Kia Sportspace Concept: A Korean Station Wagon!

[Grandea GTR]

Looks pretty nice.

 

[Anathema]

That doesn't look too bad, honestly.

 

[WhiterunGuard]

I like it, but I would hope they make it RWD (unlike the Optima), if they did I could see it being fun to drive.

 

[Grandea GTR]

I like it, but I would hope they make it RWD (unlike the Optima), if they did I could see it being fun to drive.

Or AWD.

 

[Slash]

The interior screams 1967 with a modern twist. I like that part of it.

 

[05XR8]

Or AWD.

I'd think that since it's in the snow.

 

[Grandea GTR]

The concept will make its appearance in the Geneva Motor Show this coming March.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

I like this horizontal emphasis I'm seeing in new car interior designs. Keep them coming!

 

[05XR8]

I like this horizontal emphasis I'm seeing in new car interior designs. Keep them coming!

The 1980's making a comeback. Yes!

 

[Grandea GTR]

Stumbled upon more pictures of the car in a Korean website.

I want this to be a real thing, Kia.

 

[05XR8]

I can see this in the PWC. I'd like to see it vs a Polestar V60.

And keep it a 4-seater. 👍

 

[Hayden]

Best looking Korean car I've ever seen. By a long, long way. Hopefully this puppy hits showrooms because the world needs more sporty wagons.

 

[Omnis]

Want. Now give it the Tau instead of the **** Theta. And enhance materials quality so that the finish doesn't peel off after a year of Florida sun.

 

[SlipZtrEm]

Kia takes an early lead in the "best-looking-car-at-Geneva" race. Well done, Schreyer, well done.

 

[Crash]

This reminds me of the mid-to-late 2000s Alfa wagons.

 

[RandomCarGuy17]

I like it already!

 

[mustafur]

Looks like a 159 Wagon.

Will probably come out but you can tell it would change quite a bit, the seats are pure concept.

 

[Robin]

Hello Alfa Brera!

 

[Wolfe]

I like this horizontal emphasis I'm seeing in new car interior designs. Keep them coming!

I think automotive designs in this decade are proving to be better all-around than the '00s, which either means I'm not one to simply reject anything new and different, or I'm getting older.

 

[homeforsummer]

I think automotive designs in this decade are proving to be better all-around than the '00s, which either means I'm not one to simply reject anything new and different, or I'm getting older.

No, I think you're right, they're genuinely improving after what could be considered a period of experimentation.

It helps that technology is allowing manufacturers to build vehicles closer to the 'ideal', i.e. closer to the concept cars they originally release. Bodywork creases can be far sharper than was viable before, light units far more intricate, and adaptive suspension means manufacturers can finally get away with huge wheels and skinny tyres without absolutely screwing the ride quality.

 

[Wolfe]

I actually associate the '00s with underbaked concept-cars-turned-production-cars -- the FJ Cruiser is one example. But concepts have gotten better too, I suppose.

 

[TheCracker]

Take away the exterior concept car detailing, and it would be a fairly average looking estate. But i do quite like that current Kia front end.

The interior is pure concept, so that can be discarded straight away. But the transmission tunnel runs between the rear seats too. Does this mean AWD or even RWD possibly?

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

I think automotive designs in this decade are proving to be better all-around than the '00s, which either means I'm not one to simply reject anything new and different, or I'm getting older.

I wish I could combine 90's exterior aesthetics with today's interior aesthetics. Not all 90s mind you. The second generation Ford Taurus can rot in hell.

I should add that this car is reminding me of the Alfa Romeo 159 sport wagon, although it's not a shade as handsome. The 159 was near design perfection. The Kia has a really disproportionally heavy ass.

I don't think the 00's produced a better looking saloon. This thing is pants-wettingly sexual. If the 159 was a person, it would be Paul Newman. And I'm not even gay.

This post may lack a high degree of logic.

 

[CSMDuty11]

I see a bit of resemblance to the 159 wagon in the back, but i don't know how anyone would think
"ALFA ROMEO WAGON" when looking at the front.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

I see a bit of resemblance to the 159 wagon in the back, but i don't know how anyone would think
"ALFA ROMEO WAGON" when looking at the front.

It's not that they look similar, it's that they have a similar attitude or presence.

 

[homeforsummer]

The 159 is a stunning looking vehicle but one I actually think looks better in pictures than in the metal. In the metal it has a bit too much 'bulk' - particularly next to the 156 it replaced which is a bit more classical and wonderfully curvy in the metal.

I can certainly see the association between the Kia and the 159 though. They're both fairly 'pure' designs for a start - one thing the 159's designers did very well is resisting superfluous detail. The Kia too. While as @TheCracker says the interior is (unfortunately) pure concept car, the exterior doesn't look too far away from production reality. There's little there that suggests Kia isn't already working on a very similar next-gen wagon version of the Optima.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

The 159 is a stunning looking vehicle but one I actually think looks better in pictures than in the metal. In the metal it has a bit too much 'bulk' - particularly next to the 156 it replaced which is a bit more classical and wonderfully curvy in the metal.

I can certainly see the association between the Kia and the 159 though. They're both fairly 'pure' designs for a start - one thing the 159's designers did very well is resisting superfluous detail. The Kia too. While as @TheCracker says the interior is (unfortunately) pure concept car, the exterior doesn't look too far away from production reality. There's little there that suggests Kia isn't already working on a very similar next-gen wagon version of the Optima.

I spent a good amount of time with a 159 in Italy. I think they look just as good in person, but to each his own.

 

[Wolfe]

To me, that Alfa Romeo design language as seen on the 159 above always looked like part of the front end had been chopped off, as if the car was a block of cheese.

 

[TheCracker]

I did really like the 156, but I think the 159 built on what was great about it and made it even better. It has one of the very best looking front ends, which is unheard of for a family saloon it wore it better than the Brera did.

It is a bit dependant on spec though. A guy I work with has a black saloon in lusso(?) spec, and it's nice enough. But someone in a next door office has a similar black saloon, but this is a ti, and it just looks so much nicer. It just looks 'right'.

This Kia has a similar sleek and unfussy shape to it. So many designers try hard to give boring segment cars some of the presence that sport cars or coupes have but instead produce vehicles that scream of trying too hard. Few successfully manage to pull it off. The latest Mazda 6 gets close.

 

[VXR]

In Schreyer, KIA has found a confidence to make interesting, bold designs. Sure the Optima isn't 'pretty' but the design is interesting. The Sportage is easily the nicest small crossover, too. Muscular in the wings, but not heavy handed.