2023 Kia EV6 GT (inc. drift mode, 0-100 & autonomy test) review

CarExpert

Kia has gone all out with the go-fast version of the Kia EV6. This is the 2023 Kia EV6 GT and Paul Maric takes it for a spin and demonstrates drift mode, does performance tests and also sees how well the autonomy features work.  Hardness tester, noise and lane keeping results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/121Auf6HGvaBqRToYcuAz94alin7Sw55SpOPECBDlnKE  Kia EV6 GT-Line detailed review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVI9yei7cL0 CarExpert off-road ute mega test: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngZbbJAIl4A  More Kia content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/kia More Kia EV6 content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/kia/ev6  Skip Ahead: Intro: 00:00 Exterior: 00:54 Charging: 03:37 Interior: 04:19 On the Road: 06:34 Driving Aids: 17:30 Performance: 18:50 Drift Mode: 23:20 Verdict: 24:55  We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.  Whether you need new car advice, purchase validation or simply love learning more about new cars and technology, we are your car experts.  Subscribe to Car Expert: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DvMhvy3H7ntEgn9n3xQcQ?sub_confirmation=1  You'll find us dropping new video content three times a week. If you'd like to ask a question about one of our videos, simply leave us a comment. If you'd like to give us any feedback on our content, feel free to email us, or alternatively, hit us up on social media.  Finally, we want this channel to grow with your support and feedback. If there's anything you don't like or would like to see us change, we'd love to hear from you!  Follow us on social media to see what we're up to and to ask any questions!  CarExpert: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarExpertAus Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/CarExpertAus Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carexpert.com.au  Paul Maric: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaulMaric Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/PaulMaric Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/PaulMaric  #kia #ev6 #review

Transcript

00:00 G'day, I'm Paul.

00:00 So a little while back, we reviewed the Kia EV6 GT line.

00:05 Today, it's time to drop the line off that and just do this.

00:08 This one here is the full fat version.

00:09 It is Kia's answer to Tesla's performance range,

00:13 and I'm genuinely excited to drive it,

00:15 having owned a Model 3 Performance before

00:17 and knowing what that feels like.

00:18 I'm keen to see what the Korean interpretation of that is.

00:22 So the EV6 GT, it's priced at just under $100,000.

00:26 This competes with things like

00:27 the Tesla Model Y Performance,

00:29 the upcoming Hyundai IONIQ 5N,

00:32 and also stuff like the BMW i4 M50,

00:35 even though that is significantly more expensive.

00:37 Today, we're gonna do a detailed review of this car.

00:39 So if you do wanna skip into other parts of this review,

00:41 you can use the time codes on the screen,

00:43 or if you're on YouTube,

00:44 you can scroll down and use the chapters below.

00:46 If you haven't done so already,

00:46 subscribe to our channel and press the bell icon

00:49 so you can find out every single time we drive

00:52 something as fast as this.

00:53 So let's talk exterior design.

00:56 You've got five external colors to pick from

00:58 because we've already done a very detailed review

01:01 on this car.

01:02 Today, I'm gonna gloss over some of the stuff

01:03 we've already spoken about.

01:04 If you do wanna check out that review,

01:06 go to the description below where you'll see the link.

01:08 So today, I'll just focus on the GT components here,

01:11 but just in general, in terms of the design,

01:14 this is a pretty good looking car, I reckon.

01:16 Style is entirely subjective, but I love the back of it.

01:18 I think that those haunches look fantastic.

01:21 Not so much a fan of the front,

01:22 but I think the back is really cool.

01:23 Down at the bottom here, you have active louvers.

01:26 So these will open and close

01:27 depending on the cooling conditions

01:28 and the requirements the car has.

01:30 So depending on what mode it's in and that type of thing,

01:33 you'll either see those open or close.

01:35 Little camera there, and you'll notice here

01:36 that is all entirely closed.

01:38 So all the cooling for the battery and the motors

01:39 is down the bottom here.

01:41 Radar sensor there as well.

01:42 This has matrix LED headlights,

01:45 so a really good set of headlights there,

01:46 and the matrix LED component

01:48 allows it to see around other cars.

