Kia Optima Hybrid USTCC Pace Car Revealed: 2011 SEMA Show
After taking the championship in the Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge street tuner challenge this year, Kia is announcing further commitments to the world of motorsports.
In addition to the 2012 Rio B-Spec racer, built by Kia Racing and Kinetic Motorsports, Kia has unveiled an Optima Hybrid pace car for the United States Touring Car Championship. The Optima, built by GoGoGear.com, actually replaces the modified Soul that severed last year.
It may be a hybrid, but that doesn’t mean it has to be boring, already deliver over 200-hp in stock form the car gets a Magnaflow exhaust system and air intake kit. So it’s not sloppy when out on parade laps the car also gets a coilover suspension, and looks the part with a new aero kit (including front splitter and rear spoiler), plus the usual light bars. And no SEMA car would be a SEMA car without an over-the-top 2400-watt Infintiy audio system.
Look for the Optima Hybrid Safety Car to first hit the track at the USTCC in March of 2012.
GALLERY: Kia Optima Hybrid USTCC Safety Car
With AutoGuide from its launch, Colum previously acted as Editor-in-Chief of Modified Luxury & Exotics magazine where he became a certifiable car snob driving supercars like the Koenigsegg CCX and racing down the autobahn in anything over 500 hp. He has won numerous automotive journalism awards including the Best Video Journalism Award in 2014 and 2015 from the Automotive Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC). Colum founded Geared Content Studios, VerticalScope's in-house branded content division and works to find ways to integrate brands organically into content.
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This car looks amazing. May consider doing a few of these upgrades myself.