Kia Europe has issued the following press release:
Kia Motors Corporation has issued the first details of its new flagship model, the luxurious 2007 Opirus, which will make its European premiere at the Mondial de L’Automobile in Paris, France, on 28 September 2006.
Longer, sleeker and lighter, the five-metre long four-door luxury sedan has a more balanced appearance, an enhanced interior with new high-tech features, and a larger, more powerful and more fuel-efficient V6 gasoline engine. Significant improvements have been made to the ride, handling, safety and refinement, while Opirus now weighs less and delivers higher per-formance. Kia’s new E-segment model will be available in left-hand drive only, with a wider choice of interior and exterior colours.
“Our new 2007 Opirus has been significantly upgraded in so many ways that it is virtually an all-new model,” enthused Jean-Charles Lievens, Senior Vice President Kia Motors Europe. “In its new form, Opirus is a fine flagship for the genuine high build quality that Kia is now achieving across its entire model range. It looks more sophisticated, goes faster, consumes less fuel, rides more smoothly, handles more precisely, is packed with new features and is a wonderfully comfortable way to travel.
“Last year, sales of E-segment gasoline models in the top four European markets slipped by almost 16% and that trend is continuing in 2006. However, Opirus sales this year are up by 21% and I’m sure they will accelerate strongly next year when the 2007 model arrives in Kia showrooms. Kia’s new luxury sedan is a truly high quality product, offering the highest lev-els of comfort, refinement and silence,” added SVP Lievens. — all new Volvo S80 challenges.
Longer, sleeker sedan with ’balanced’ appearance
Kia designers have given the 2007 Opirus a more modern, more balanced look by lowering the leading edge of the bonnet, fitting a wider and smoother radiator grille, raising the trunk lid and extending the rear overhang by 20 mm. They also fitted revised dual headlamps, to-gether with new vertical tail lamps (which do not encroach on the trunk lid or rear wing pan-els), and dual chrome exhaust pipes. Larger diameter, 17-inch, multi-spoke alloy wheels plus much wider front and rear tracks fill the wheel arches more completely.
Top quality interior packed with new features
Inside, the 2007 Opirus has an all-new dashboard, instrument panel, dial cluster, centre stack, floor console, integrated audio system and heating and ventilation controls. New features include heated and cooled front seats, power-adjustable pedals, four-way lumbar support for the driver’s seat and a clearer trip computer display. For the 2007 model, Opirus buyers will be offered a choice of three interior colours – two-tone Beige or Gray and one-tone Black, with contrasting accents in wood grain or aluminium.
To strengthen the refined appearance of the 2007 Opirus, five new, more sophisticated col-ours are added to the original range of three exterior paint finishes. Bright Silver, Light Metal, Pewter Beige, Midnight Gray and Dark Red Wine join White Pearl, Ebony Black and Cobalt Blue to offer buyers a choice of eight colours.
More powerful, more efficient, all-aluminium V6 engine
To make the 2007 Opirus even more competitive in its market sector, Kia has fitted a new 3.8-litre V6 Lamda engine, in place of the previous 3.5-litre unit. This all-aluminium engine generates 266 ps (196 kW) up 66% at 6,000 rpm and 353 Nm (36.0 kg.m) up 18% at 4,500 rpm. The new engine powers the 122 kg lighter Opirus to 100 kph in 7.5 seconds (down from 9.2 sec) and propels the car to a top speed of 230 kph. — 2005 Geneva International Motor Show.
The five-speed automatic transmission is carried over, offering fully automatic operation or sequential manual gear selection. The new engine is more fuel-efficient and gasoline con-sumption on the combined cycle is reduced by 4.4% to 10.9 litres per 100 km. The fuel tank holds 70 litres of gasoline, while the trunk has an increased capacity of 450 litres.
Re-engineered bodyshell and suspension
Kia’s top-of-the-range model has benefited from an extensive re-engineering programme under the skin, so the new car’s upgrade is much more than a simple ’make-over’ – with sig-nificant improvements to the bodyshell structure and suspension systems.
Occupant safety is enhanced by a revised bodyshell which features reinforcements to the lower front bulkhead, cross-members in the cabin floor, the door sills and B-pillars. Added protection against side-impacts is provided by new, larger side air-bags in the front seats which also shield the pelvis area as well as the torso and thorax. — new Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG.
The front-wheel drive 2007 Opirus’ improved handling is the result of new suspension front and rear, together with a wider track (up 15 mm, front and 30 mm, rear) and wider 235/55 R17 tyres. The sub-frame mounted double wishbone front suspension layout is carried over, but the L-shaped lower arm is reversed and has a broader base, the steering rack is lowered (reducing vibrations) and the castor angle is increased.
At the rear, the transverse sub-frame now supports separately mounted shock absorbers and coil springs, while the upper links are now designed to be ’in-wheel’ – Kia’s compact system that positions part of the suspension inside the road wheel, for minimum intrusion into trunk space. The new suspension systems weigh 34 kg less than the previous set-up.
The 2007 Opirus has lost none of its luxurious ride quality. The electronically controlled suspension system (ECS) of the original Opirus is carried over with refinements to its soft-ware. A fast-reacting computer monitors vehicle speed and road surface irregularities, adjust-ing individual shock absorber stiffness to reduce body roll when cornering, and to counter front-end dive under braking and rear-end squat during hard acceleration.
