Kia to debut GTI-rivalling Pro cee'd

Kia Pro cee'd with 152kW, 1.6 turbopetrol power will debut at 2013 Geneva show.

Kia Pro cee'd with 152kW, 1.6 turbopetrol power will debut at 2013 Geneva show.

Published Oct 24, 2012

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Watch out, hot hatches of the world, the Koreans are coming. There's about to be a new kid on the block, and it's called the Kia Pro cee'd GT.

We've known for a while that parent company Hyundai has been working on a new series of direct-injection turbopetrol engines, complete twin-scroll turbochargers and continuously variable timing on both camshafts.

The first to go public was a 1.6-litre version that's slated for an upgraded version of the Veloster three-door early in the new year, for which Hyundai quotes outputs of 152kW at 6000rpm and 265Nm at 1750rpm - putting it right up there with the Golf 7 GTI.

PRO CEE'D WITH BIG BRASS ONES

Now it gets even scarier for the GTI's of this world: Kia has confirmed that it will launch a testicularly-enhanced derivative of the second-generation Pro cee'd at the 2013 Geneva show, with the same engine.

The Pro cee'd GT will be launched in both three and five-door formats, it says, with a possible estate version to follow.

A lot of hot hatch fans have speculated about what would happen if the Kia skunk works at Russelsheim in Germany dropped a seriously nasty prime mover into the Eurocentric Pro cee'd. Now it looks if we are about to find out.

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