Kia Racing To Campaign Turbocharged Optima SX Sedans in 2012 Pirelli World Challenge Series

November 16, 2011 at 5:05pm by Alexander Stoklosa

Kia’s racing portfolio already includes a Forte Koup that it runs in the Street Tuner class in Grand-Am and the recently announced Rio B-Spec race car conversion kit. Today at the L.A. auto show, the company announced that it will add to its existing programs with two turbocharged Optima SX sedans that will campaign in the Grand Touring Sport class of the 2012 Pirelli World Challenge series.

When we recently tested a 2011 Kia Optima SX, we felt its combination of fine handling and a powerful 274-hp, turbocharged four-cylinder engine made it one of the best drivers in the mid-size segment. Kia is banking on those same traits giving the race Optimas an edge. So too is the racing shop that handled Kia’s Koup effort, Kinetic Motorsports, which was charged with turning the Optima SXs into World Challenge contenders.

In addition to a gutted and caged interior, the race car gets a sweet set of BBS wheels wrapped in racing slicks. There are lots of carbon-fiber bits scattered over the Optima’s exterior: The rear valance, lower intakes, grille, and  mirror housings all are made of the stuff. (That’s just a big sticker on the show car pictured here.) Our favorite thing about the racing Optima’s look is that we don’t imagine it’s too hard to replicate—you could bolt a similar set of wheels to any Optima, lower it, and have a mighty attractive sedan. It might just not handle quite as well.

Tags: 2011 L.A. auto show, Kia, Kia Optima SX Turbo |

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Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car Announces B-Spec Class for 2012 Season, Releases List of Competitors

The recent rash of B-Spec race cars automakers such as Honda, Mazda, Ford, and Kia have shown off at various auto shows and events this past year finally have a racing series in which to compete. The Pirelli World Challenge series has announced that its upcoming season will have a Touring Car class for the pint-size racers, and it released a preliminary list of seven models set to compete, as well the three World Challenge events in which they’ll take part. A few of the cars, like the Ford Fiesta, Kia Rio, and Fiat 500, we already knew about. In the case of the Honda Fit and Mazda 2, we actually raced them. The two cars we didn’t know would be participating, and whose manufacturers have yet to officially announce any B-Spec affiliation, are the Chevrolet Sonic and the Nissan Versa.

The cars will run in the exact same state of tune in the World Challenge as they do in SCCA Club Racing, save for tires. Modifications for racing are limited to shocks, springs, and required safety equipment such as roll cages, harnesses, and the like. None of the cars will be factory-backed, in keeping with the grassroots-style racing that the SCCA, Pirelli World Challenge, and the manufacturers want to push in the B-Spec class. The three Touring Car B-Spec events are slated for Miller Motorsports Park, Detroit’s Belle Isle, and Mosport International Raceway. Miller will be the first event, running in April. The B-spec class will run two 30-minute races plus one 40-minute race each weekend, for a total of nine events. Racing these things at the 25 Hours of Thunderhill was a blast, and we’re already envisioning our long-term Mazda 2 with a full cage and squatting over race rubber. Just kidding, Mazda…

Tags: B-Spec, Chevrolet Sonic, Chevy, Fiat 500, Ford Fiesta, Honda Fit, Kia Rio, Mazda 2, Nissan Versa, Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car, racing, SCCA |

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