Yes, the phrase should really read “the proof of the pudding is in the eating” but bear with me because all will soon be revealed.
Now, when one thinks of a ute, an ever increasing list of brands and vehicles come to mind. Kia though has traditionally not been a part of this discussion, until now that is. Enter the Tasman, the controversial looking new ute has been making waves since the project’s inception and its recent local debut had to be one of the year’s most hotly anticipated new car launches. No pressure then!
The event was to be held over the course of a Friday and Saturday, the former of which begun with us arriving at the airport before first light, 5:45AM if we’re being precise. Kia’s intentions were evident from the get go, they weren’t messing around when it came to the Tasman’s launch. Nor should they as despite the push towards electrification, utes still have a vice grip on new car sales in New Zealand, proving that we are indeed a nation of farmers and fishers! That aside, our wheels were up by 7 o’clock before touching down just after 8 in Wellington, the nation’s capital.
Based on the itinerary laid out for us, we were vaguely aware of how the day would pan out but once we were handed our ‘Kia Tasman’ branded oilskin jackets, a whole new layer of mystery was added to our morning. From there, we were loaded onto a rickety old bus which struggled to keep its speed as the motorway climbed, its purpose though would become evident shortly. Once off the motorway and through some rural back roads, we arrived at a mysterious driveway, a steep gravel laden climb separated us from the top of the property where the event was to be held. This little old bus really did earn its stripes here with its traditional four wheel drive system and low range gearbox crawling up the gravely drive. There were panicked faces all around, if this is what the terrain was like so far, what could possibly lay ahead of us?! Todd McDonald, Kia NZ’s MD just grinned in response.
The first sign of the journey coming to an end was a clearing in the forest, through which the above snow capped mountains were spotted. It was just as well that the jackets were given on arrival because it was a bone chilling 3/4 degrees atop Dirt Farm on the day! And although cold, the view was undeniably pretty and what a day it turned out to be with barely a cloud to be seen. Once off the bus, we were greeted by a sea of Tasmans (see what I did there), in all shades and with every accessory possible, more on this later.
A quick coffee stop accompanied by a short briefing would see us prepared for the day and on our way. Our name tags had the group split into two with yours truly belonging to group b, the cooler one arguably as many 1980s rally references were made while waiting on a warm beverage. Speaking of bygone eras, Kia had also decorated the main marquee with some antique furniture, depicting the typical Kiwi front room through the years. The furniture was in immaculate condition for its age with some of the other journalists eyeing up a piece or two. As inviting as the couches looked, we were not here to reminisce on old memories but instead to welcome a brand new era for Kia. But first, coffee!
Once suitably caffeinated, I was ready to tackle the first of two activities planned for the day ahead. Briefly speaking of tackling, I also got the chance to meet Kia’s new ambassador, Dane Coles, the former Rugby World Cup winning All Black. Migrating to New Zealand in 2013, my family and I have spent many Saturday nights through the years watching the ABs on TV, Steve Hansen’s team in particular giving us plenty of core memories and appreciation for our newly adopted nation’s sport. Fast forward through the decades and I couldn’t believe I was standing next to the guy. Unassumingly dressed and with no ego about him, this was a guy who performed consistently at rugby’s highest level for long but was ever so approachable, an well suited character for the job I reckon.
Back to the launch plan, course one would see us accompany a professional driving instructor who would conquer a series of obstacles that lay in the Tasman’s path, the goal of which was to demonstrate the extent of its capability in a controlled environment. The obstacles in question included steep ascents and descents, loose rocks, mud ruts, banked corners and there was even a wading pool to really put the Tasman through its paces.
Some may say the above was overkill and yes, there is an argument to support this. Most new utes will probably find their way into cities/urban centres where their off road/all-terrain tyres will be swapped for shiny wheels, following which they will spend their days traversing multi-storey carparks and speedhumps rather than paddocks. Even so, remember that Kia are fresh faced newbies when it comes to utes. They haven’t sold this type of vehicle before in New Zealand, let alone one that rides on a ladder frame chassis, this too at a time when some of its competitors are rolling out the second and third generation versions of their respective vehicles. The onus then was on Kia to prove that the Tasman could hold its own out here.
As the serene beauty and stillness of the forest was quickly overcome by an orchestra of whistling diesels, it became even more apparent that the Tasman was here to prove itself. The professionally piloted part of the course saw the vehicles take on a series of challenging off road hurdles. Huge rocks and ruts were conquered with ease, the kind that would break a weaker ute but not the Kia. Don’t be fooled by its comfortable seats, premium audio and suite of technology, it means business off-road. Credit to the brand though, those familiar with their interiors were instantly at home in the Tasman, the positioning of the screens, buttons and other controls were similar to what you might see on a Carnival or Sportage for example or even an EV9 whose similarities were even more so when it came to the starter button and gear lever!
Although it may share parts with other vehicles from the lineup, Kia doesn’t make anything quite like the Tasman, a point which was proven as the instructor took the vehicle on a banked curve with a 29/30 degree tilt to it! At one point, I found myself staring down the edge of the hill asking myself if this was the end but not quite, the ute was barely breaking a sweat. Although if it did need to cool off, the next obstacle was just what the doctor ordered!
