Tacoma Hunter?

Wtf Kia…


https://carbuzz.com/features/kia-go...up-truck-has-a-real-shot-against-the-big-boysKia Going Tacoma Hunting: Why The Kia Tasman Pickup Truck Has A Real Shot Against The Big Boys

 

Born and bred in the Australian Outback…

This is going to be fun to watch. Them Aussies go all in.

 

"Kia forms part of the Hyundai group, with most car loves associating the brand with Hyundai and Genesis. What few people realize is that Kia has a full Special Vehicle division responsible for building military vehicles. Parent company Hyundai also has a full heavy machinery arm (Hyundai Rotem) that builds military and defense solutions like overland personnel carriers and even tanks. Yup, tanks!

If Kia can harness even a portion of the knowledge housed within these departments, it can totally build a pickup that can withstand the worst you can put it through."

If Kia actually builds the truck right with the knowledge they have access to, and throws in that Stinger TT V6, this could be a crazy mid-sized truck.

 

At the same time, they are going to try to make it cheapest as possible so they can sell a ton of them which means they are going to go with Plan B or Plan C to make it work.

 

Maybe a plan A, B, and C. From what we read, it’s possible they could offer different power plants. This could get real interesting real fast.

 

One thing they got right from the Rangeresque prototype is the body sure looks a lot nicer.

 

10-4 on that one. The military part was somewhat fascinating because I sure as hell would have never guessed Kia (Hyundai) had a department in house within their regime (no pun intended!) solely for that.

Good Stuff.

 

Competition is a good thing.

When the Japanese starting importing well made cars back in the 70's to compete with the absolute junk coming out of Detroit
the U.S. manufacturers had 2 choices, up their game or lose the entire market.

They upped their game.

 

Im not a fan of turbos. However! If they were to stuff a ttV6 into a midsize truck, that would be killer.

EDIT: I forgot to mention they did chose a Ford Raptor and not the Ranger to test against…

 

Ford Ranger Raptor...

"But shoehorning the Stinger's twin-turbocharged V6 under the hood would be the best possible move, and there is reason to think Kia might. Earlier, when we mentioned that Kia was using the Ranger as a benchmark, we should have told you that it chose the Ranger Raptor. This obviously points to a go-faster model built for jumping over stuff, and a 368-hp turbo V6 would be just the trick to make that hilariously fun"

 

Damn! But yeah, I don’t know Ford products very well. Still rooting for a ttV6 AND F/R lockers from the military side!!!

 

Hyundai/Kia have done a good job going from being a "good car for the money" to simply "a good car". Hopefully they learn from that and deliver a good truck. Competition improves the breed.

 

This is getting super interesting as Hyundai deals in heavy iron too. Nothing to do with a car, but they can tap into the knowledge if needed.

 

I was just thinking how cool it would be…

Engineers…”What if we build a strong truss for it? That sounds like an excellent idea. Let’s contact the Port Division for answers.”

Alright, back to pruning the pepper tree and I ain’t looking at Kia as inferior no mo. Hey, my Taco’s paid off and I’m not a fan of the Torque Gen, battery or not. If needed, this will be an option at today’s prices. Talk about value and not fan support…Kia is knocking it appears.

 

Judging by the last decade's state of domestic vehicle quality; I can't imagine what would have resulted if they had not 'upped' their game...

 

It’s everything the ridgeline wants to be

 

I'm intrigued

 

I would buy a Dodge before a Kia

 

As a paramedic, every time me and my partner get called for a wreck and a Kia is involved, I bet him 5 dollars it was the Kia driver's fault. I win 90% of the time.

 

Yeah, and if all my Navy SEAL buddies could impart even 10% of their HALO jumping knowledge…I’d still never do it.