Kia has taken the veils off the Kia Forte Drift Car
at the 2018 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show in Las Vegas,
which was developed in partnership with Red Bull.
The donor car for the project is the latest Forte in
EX guise, but it loses the factory-fitted 2.0 litre naturally-aspirated engine
for the Stinger GT‘s 3.3 litre twin-turbo V6 unit. Through some tricky
engineering, the engine now sits longitudinally, allowing power to be transferred to the rear axle for
drifting.
The Forte Drift Car effectively becomes a
375-horsepower rear-wheel drive beast, complete with a custom intake manifold,
six-speed sequential transmission, quick change rear differential and a hybrid
drift/grip suspension. It also features a hydraulic rear hand brake, custom
wide body aerodynamic kit and a roll cage.
Alongside the tyre-shredding Forte is the 2019 Kia
Forte Federation, which has been outfitted with parts from leading aftermarket
suppliers, including aggressive aerodynamic components by Air Design. This
includes a rear deck spoiler, rear diffuser, side skirts, front lip spoiler and
front air curtains, which all provide a stunning contrast for the Livid Lime
paint scheme.
Elsewhere, there’s a cold air intake by K&N
coupled with an axle-back performance exhaust by Borla to make this Forte
scream. It rides on progressive-rate sport springs by Eibach, 19-inch “Mosport”
wheels by TSW and ultra-high-performance tyres by Falken to improve handling.
All of the parts will be available for purchase from the respective suppliers
at a later date.
