Faster than a Porsche. The Kia EV6 GT brings wild car magic from the classic brand

To be fair, many manufacturers put some fast horses in their versions, but they were already reduced by reduction. For high performance, they needed a big turbo that spun for three days. Instant, smooth, and immediately scalable performance was lacking.

Electric cars made a big splash on the scene, but initially lacked power and battery capacity. The E-Golf was fun to drive, but if you let yourself get carried away, the 22 kilowatt-hours of energy was enough for a hundred and fifty kilometers. Those who wanted more had to buy a Tesla, at that time it was as expensive as a Mercedes.

Since then, the competition has increased, and Kia understands this well. It has given its member in the electric middle class an unmistakable design and advanced technology. Including a battery with a voltage of 800 Volts, which allows energy to be charged faster and also sent to the wheels faster.

That is why the civilian versions with 125, 168 and 239 kilowatts are filled with the tested GT. With parameters of 430 kilowatts and 740 Newton meters, it reaches a maximum speed of 260 km / h, while it reaches the first hundred in 3.5 seconds. Faster than the base Porsche Taycan and any version of the Tesla 3.

The Koreans came up with these numbers usually in their own way. While the rear electric motor in the Porsche Taycan rotates at a maximum of 16,000 rpm and moves the mechanical transmission at a speed of one hundred kilometers, in the EV6 GT the front and rear motors reach 21,000 rpm. Because of this, its cooling, balance and the architecture of some parts had to be redesigned.

Also unique is the control of the rear motor using two inverters, one of which is cut to reduce consumption during quiet driving. The engine is followed by a computer-controlled limited-slip differential, 21-inch wheels with large brakes and yellow-green calipers, and the body is strengthened where the chassis is stored.

In the cabin, the shell racing seats up front are immediately eye-catching. They also hold a lot on the shoulders, but in general they do not suit everyone. They don’t have adjustable lumbar or headrests, and lack ventilation in the summer.

Driving the GT variant is an incredible experience. Around the city, it is better to choose the Eco mode with a soft pedal response. After switching to Normal, the car jumps forward as if scared. The game increases the response even more, with the right button on the steering wheel you can select the GT mode, which allows the rear to turn slightly. We do not recommend anywhere except on the circuit.

Acceleration and power distribution are very impressive, there is no reason not to believe a hundred in three and a half seconds. The full power of the engine literally blows the car, the back appreciates the well-shaped seat and the brain does not have time to process the rushing stream of information. But when you’re stopped by a truck in the left lane of a freeway, that incredible performance will come in handy. The GT accelerates faster than any regular car.

We should be aware that a chassis the size of a regular touring car can cope well with such a burst of power. When driving hard on harder tracks, it’s obvious that the engines want to go further and the driver’s sanity is the limit. All the more so because the stability allows the driver to step on the gas even in the corner, which is not often seen today.

As a fun companion, the GT works very well, and it’s encouraging to see battery cars learning more and more old-school tricks despite the extra weight.

The question is how it will fit the rest of the crew and what kind of everyday GT car it is. In addition to the aforementioned shape of the front seats, the suspension is very tight. It is still fine for a sports car, but without stability for traveling on Czech roads.

The second disadvantage is energy consumption, which, despite all technical tricks, is still high. It didn’t go below 21 kilowatt hours for the entire test week, while we drove 16 to 17 with the standard EV6. On the highway at 130 km/h, it rose to 28.3 kWh, while with the standard four-wheel it reached 24 kWh/100 km.

With a purchase price of 1.8 million crowns, it comes out quite well. The aforementioned Porsche Taycan may do other things, but its list price starts at half a million higher. And some may like the anonymous GT model, which only connoisseurs can distinguish from the regular EV6.