01:50 If you do wanna see how matrix LED lights

01:52 compare to other sort of headlight technology,

01:54 have a look at this video up here,

01:55 which we shot a little while back

01:56 where we compared those technologies.

01:58 Whip around to the side here.

01:59 So this is where you get some of the unique EV6 GT components.

02:03 So it sits on a 21-inch alloy wheel.

02:05 I like the design.

02:06 It's kind of like a Sith sort of blade type thing.

02:09 You've got a machined finish on the outside,

02:11 piano black on the inside,

02:12 and you'll be able to tell the EV6 GT,

02:15 aside from regular EV6 models, thanks to these brakes.

02:18 They're pretty bloody big.

02:19 So 380 mil rotor.

02:21 You have a four-piston caliper there,

02:23 so it is a fairly meaty setup.

02:24 At the rear, it's a slightly smaller rotor

02:26 on a single-piston caliper.

02:27 This is a monoblock caliper as well,

02:29 so pretty decent size there.

02:31 There is also some really cool technology behind this

02:34 and the braking system in general,

02:36 which I'll run you through

02:36 when we do go for a bit of a drive later on.

02:39 I like this color as well.

02:40 So one of the colors is obviously this matte color.

02:44 It is a little bit more expensive,

02:45 but I think here in person, it looks really cool.

02:47 Up the top here, you have piano black on that wing mirror,

02:49 indicator built into there with camera there

02:52 for 360-degree camera,

02:54 and then piano black down the side here.

02:55 Mentioned this in our other review,

02:57 but door handles are kind of interesting on this car.

03:00 They pop out when you approach

03:01 and then disappear once you lock the vehicle.

03:03 Panoramic glass roof there as well.

03:05 And let's whip around to the back here.

03:06 One thing I forgot to mention actually

03:08 is it sits on Pilot Sport 4S tyres,

03:10 so a nice sticky tyre,

03:11 but I think it's probably gonna have

03:13 a fair bit of road noise.

03:14 We'll see how that goes.

03:15 GT badge down here,

03:16 signifying that this is indeed the full-fat model,

03:19 and then that LED that runs all the way along the back there

03:22 and the indicator built into this section as well.

03:24 Charging port behind here too,

03:26 which I'll run you through in just a sec.

03:27 So let me know what you reckon about the design of the EV6.

03:29 Do you reckon it looks good?

03:31 Let me know in the comments section below,

03:32 and what do you think about the green calibres?

03:34 Do you think that you should be able to change the colours?

03:36 Let me know your feedback down there.

03:37 Now, before we jump into the car,

03:38 I just wanna run you through charging

03:40 and battery really quickly.

03:41 So in terms of battery capacity,

03:43 it's just under 80 kilowatt hours.

03:45 And then in terms of charging,

03:46 you have both AC and DC charging.

03:49 On the AC front, it'll do three-phase charging,

03:51 which is great news.

03:52 On the DC front, it will charge at up to 350 kilowatts,

03:56 and it averages about 230 kilowatts

03:58 if you are on one of those fast chargers, which I like.

04:00 Also, vehicle to load,

04:01 which means you can run electrical appliances

04:03 up to 3.6 kilowatts out of this socket here

04:06 or the socket inside the car.

04:08 This little light here tells you

04:09 how much charge you have left in the battery.

04:11 So it is a pretty straightforward setup.

04:14 And then once you're all done with it,

04:15 you just press this little button here

04:16 and it closes the flap, and away you go.

04:19 Okay, so we're inside the EV6 GT.

04:21 This is what the key looks like.

04:22 So you have a remote start, remote parking feature,

04:27 the Kia logo.

04:27 On the side, you have lock, unlock, boot,

04:31 and then on the back, it is blank,

04:33 and it's a proximity sensing key

04:35 with a start button just here.

04:37 So like I said before,

04:38 we have already gone into a huge amount of detail with this,

04:41 with our last EV6 review.

04:43 So if you do wanna see that,

04:44 go down to the link in the description below.