If there’s one thing scarier than sitting in a car tilted 30 degrees, it’s sitting in a car that is heading quickly downhill towards a pool of water. And yes, that’s exactly where I found myself that morning, putting the Tasman’s 800mm wading depth to the test. Safe to say that it did indeed pass with flying colours as I walked out dry and the car drove out. The deep descents and steep ascents were in fact completed with Kia’s new ‘X-Trek’ technology (that’s pronounced x-trek rather than cross-trek for obvious reasons). It’s a system that controls the vehicle’s speed either downhill or up, think hill descent control but smarter as it climbs too!
Similarly over loose rocks, gravel etc, you simply just need to let ‘X-Trek’ do its thing and if you’re in the right terrain mode with the differential set accordingly, you can off-road like a pro. There’s plenty of information available on screen around your pitch and roll angles as well as that front view camera which makes it almost too easy!
While the above was fun and informative, I was itching to have a go myself at this point. So, following a hearty burger filled lunch break, the cars were handed over to us before we were let loose on another off-road course. This time though there would be no water feature or 30 degree tilts, the course was tough but slightly toned down for the lot of us who are not professional drivers but likely think that we are!
Gently does it with off-road driving, this sort of stuff isn’t about speed but more so precision as one wrong turn of the wheel and nature can and will humble you rather easily. While our off-road course was not as tricky as the one we had just been on with the professional driving instructors, they were still adamant that this was certainly the toughest course they had seen at a new car launch. Once in the hot seat, our course guide leading the pack would let us know when to change between ‘mud’ and ‘rock’ modes as well as when to engage the differential lock, speaking of which, the Tasman featured a unique ‘eLD’ or electronic locking differential which further improves its capabilities. Yes, these modern technologies combined with ‘X-Trek’ made the course relatively easy.
However, there was still a considerable degree of skill required with the path being a narrow one, full of obstacles that were quite happy to imprint themselves on the paint if you got it wrong. Fortunately, I did not but there was plenty of neck turning, teeth gritting and clenching involved along the way. The Tasman though was at home, making even a novice off-roader like me seem like a semi-pro. Once through the thick of it, a suitably named treat was in store for us.
After twisting and turning through the dense forest, the mountain finally gave up its secrets, spectacular views of the Tasman Sea! Yes, the location of the launch had us puzzled initially since we have an aptly named ‘Tasman Region’ atop the South Island but Kia had it all planned out. There was even a Tasman parked with its nose facing the Sea, making sure that we wouldn’t miss the sights. After a moment to enjoy the views and take some photos, ‘X-Trek’ was once again deployed to begin our descent down to the main clearing.
A brief stop in between before we were back on the old bus to descend even further down to land and then onto our hotels to prepare for dinner.
While dinner was a more sophisticated affair, held at the Takina Events & Convention Centre, the day was casual in nature and a theme that continued into the evening. Rather than bore us with a presentation about the number of spot welds in the Tasman’s chassis, Kia instead bravely turned the mic over to us. The recipients of our questions included Todd, Sang Jeon, Kia’s NZ Product Manager and even the vehicle’s Global Project Manager who had especially flown down from South Korea!
As you can imagine, there were questions around whether hybrid and electric technology was on the cards for the Tasman, similarly if we would see an SUV version of it anytime soon. Fair questions but since this is completely new territory for Kia, they are taking a “walk before you run” approach where this is concerned. With customer deliveries beginning soon, they are collecting feedback which will help inform their next steps where this is concerned. Similarly, there were questions around whether we would see a performance model, military version and possibly a Hyundai iteration too. The aforementioned response can be applied once again, the vehicle has only just been released to the market so its apatite will help decide where Kia will go from here. Although, I personally would love to see a Stinger V6 powered Tasman variant!
That aside, I heard that Kia had dotted the pre-production models with a range of different Australian animals and while rumor had it that there was still a platypus remaining somewhere, Japie Nel from the Technical team had let me know that this had been erased before going to production. While the inclusion of it in the production model would have been nice, it would have been even nicer to see a Kiwi motif. Upon raising this, Barrie Diederiks, the National Parts Manager for Kia NZ had let me know that he was already on the case. Speaking of which, I had met with Barrie earlier in the day who had let me know of the work that had gone into crafting 149 different accessories for the Tasman, not to mention the fact that so many of these feature nods to the Tasman itself, whether it be in the design or simply the name! I’m a sucker for little details like these so that attention pleased me no end as did the three course dinner.
To close off, I do indeed know that the phrase used in the title is incorrect but it’s that very version that is so commonly used around these parts of the world and a fitting one to describe the Tasman. In this case, Kia were rank outsiders coming into the ute market, they had never made anything quite like this before but fancied a slice of the pie and what a slice they have claimed!
The Tasman may have stirred the pot with its looks but it couldn’t have been a better marketing exercise for the Korean ute as it has gotten people talking about it. And with plenty of buzz around, the purpose of this launch was to reaffirm the Tasman’s off road capability which certainly can’t be doubted. On road though, we will have to wait for a proper review to confirm but if its abilities on the day are anything to go by, it should be equally as impressive.
Thanks for reading! For more Kia news and reviews, visit Tarmac Life.
A special thank you to Todd, Maxine and the team at Kia New Zealand for inviting us on the launch of the Tasman. Thanks to Tim and his family from Dirt Farm. Thanks also to Stu & the team at Downforce New Zealand.
Words and photos by Matthew D’Souza.
