Longer, lower and wider, but will the Track'ster reappear as the next-generation Kia Soul?
Kia is giving Chicago Auto Show-goers a first look at what it says is a “hint” of what the next-generation Soul hatchback will look like. Dubbed Track’ster, the 3-door concept vehicle is intended to give the popular crossover a more rugged and aggressive look, company officials suggested during a media preview in the Windy City.
The original Kia Soul kicked off quite a stir, especially when the Korean carmaker turned to a trio of digitally enhanced hamsters to help make the pitch. A slightly updated version, introduced last year, followed the cute-ute approach, bringing back the hip-hop hamsters with a catchy dance track provided by one-hit wonders LMFAO.
If the Track’ster is any indication, the maker wants to go for a more aggressive design when its time for the full refresh of the Kia platform.
“The idea was to make the Track’ster tough looking, like a bulldog,” said Tom Kearns, chief designer for KMA. “But the car had to be approachable as well. We wanted to base the car in reality so people instantly knew it was a Soul, but with a lot of attitude. It had to be a bold interpretation that would change people’s conceptions of what a sporty Kia could be.”
At 101.2 inches, the Track’ster is an inch longer than the current production Kia Soul. It’s also a full five inches wider, at 75.5 inches. The concept adopts a 3-door design instead of the production Soul’s five, with the Track’ster’s door elongated to improve ingress and egress.
But don’t worry about rear seat passengers. The prototype is a 2-seater, the back seats replaced by an integrated equipment tray – for helmets, gloves and tools — and a spare tire well.
“We saw the Track’ster as a performance-inspired concept that could spend time on the road and racetrack,” said Kearns. “The idea was to make the tools and equipment necessary to keep the car performing in top condition easily accessible.”
The Track’ster concept is done up in Whiteout and Inferno Orange paint, with air intake slits – trimmed in carbon fiber – added to the signature Kia grille. Larger headlamps sweep back over more dynamically sculpted front wheel arches. The LED headlamp lenses literally light up the trapezoid design cues that repeat throughout the Track’ster design.
The concept features 19-inch monoblock performance wheels shod with Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 high-performance tires. They only partially conceal 14-inch Brembo vented and cross-drilled disc brakes with six-piston calipers in front and 13.6-inch discs with four-piston calipers at the rear.
The Kia Track’ster concept can use the extra stopping power. Replacing the anemic, naturally aspirated inline-four of the Kia Soul, the concept gets a turbocharged 2.0-liter four making 250 horsepower, a 66% increase compared to the current production model. The engine is shifted with a short-throw six-speed manual and power is directed to all four wheels.
Designer Kearns calls the Track’ster a dream car and won’t say how much influence the prototype will have on the next-generation Kia Soul. But clearly the concept – developed at Kia’s advanced design studio near Los Angeles – is intended to gauge response to a more aggressive version of the maker’s popular hamster-mobile.