04:46 Today, I'm just gonna talk about the differences here

04:48 with the EV6 GT.

04:50 So yeah, obviously you can see the green stuff immediately.

04:54 That theme from the calipers continues here

04:56 inside the cabin with that green stitching.

04:58 A green GT button as well,

05:00 which I'll run through when we go for a drive.

05:02 GT badge over there on the dashboard,

05:03 and these amazing looking seats.

05:06 So green stitching throughout them,

05:07 and then you've got little holes here for a harness

05:10 should you wish to turn your EV6 GT into a race car.

05:14 Disappointingly though, the seats are manually adjustable.

05:20 I mean, $100,000 car, manually adjustable seats,

05:23 are you serious?

05:24 So not very impressed with that at all,

05:26 but it is what it is unfortunately.

05:28 Just touching on some of the other highlights

05:30 inside the cabin here though.

05:31 Two displays here, one ahead of the driver,

05:33 one infotainment display,

05:35 augmented reality on the head up display,

05:37 a lot of piano black unfortunately,

05:39 but practically it is excellent.

05:41 You've got stacks of storage,

05:42 lots of great connectivity options there.

05:45 And with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto

05:46 on the center screen there, although they are wide.

05:49 If you do jump over to the second row,

05:50 you've got your power outlet hidden under the seat there,

05:53 more of that green stitching and stacks of room as well.

05:55 When we did test this out initially,

05:57 I was surprised by how much leg room and head room

05:59 you had in the back there,

06:00 despite the proportions of the car.

06:02 Follows on through to the boot

06:03 where you'll find a storage capacity of 480 liters.

06:07 If you do drop the second row,

06:08 that increases to just over 1200 liters.

06:11 But like I did mention in our last EV6 review,

06:14 when you do compare this to something like a Model 3

06:16 or a Model Y, both of those vehicles

06:18 have far better storage in the front and the rear.

06:20 They seem to just accommodate a whole lot more

06:22 around those motors, which is probably something

06:25 that Kia and Hyundai needs to work on

06:27 for vehicles in this segment.

06:28 But anyway, enough chit-chat.

06:30 I reckon we go for a bit of a drive

06:31 and see how this performs on our ride and handling track.

06:35 Righto, we've hit the road in the EV6 GT.

06:39 I am excited to give this a bit of a fang.

06:42 Like I mentioned before,

06:43 I used to own a Model 3 Performance,

06:44 so I just love fast EVs,

06:47 and I love it when car companies introduce tech within them

06:50 that makes them fun and engaging to drive.

06:53 And later on, I'll show you the GT mode

06:56 and also Drift mode as well on the skid pan there,

06:58 so you can get a bit of a feel

06:59 for what it looks and feels like.

07:01 Now, what is going on here with the EV6 GT

07:04 and why is it so impressive?

07:05 So it's a dual motor setup,

07:06 so you have one motor at the front, one motor at the rear.

07:09 They produce a combined power output

07:12 of 430 kilowatts of power and 740 newton-metres of torque.

07:17 So it is a fair old chunk.

07:19 And that's split between the two motors

07:22 being 160 kilowatts of power at the front

07:24 and then 270 kilowatts of power at the rear.

07:28 So it's a pretty meaty setup.

07:30 Now, the other unique thing here as well,

07:31 and I don't know any other manufacturers

07:34 outside of the more expensive brands actually do this,

07:37 but on the rear axle,

07:38 there is an electronic limited-slip differential.

07:41 So it's a limited-slip diff that is electronically activated

07:44 and that gives you a torque vectoring effect

07:46 on the rear axle.

07:47 And that means that when it comes to things like drift mode

07:50 and getting torque to the ground out of the rear,

07:52 this is able to complete that task much easier

07:55 with less fuss.

07:56 I mean, you're not using the brakes then

07:58 to brake individual wheels.

07:59 It's all just down to the actual

08:01 limited-slip differential doing its work.

08:03 So according to Kia, the combined energy consumption

08:07 is just over 20 kilowatt hours per 100 kilometres.

