The Kia pro_cee’d has made its mark on the world famous Nürburgring 24-hour race by driving from Milan to the German race track, competing and winning its class and then driving back to Milan.
The near-standard pro_cee’d 2.0-litre CRDi SPORT completed 111-laps of the 25 km circuit often referred to as the ‘Green Hell’. The track for the 24-hour race is made up of the Grand Prix circuit linked to the world famous ‘Nordschleife’ test track which was used during the development of the Kia cee’d family. The race car had only the minimum amount of safety modifications, which included a roll-cage, fire extinguisher and six-point safety harness as well as some mildly tuned suspension and brakes.
Entered in the VLN Diesel ‘production’ class, the pro_cee’d saw off all comers to take the victory and then drive the 900 km back home to Milan.
Not only that, but the Kia Italy/Continental Tyres entered car suffered zero mechanical issues throughout the race and was exceptionally light on its feet, only using six 225/35 18-inch ContiSportContact production tyres for the whole event. The pro_cee’d started the race on the same road tyres which had already completed around 900km on the trip from Milan.
Paul Philpott, Managing Director Kia Motors UK Ltd, said; ‘This result underlines the fantastic build quality from our factory in Zilina. If a near-standard car can drive so far, compete in one of the toughest races in the world and then drive back without a glitch, and with great fuel consumption, then it really does underline why we give pro_cee’d a seven year, 100,000-mile warranty. Who would have thought we’d have a result like this only 12 months ago? Kia really does have The Power to Surprise!’
The pro_cee’d was one of 217 cars to start the race. A total of 67 cars dropped out through accidents and mechanical failures, but the pro_cee’d ploughed on to make-up over 100 places from its starting position to finish 104th out of 150 survivors.
The pro_cee’d managed to make use of a fuel advantage from its frugal and efficient 2.0-litre CRDi engine by topping the event’s unofficial consumption championship averaging 20.03 mpg across the 24-hours.
For more information on the Kia Pro Ceed call Kia Darlington on freephone 0800 980 4532 or Kia York on freephone 0800 072 0762.