When you want to go up against the big boys in the supermini brigade, you gotta have the right numbers - and Kia has just confirmed the numbers for its GTI-challenging cee'd and pro cee'd GT models.
Korea's first credible hot hatches, due to go into production at Zilina in Slovakia from May 2013, the five-door cee'd GT and three-door pro cee'd GT will be motivated by a new version of Kia's 1.6-litre, direct-injection GDI engine with beefed-up internals and a twin-scroll turbocharger.
Maximum power is quoted at 150kW - 51 percent up from the non-turbo version - while torque is boosted even more to 265Nm, feeding the front wheels through a six-speed manual 'gearbox and taking the new GT's from 0-100 in less than eight seconds.
While we are constrained by journalistic ethics to point out that these numbers fall short of the Golf 6 GTI's 155kW and 6.9-second sprint, they are still respectable by the standards of the class.
SHOW TO MATCH THE GO
The Kia skunk works at Russelsheim in Germany have also promised 'significant developments' to the chassis and suspension system, to ensure that the GT's will handle as well as they go.
New grilles and headlight clusters (complete with four-point LED daytime running lights), deeper bumpers front and rear, and special 18” rims over red-painted brake callipers will give them the show to match the go, while the interiors will feature Recaro sports seats, alloy pedals and special upholstery and finishes.
We're waiting on an answer from Kia SA as to whether and when the cee'd and pro cee'd GT models will be released in South Africa.