08:10 We're currently sitting on 22,

08:12 which is a mix of highway driving

08:13 and then a couple of faster laps here at the proving ground.

08:15 Look, the figure, even the official figure

08:17 isn't really that impressive in my opinion.

08:19 And the reason for that is,

08:21 I hate referring to Tesla here,

08:22 but I'm just gonna do it

08:23 because it's the car that I used to own.

08:24 But with the Model 3 Performance,

08:26 ours was averaging something like 16 or 17 kilowatt hours

08:30 per 100 kilometres, and that is as quick as this.

08:32 Yes, granted it is a lighter vehicle,

08:34 but I'm pretty sure even the Model Y Performance

08:36 uses less energy than the EV6 does doing its thing.

08:39 That all comes down to things like tyres

08:41 and aero on the wheels.

08:43 You've got bigger brakes,

08:44 you've got a lot of components here

08:46 that you're not gonna find on the standard car.

08:48 And then the second you add all that stuff,

08:50 it increases your aerodynamic drag,

08:52 it makes it heavier,

08:53 and then as a result of that, it uses more energy,

08:57 which is all perfectly fine.

08:58 And I think that's acceptable for something

08:59 that is purchased as a sports car,

09:01 'cause you know that a fast car uses more energy

09:04 and that is simply the way that it is.

09:06 What's it like just in our normal driving mode here?

09:09 Well, if I give the throttle a punch,

09:11 it pins you back in the seat nicely.

09:14 It's not outrageous,

09:15 it leaves all the outrageous stuff for the GT mode,

09:17 but if you do need to get away in a hurry,

09:19 it does everything you'd expect an EV to do.

09:22 In addition to that,

09:23 you have a number of regen modes here.

09:24 So using the paddle shifters,

09:25 you can move between the levels of regen.

09:27 You can go from zero, which is just coasting,

09:29 through to one, two, three,

09:32 and then all the way to I-Pedal.

09:33 When you go to I-Pedal,

09:35 it'll bring the car to a complete stop.

09:37 And again, different system to a Tesla.

09:39 It doesn't actually apply the brake,

09:40 or it doesn't push the pedal like it does on a Tesla.

09:42 It just slowly rolls to a stop there

09:44 and rocks a little bit

09:45 before you're ready to get moving again.

09:47 So I do like the I-Pedal mode.

09:49 It is a little bit frustrating.

09:50 You have to activate that

09:51 every single time you drive the car.

09:52 If you get out, hop back in, it disables it,

09:54 and I just think that's silly.

09:56 It is a bit confusing,

09:57 'cause if you drive assuming that it's enabled

09:59 and don't look and it's not enabled,

10:02 you end up having to do the braking all on your own.

10:04 One thing I wanna talk about here

10:06 that really excites me as an engineer

10:08 is the way they've been able to control regen.

10:12 Now, this is able to generate up to 150 kilowatts of energy

10:16 through regen braking,

10:17 but there is a caveat to that.

10:19 The actual brake pedal is a brake-by-wire system.

10:21 So when I'm pushing this down,

10:23 not actually doing what you would typically do

10:25 on a standard car,

10:26 which is eventually pushing a cylinder in a brake chamber

10:29 to then apply fluids to the brakes

10:31 and then to bring them to a stop.

10:32 Here, it's actually all done by wire.

10:34 And the reason that's so important

10:36 is they've developed a system

10:37 that allows them to preserve brakes.

10:40 Now, brakes in an EV are important

10:42 because if you're used to regen

10:43 and the brakes end up getting hot enough,

10:45 you have kind of a backup there,

10:47 but you can prevent the brakes getting hot

10:49 by simply using as much regen as you possibly can.

10:53 And the same rule applies here.

10:54 In certain circumstances,

10:56 this can generate up to 300 kilowatts of power

10:58 during regen braking.

11:00 And what it's able to do is bring the car

11:01 all the way up to the ABS threshold

11:03 using just regen brakes.

11:05 And the driver doesn't feel any difference whatsoever

11:09 in the brake pedal.

