05:33AM - 29.01.'14
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News Source: autoblog.com
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Let's be honest, Rich America. When you drive your fullsize luxury sedans, you don't clock any laps of the Nürburgring. You don't view your car as an alternative to air travel, ready to wheel between countries at triple-digit Autobahn speeds. Heck, you don't even take the long way home. Instead, you commute in fender-to-fender gridlock looking to be assuaged by sybaritic luxuries, your ride serving as a four-wheeled extension of your living room. Yet when it comes time to vote with your pocketbooks, you overwhelmingly skew toward European driving values – German ones, more specifically. You favor the firm rides, firmer seats and quick steering of cars like the BMW 7 Series and Audi A8. What gives? That's what Kia is clandestinely asking with its new 2015 K900. According to Kia PR director Scott McKee, this 200.6-inch bruiser of a sedan is all about "at-ease luxury." That's a notion that was once very much synonymous with American automakers' approach to big high-end sedans – effortless comfort above all other considerations. Sprawling room in every direction. Fine materials no matter where the hand falls. The automobile as an isolative cocoon. Once upon a time, Cadillac and Lincoln owned the Comfort First game, but these days, there's almost nobody playing – the Lexus LS and Hyundai Equus are the only cars in this end of the market, everyone else is busy aping German values. Kia planners could claim that the K900 has been intentionally targeted at a different sort of customer – and indeed, during the press conference ahead of our first drive in Santa Barbara, there was some discussion of "a different kind of luxury" and seeking "confident individualist" buyers. But the truth is, the Korean premium car shoppers that this car was primarily designed for crave exactly the sort of plush luxury experience the K900 dispenses. In other words, Kia is hoping that there are a few thousand like-minded Americans willing to overlook the badge on its nose and give this car a chance. And give it a chance they should. The K900 has a lot to offer, and it does so at a steep discount to its ostensible rivals. To wit, V8 models start at $60,400 delivered. Our all-boxes-checked K900 V8 tester with optional VIP package rang up at $66,400 with freight. That's a lot of money, but it's positively skinflint by European luxury car standards. A Mercedes-Benz S-Class starts at $93,825, a BMW 7 Series warms up at $74,925, a Jaguar XJ commands $74,200. Heck, even the Lexus LS 460 starts at $73,050, and none of these base models are anywhere near as well equipped as the K900. But starting by comparing MSRPs is a rational exercise in what is, at its heart, an irrational end of the market. Better to start with what attracts one's interest in the first place – looks. Aesthetically, the K900 checks a lot of boxes, with an imposing stance and a piercing stare thanks to its standard LED active headlamps. Even Kia's signature 'tabbed' grille looks good in this scale. But the details are less convincing, namely a couple of superfluous nods to traditional American luxury touchstones – a pair of unnecessary faux fender vents and mandatory chrome on its 19-inch alloys. Thanks to its slabbish sides and high beltline, the K900 sits somewhat heavily upon those wheels, too. Overall, though, it exhibits a far more modern shape that's not as baroquely styled as the Hyundai Equus, a car with which this Kia shares a number of unseen parts. In fact, the K900 appears sufficiently luxurious that we were interrupted on a couple of occasions during our photography session by passersby who wanted to know what it was, including one admirer in a new 5 Series. One trait that luxury customers like regardless of their driving style is an abundance of power underfoot, and the K900 delivers thanks to its direct-injected 5.0-liter V8's 420 horsepower and 376-pound-feet of torque. That power is routed exclusively to the rear wheels via a silky-smooth version of ZF's ubiquitous eight-speed automatic transmission – no all-wheel drive system is offered. We've had previous exposure to this Tau V8 in the Equus, and it's a pleasingly well-behaved, burr-free device from idle to redline. In K900 guise, it's been tuned more for the effortless accumulation of speed than it has been for a particularly charismatic soundtrack, but that suits the relaxed character of the car just fine. What also suits the relaxed character of this car is its cabin. An expansive dashboard with head-up display and what appears to be several cows' worth covering the seats, instrument panel and trim initially greet the driver. In the case of our V8 tester, the leather is of a higher-grade Nappa variety, and even darker-toned cabins are bathed in light thanks to the standard panoramic moonroof. It all feels appropriately posh, from the large 12.3-inch TFT display masquerading as a configurable gauge cluster to a by-wire gear selector whose operation will feel familiar to anyone who has driven a modern BMW. Topping the list are the K900's rear-seat accommodations, which on our VIP-spec car included individual AC zones as well as heated, cooled and power-articulated reclining seats. Even the doors close with a thoughtful power-assisted soft action. Plutocratic extras like a rear-seat refrigerator, fold-down wooden tray tables and rear-seat entertainment screens are all conspicuously unavailable, however. |
