautiful and reliable, but a crossover.

Kia Borrego

Another Kia frame car is an SUV (photo below) Borrego.

The full-length Kia Borrego was created for the US market in 2008, but did not find its niche and was discontinued in 2011. But today it can still be found on the roads in Latin America, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

Under a different name, it is produced in Russia in Kaliningrad at the Avtotor plant.

Kia Mohave

The big powerful car hasexcellent cross-country ability and has a spacious, to say the least, interior. This is the only SUV in the Kia lineup today.

Off-road vehicles, the lineup of which once consisted of real Rocsta, Retona, Sorento and Sportage jeeps, have practically disappeared without finding a market. But the developments used in them did not disappear. They have found a worthy use in the Kia Mojave.

Since 2008, the jeep, which has two names, has been improved, becoming an expensive luxury car.

The huge five-door jeep with seven seats is equipped with an economical 3-liter diesel engine with a capacity of 250 hp. With. with eight speed automatic transmission. It consumes about 10 liters of fuel per 100 km on the combined cycle and accelerates to "hundred" in just 9 seconds, despite the fact that it weighs more than 2 tons. Its ground clearance is 0.217 m.

The frame structure allows a heavy machine in off-road conditions, due to the uniform distribution of all loads, to maintain balance, not to roll or sway on rough terrain.

4.6L petrol engine with 340hp. With. has 8 cylinders, complies with the environmental standard EURO V and is equipped with a 6-speed automatic.

If the first Kia off-roader was a compact and fairly cheap jeep, intended rather for young people, then the new model, large and very expensive, suits serious charismatic people with a solid income. What fate awaits him, will the Korean manufacturer continue the lineup and whatnovelties, one can only guess.