11:09 And that's important because other EVs

11:11 that we've driven around here,

11:12 and we'll test this today to see if it works.

11:14 When we approach the later part of our track here,

11:17 we have a set of tram tracks,

11:18 which are just what you'd find here in Australia.

11:21 But the important part is the tram tracks

11:23 are in a braking zone.

11:24 And when I enter that braking zone under brakes,

11:26 if I have a car with regen,

11:29 the car basically detects

11:30 that we're no longer in proper contact with the ground

11:32 and it pulls out the regen effect,

11:34 then requires the driver to push harder

11:36 on the mechanical braking system to slow it down.

11:38 And if you don't put enough pressure on,

11:40 it won't slow down enough.

11:41 And then the second it regains that contact with the road,

11:44 it goes back to regen.

11:45 So you get this sort of wishy-washy effect

11:47 on the brake pedal.

11:48 Here on the other hand,

11:49 you could be at, let's say 70% brake pedal force.

11:52 The car will realise we're in a situation

11:54 where you're hitting bumps that affect regen

11:56 and it will blend.

11:57 And it means that you won't feel any difference

11:59 as a driver.

12:00 So when we go for our fast lap,

12:01 we'll see if that actually works.

12:03 And this could be a game changer for EVs

12:05 because it is going to completely adjust the way

12:08 that it feels behind the wheel.

12:09 Now, let's talk about the ride.

12:11 So the big difference between the EV6 GT

12:13 and regular EV6 models is adaptive damping.

12:16 So in this spec, we have three sets of damping settings.

12:20 This was actually tuned both for steering

12:21 and damping here in Australia.

12:22 So the Australian team joined German engineers

12:25 when they were developing this car

12:26 and also did some final calibrations here in Australia.

12:28 So it is a unique ride and handling feel

12:31 for the Australian market.

12:32 I've got to say, it actually feels great.

12:33 My Model Y, the ride is horrendous

12:36 and it's not even fast.

12:37 I've got the base model.

12:37 Here on the other hand, it is firm,

12:40 but it's not jarring and it's not over the top.

12:43 And then as you progress to sport, it gets firmer,

12:45 but again, it doesn't go over the top

12:47 and it is still really comfortable to drive

12:48 as a family vehicle.

12:49 Let's test it out here over the sine wave.

12:51 So we've now driven the Ioniq 5,

12:52 which really doesn't have very good body control,

12:55 the Model Y and the previous EV6 without the GT package.

13:00 So let's see what the GT is like

13:02 over the sine waves here at 130.

13:03 So this simulates maximum speed here in Australia.

13:06 Wow, that is incredible.

13:10 It is like chalk and cheese compared to a standard EV6,

13:12 let alone an Ioniq 5, which this shares a platform with.

13:15 And it does show you that tuning a car

13:17 for local Australian conditions in Australia

13:19 actually pays dividends.

13:21 Okay, so let's do our bumpy Aussie road here.

13:24 We'll go back to normal mode,

13:25 dial this up to 90 K's an hour.

13:27 You can already hear in my voice

13:29 that it's bouncing around a lot.

13:31 Man boobs bouncing around as well.

13:33 Got our condensed sine wave coming up.

13:35 There's a great test of how well

13:36 the suspension system responds

13:38 over those jitters and corrugations.

13:40 Yeah, nice.

13:42 I am noticing a phenomenon here

13:43 in the head up display is bouncing all over the place.

13:46 It's actually quite hard to see

13:48 'cause it's sort of jittering so much,

13:50 but it is coping really well here

13:51 with this country road situation.

13:53 Despite this sort of being the firmer ride,

13:55 it is still quite comfortable here

13:56 without sort of any dramas.

13:58 So yeah, good job.

13:59 Let's talk visibility.

14:00 So I can see clearly down the front of the car there,

14:02 wing mirrors are nice and big.

14:04 Visibility out the rear isn't great.

14:06 It is a pretty narrow envelope,

14:07 but you do have the litany of cameras here.

14:09 And I love when you change lanes,

14:11 brings up the camera there ahead of the driver,

14:13 which makes visibility far easier.

