Kia News: Kia Renames The K9 To Quoris For The Rest Of The World

[William Maley]

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William Maley

Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com

July 18, 2012

Kia's flagship sedan, the K9 will have a change of name when it goes on sale in select countries in the fourth quarter of 2012. The name; Quoris.

"Derived from the English words 'core' and 'quality', the name of our new flagship sedan hints at the attributes at the very heart of the vehicle. The word 'Quoris' conveys solidity, luxury and high-technology, all resonating together as a chorus," said Thomas Oh, Kia's Executive Vice President & COO of the International Business Division. "Our decision to give this striking new sedan an unconventional name means it will stand out even further from the established crowd, driving Kia sales in what is a new segment of the global automotive market for Kia."

Now, I might be the only person who liked the name K9. But the name Quoris is just terrible. Its about the same level of terribleness as Amati.

Okay, lets get off the name for the time being. The Quoris will be available with full adaptive cruise control, a collision warning and mitigation system, blind spot detection and lane departure warning, and a multi-camera system.

Press Release is on Page 2

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Kia 'Quoris' flagship sedan promises premium driving convenience and innovative safety technologies

- New rear-wheel drive flagship to be named 'Quoris' for export markets

- Innovative driving assistance and active safety technologies

- Safety systems utilize radar, cameras and haptic technology

(SEOUL) July 18, 2012 – Kia's striking, rear-wheel drive, all-new flagship sedan will be called 'Quoris' when it goes on sale in overseas markets from the fourth quarter of 2012.

The new luxury model (known as 'K9' in the domestic market) went on sale in Korea in early May, and features a host of high-tech comfort and safety features, many of them never seen before on a Kia.

"Derived from the English words 'core' and 'quality', the name of our new flagship sedan hints at the attributes at the very heart of the vehicle," commented Thomas Oh, Kia's Executive Vice President & COO of the International Business Division. "The word 'Quoris' conveys solidity, luxury and high-technology, all resonating together as a chorus.

"Our decision to give this striking new sedan an unconventional name means it will stand out even further from the established crowd, driving Kia sales in what is a new segment of the global automotive market for Kia," adds Mr. Oh.

Innovative 'active' safety technologies

The Kia Quoris will feature an array of high-tech driving assistance and active safety features.

"Quoris adopts a number of intelligent safety technologies never before seen on a Kia, in order to deliver maximum driver comfort and safety," comments Chang-Ki Kang, Senior Vice President of Kia's Namyang R&D Center. "The Quoris can cruise at a desired speed, maintain a pre-determined 'safe' distance from the vehicle in front, and even come to a complete stop if necessary. Quoris can also detect and warn the driver of approaching potential hazards using innovative audio, visual and haptic alerts.

"Our new flagship sedan possesses remarkable abilities to monitor and detect changing traffic conditions, and is constantly processing information, immediately deciding the right course of action and precisely executing vehicle movement controls as necessary," concludes Kang.

Advanced Smart Cruise Control (ASCC)

The Quoris employs Kia's first radar-based Advanced Smart Cruise Control (ASCC). Located in the right side of the front bumper, the radar system constantly monitors the road ahead, up to a range of 174 meters.

With ASCC activated, the Quoris monitors traffic conditions and speed in order to maintain a pre-determined safe distance from the vehicle ahead. The driver can easily adjust this distance by choosing from four options (52, 40, 32 or 25 meters at a speed of 90 km/h) using a button on the steering wheel.

The Quoris will also automatically come to a complete stop, if necessary. When the stop is less than three seconds and traffic ahead moves off, the Quoris automatically moves forward, resuming the journey. For a stop longer than three seconds, the driver has to manually restart the vehicle by pressing the accelerator or pushing the resume button.

Advanced Vehicle Safety Management (AVSM)

The ASCC is linked to the rest of the vehicle controls by the Quoris' Advanced Vehicle Safety Management (AVSM).

Integrating the control of various vehicle monitoring systems, including the Electronic Stability Control (ESC), seatbelt mechanisms and multiple warning systems, the AVSM can alert the driver, pre-pressurize the braking system and activate the Pre-Safe Belt (PSB) system, depending on the anticipated level of a collision risk.

Detecting a risk of a collision, AVSM warns the driver in three stages via a loud audible alarm, a visual warning on both the Head Up Display (HUD) and TFT LCD cluster and a haptic signal on the seatbelt.

Stage 1 At a low level of collision risk, a visual warning appears on the LCD cluster and HUD.

Stage 2 At a higher level of collision risk, in addition to the visual warning, an audio warning signal is sent out and the haptic seatbelt is activated via an electric motor, sending strong vibrations through the driver's seatbelt.

Stage 3 When a collision is imminent, the AVSM automatically applies the brakes to reduce the impact speed. The electric motor and pre-tensioners of the PSB system are also activated to retract the seatbelt and hold occupants closer to their seats, ensuring maximum occupant protection and minimizing abrasions caused by contact with the airbags.

