Kia Track'ster concept is a self-contained 250-hp AWD track star

It's not like we needed any more reason to like the Soul, but Kia went ahead and debuted the Track'ster concept at the 2012 Chicago Auto Show anyway. The Track'ster is a three-door, all-wheel-drive, 250-hp version of the cute and quirky urban Soul that we hope gets green lights all along its road to production. That's wishful thinking, but follow along to find out why we want the Track'ster made so badly.

The Track'ster eschews a back seat in favor of a "fully integrated equipment tray and spare-tire well."

To date, the Soul has been anything but a performance machine. The Track'ster changes that in a big way by eschewing not only a pair of doors, but also the back seat in favor of what Kia describes as a "fully integrated equipment tray and spare-tire well." This tray is designed to house helmets, race suits, gloves, tools and all the accoutrement that goes with being a serious track rat.

The idea for the Track'ster is to run what your brung, so while the car itself carries everything you need to race, it also needs to move with enough hustle that you're not embarrassed behind the wheel. To that end, Kia has fitted the concept with a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder producing 250 horsepower that gets dissected by a six-speed short throw manual transmission and further divided among all four 19-inch wheels by an all-wheel-drive system.

Despite the lack of rear doors, the Track'ster sports a wheelbase nearly an inch longer than the Soul and a 75.5-inch rear track that stretches nearly five inches wider. Likewise, its braking system is also extra strength with 14-inch Brembos clamped by six-piston calipers up front and 13.6-inch discs with four-piston calipers in back. Of course, the interior has also been done up for concept duty, but not so much that it's outside the realm of possibility.

 

Courtesy of AutoBlog