14:15 And in terms of road noise,

14:16 we've used our calibrated sound meter.

14:18 There is a fair bit of road noise

14:19 that comes into the cabin on course chip surfaces

14:21 with these Pilot Sport 4S tyres,

14:23 but it's really not the end of the world.

14:25 Okay, time to do a bit of a faster drive here.

14:27 So we're gonna do this two ways.

14:28 Once I'm gonna do it here in Sport mode,

14:31 then once we'll go around in GT mode.

14:33 So you can see Sport's active there.

14:35 Now for a drive around our track.

14:38 Yeah, the brakes feel really nice and strong.

14:40 We'll tip it in and roll onto the throttle.

14:43 Nice amount of body roll there, not over the top.

14:47 You can feel the LSD doing its thing there.

14:48 The front doesn't have an LSD,

14:50 so you can feel on those corners

14:52 when you start getting on the throttle,

14:54 the inside wheel spins up a little bit

14:56 before the brake comes on.

14:57 This bit's important.

14:59 See, that's great.

14:59 So we did that section there in the Ioniq 5

15:01 and it kind of bounces all over the place,

15:03 whereas here with the adaptive damping,

15:05 it does a really good job of holding the road.

15:08 Get our faster section along the back here.

15:10 Let's see if this feels like a couple of bumps mid-corner.

15:12 Here come our tram tracks.

15:14 So I'll be under brakes here.

15:16 That is fantastic.

15:17 So we did have ABS come on there,

15:19 but there was no difference in pedal feel

15:22 as we rocked over that.

15:23 So that was unreal.

15:25 Let's roll onto the back straight here.

15:27 Let's see what this feels like.

15:28 There is a lot of traction from these tyres,

15:30 which is excellent.

15:32 Okay, okay, here we go.

15:33 Pin to the board.

15:34 Stay in this and see how we go.

15:37 Yeah, nice.

15:39 That is absolutely hauling there.

15:42 Brakes are great through there as well.

15:44 This is a really well-sorted package.

15:46 I wasn't expecting this.

15:48 I recently spent some time in Sweden

15:50 with the engineers that are working on

15:53 a very similar product to this.

15:55 We had a chance to drive it.

15:56 And yeah, some of the stuff they have coming out with that

15:59 is pretty cool as well.

16:00 It's worth pointing out,

16:01 you can actually adjust brake pedal feel as well.

16:03 Because it is an electronic system,

16:04 you can choose between normal and sport mode as well,

16:06 which gives you a different pedal feel.

16:09 Okay, so let's go for lap two.

16:10 This time I'm gonna flick it into GT mode.

16:12 Everything lights up green.

16:13 Stability control is slightly limited.

16:16 These brakes are fantastic.

16:17 We'll roll onto the throttle here.

16:19 Oh, that is,

16:21 it's got a little bit more mumbo there.

16:24 Wow, this thing is absolutely hauling ass.

16:27 So, I'll roll onto the throttle.

16:28 Wow.

16:29 It is quick.

16:32 Far out, I was not expecting this.

16:34 It's absolutely moving.

16:36 All right.

16:37 Wow.

16:38 I'm having to concentrate here.

16:40 These brakes are fantastic.

16:42 So even in this limited stability mode,

16:44 it's still giving us a fair bit of

16:46 freedom there without being too ridiculous.

16:51 There we go, nice over the tram tracks again.

16:53 See what it's like on the back straight.

16:55 As we roll onto that,

16:56 see if this GT mode is any quicker.

16:59 It certainly feels sharper, the throttle response is there.

17:02 And I can hear the motors whirring along

17:04 as we punch it around here.

17:05 So, here we go, back straight.

17:08 Wow, that feels even faster again.

17:10 That is moving.

17:14 Wow.

17:15 That is impressive.

17:17 Holy crap.

17:18 Whew, gotta tell you,

17:19 they have done a spectacular job with this.

17:22 The GT line was fast.

17:25 This is just on another level altogether.

17:28 That is absolutely unreal.

17:29 Okay, let's talk autonomy systems.