Class-leading Blind Spot Detection with Lane Change Assistance

The Blind Spot Detection (BSD) system for Quoris features two radar scanners located in each of the outer corners of the rear bumper. Each is capable of detecting objects up to 70 meters away from the rear, and four meters from each side.

Activated at vehicle speeds above 30 kph, BSD gives the driver a warning when a vehicle comes into the blind spot zone – an area approximately four meters wide along each side of the Quoris and extending more than six meters from the rear bumper.

Compared with sonic-based BSD systems, Quoris' radar-based BSD gives a longer detection range, which is also exploited by the Lane Change Assistance (LCA) system. LCA alerts the driver to vehicles approaching from the rear at high speeds from up to 70 meters away.

If the system also considers the speed of approach to be a potential hazard – specifically if it calculates that a collision would occur within 4.5 seconds if no avoiding action is taken – it will illuminate a warning triangle graphic in the left or right door mirror glass and activate a warning signal on the HUD. If the driver does not react to this visual 'alert', an audible warning is also sounded.

Both the BSD and LCA systems can be deactivated by the driver, if required.

Lane Departure Warning System

While radars boast a superior ability to detect objects at long distances, cameras are used in Quoris to recognize the shape of closer objects such as lane markings.

A forward-facing video camera is at the heart of the new sedan's Lane Departure Warning System (LDWS). It monitors the car's position in relation to lane markings and triggers a warning in case of unintended lane departures at speeds above 60 kph.

Around View Monitor system

Four cameras on each side of Quoris are used to create its class-leading Around View Monitor (AVM) system, which provides maximum convenience and safety during parking and low-speed maneuvering.

Unlike the majority of competitors' AVM systems with a field-of-view of less than a 270-degrees, the Quoris' system offers a true 360-degree all-around view in eight different viewing modes, displayed on the Audio Video Navigation (AVN) monitor.

Continuously synthesizing images from four cameras, the AVM provides a virtual 'top' view in motion, so the driver can easily have a full grasp of all his or her surroundings, maximizing safety for the car occupants as well as pedestrians. The AVM system automatically deactivates at speeds above 20 km/h.

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[ocnblu]

What a dog of a name.

[FAPTurbo]

So this will have Hyundai and KIA competing against each other for luxury buyers? I thought KIA was destined to be the volume brand.

[regfootball]

stupid. kia should stay out of this. I could see something more along the lines of the Azera in really low volume.....

[smk4565]

Bad name, too hard to pronounce, and no one will know what it means. This car looks too much like an Asian BMW with an ugly grill. The Optima is a good looking car, they should have made it look like an Optima but maybe more flashy so it stands out. I had high hopes for this car because so few make a somewhat affordable RWD luxury car, but this is a disappointment. I dont' find BMW's all that good looking, and this looks like an ugly version of a 7-series.

No mention in the press release of powertrain either.

[ZL-1]

Stupid name... K9 would be so much more fun!!!

If KIA felt they'll need to ram some serious incentves into consumers in order to move it out of dealres they should have called it the KY

[G. David Felt]

WOW, The name just screams thug. A name you would pick up in prison.

What the hell with all the freaking SOB nanny technology. As a driver, I DO NOT need a car telling me what I can and cannot do.

Again, driving is a privilege and I do not need a car telling me to be alert and know what is going on around me. Drivers need to wake up to the fact that they have a responsibility to be aware of what is around them, not just be along for the ride as a driver of a Dumbmobile!

[z28luvr01]

This is the best name ever, because everything Hyundai/Kia does is awesome. If you don't like the way it sounds, it's because there's something wrong with your ears. If you don't like saying it, perhaps you should get your mouth checked out.

All joking aside, the name is awful, as is the car.

[Drew Dowdell]

I like the looks of this car better than the Genesis...

[G. David Felt]

I like the looks of this car better than the Genesis...

I do see the poser BMW in their grill but it screams cheap to me still just like the Genesis. They both just do nothing to say I am a Luxury car. Maybe their engineers are watching to much Anime!

[Drew Dowdell]

These are first attempts at luxury cars from both of these companies. The original Lexus LS was an S-class knock off, the Infiniti Q had a profile like a 7-series, and the Acura Legend wasn't that far off from an Audi 5000 in look though they did differ in size.

[G. David Felt]

These are first attempts at luxury cars from both of these companies. The original Lexus LS was an S-class knock off, the Infiniti Q had a profile like a 7-series, and the Acura Legend wasn't that far off from an Audi 5000 in look though they did differ in size.

Would be cool to have a thread of Luxury cars and their first generation version and the current generation version to see how they improved or not!

[Drew Dowdell]

Of the Japanese, only the LS has survived

[regfootball]

"She has a really sensitive KiaQuoris"

[A Horse With No Name]

I like the looks of this car better than the Genesis...

I would agree with you, sir!