17:32 Let's have a little look at how well EV6 does lane centering.

17:37 So, I've explained this a few times before,

17:40 but I'll do it again just in case.

17:42 We basically use the three outer lanes of our bowl here

17:44 to test how well the lane centering system works.

17:46 The steeper the bowl angle,

17:48 the more torque input the car has to put in,

17:50 and the better typically it performs on the road.

17:52 So, I'm gonna press this button here

17:54 that engages our self-steering function.

17:57 So, in the first lane here,

17:58 it's actually doing a pretty good job.

18:01 There's sort of no drivers there.

18:02 We're staying within those lanes.

18:04 Jump over to the next lane.

18:06 Let's see how it goes up here.

18:07 Wait for it to detect those lines.

18:11 There it goes.

18:12 Yeah, nice.

18:14 And it is bringing us pretty close to that line just there,

18:17 but it is pumping us back up to the middle.

18:21 Yeah, I don't love this 'cause it's basically,

18:23 it just constantly keeps dragging us

18:25 towards the left-hand lane,

18:26 and if you do have another vehicle or something there,

18:29 it's probably a little close for comfort.

18:30 Let's try the third lane here.

18:33 A lot of our cars struggle when we test them up here,

18:35 but we'll see how this performs.

18:38 Okay, so it's detected it.

18:39 Steering is active.

18:41 Let go of the wheel.

18:42 No, it has crossed the line there.

18:45 We're in someone else's lane.

18:46 So, yeah, it's a pass for lane one and two,

18:48 and a fail for lane three.

18:50 Okay, time to do a little bit of performance testing.

18:54 See how quick the EV6 GT is.

18:57 We'll do this twice, once in sport mode,

18:59 and then once in GT mode,

19:01 and we'll see if there's a difference.

19:02 We'll go all the way through to 120.

19:04 Sport mode.

19:05 I'll actually do traction off as well.

19:07 So, here we go.

19:08 Oh, nice.

19:16 I still can't pull my head off that.

19:18 Oh my God.

19:21 That is unreal.

19:23 You never get sick of that.

19:24 Okay, so bring this to a stop.

19:27 So, zero to 100, 4.37 seconds.

19:32 80 to 120, 2.44 seconds.

19:36 So, that is an incredible number there for the 80 to 120.

19:38 Very impressive.

19:39 Okay, take two.

19:40 This time we're gonna do GT mode.

19:43 I've got it in I-Pedal mode, by the way.

19:45 So, I might actually try now in GT mode,

19:49 hold the brake and the throttle,

19:50 and then I'll just sidestep the brake and see how it goes.

19:53 So, here we are.

19:54 So, foot is on the throttle and the brake.

19:56 Oh, that feels quicker.

20:04 My chins are all over the place.

20:06 Far out.

20:07 Okay, there's 120.

20:08 Holy crap, that definitely felt quicker.

20:10 All right.

20:11 Okay, so zero to 100, 3.76 seconds.

20:15 So, definitely better.

20:16 And 80 to 120, 2.15 seconds.

20:19 So, it does show you that there is actually

20:21 a slight difference there in terms of acceleration

20:24 in GT mode.

20:26 It is worth keeping in mind as well,

20:27 we're at 50% battery.

20:29 You will actually get your fastest acceleration times

20:31 when the battery is full.

20:33 And the reason for that is Ohm's law for a DC circuit,

20:36 P equals VI, so power equals volts times current,

20:40 and you're gonna have a higher voltage

20:42 when the battery is full.

20:43 So, keep that in mind if you do wanna go drag racing,

20:45 you wanna be at 100% capacity with warm tires

20:48 and a warm battery.

20:49 Okay, time to see how quickly the EV6 stops

20:53 from 100 Ks an hour.

20:55 Get a little run up here, hit our marker,

20:57 and I'll slam the brakes on.

20:59 We are there.

21:00 Whoa, that is nice and strong.

21:06 So, 100 to zero, 2.77 seconds, 37.6 meters.

21:12 That is unreal.

21:14 That is seriously bloody good for such a big

21:16 and heavy vehicle like this.

21:18 So, actually, the thing that blows me away with this is,

21:21 if you compare this to the Ranger Raptor

21:23 when we tested that recently as part of our big ute test,

21:26 which you can watch by looking at the link

21:27 in the description below, it took over 50 meters to stop.

21:31 So, yeah, incredible stuff.

21:34 Oh, and by the way, if you do wanna see how this compares

21:36 to other cars that we've tested before

21:37 in terms of acceleration and stopping distances,

21:40 we've got a link in the description

21:41 with all of those numbers there.

21:42 Okay, and now the fun part.

21:44 How quickly will the EV6 accelerate in reversal?

21:47 Turn traction off.

21:49 Here we go, we'll just mash the throttle.

21:51 That's so nice and pleasant.

21:54 We go 42 kilometers an hour.

21:57 Okay, so that stuff's out of the way.

21:58 I'm gonna show you some cool features here,

21:59 and on our skid pan, we have like a little circuit

22:03 that I do in between these yellow lines,

22:05 and what I'll do with cars like this

22:06 is just switch everything off just to see how they handle.

22:09 And there's actually a couple of interesting modes here.

22:11 In GT mode, this has a stack of power and torque,

22:15 and it hits really hard.

22:16 And you have to be on your best behavior

22:18 because when it hits hard, it really hits hard.

22:21 So my recommendation, if you do wanna go

22:23 for a bit of a sporty drive in this,

22:24 is switch stability control off

22:26 because when the traction control is on,

22:28 it's just a bit too bitey and annoying.

22:30 And then I would also limit the regen to zero or to one

22:35 because as you let off,

22:36 it's breaking and unbreaking the wheels,

22:38 and it just feels unnatural.

22:39 But I'll show you what it feels like around here.

22:40 I also don't like the bottom of this wheel,

22:42 and I'll show you why in a second,

22:44 but it spins wheels off the line.

22:47 And then as you are

22:49 whipping around the place like this,

22:54 you can feel it's just so powerful

22:58 to the point where it is just ridiculous.

23:01 You're getting this instant throwdown of torque,

23:05 which you don't typically get in an internal combustion car

23:08 'cause it's gradual, whereas this is instant.

23:10 So you have to be watching what you do with the throttle,

23:13 otherwise it bites.

23:14 And then when it bites, you've kind of lost it all

23:17 and you're in trouble.

23:18 So that is, I guess, setting the tone for this next section,

23:22 which is drift mode.

23:23 And it has the ability to send most of its torque

23:25 to the rear axle.

23:26 And then when it is in the rear axle mode,

23:29 it is basically a very, very powerful rear-wheel drive car.

23:33 I think this is the bit I'm most excited about.

23:35 I'll show you how to activate it.

23:35 So you come to a full stop, put it into park.

23:39 Unfortunately, it's not very straightforward.

23:41 You've got to then switch stability control off entirely,

23:43 then your foot on the brake hard,

23:46 pull both of your levers here

23:49 until you get drift mode activated.

23:51 The reason they do it this way

23:52 is so that you accept liability

23:54 by switching off stability control entirely.

23:56 Now, once that is active, you are in rear-wheel drive.

23:58 So if you nail it, it will spin up the rears.

24:02 And let's just see how it works here.

24:09 Look, it is quite addictive because,

24:12 it's hard to explain it,

24:13 it is doing what it's meant to do,

24:16 but you can feel every now and then

24:18 it sort of bites a little bit.

24:19 And I think they have some mechanism in there to save you

24:23 just in case you wind up in a little bit of trouble.

24:28 But it is very much rear-wheel drive.

24:34 So I don't know.

24:36 I love it.

24:37 I love the fact that it has it.

24:38 You will end up destroying all of your tyres

24:41 if this is all you do every day.

24:42 Tyres are expensive,

24:43 but good on you Kia for actually adding this feature.

24:47 And yeah, if you're driving a Kia EV6 GT,

24:51 make sure you find yourself an open skid pan like this

24:53 and come and give it a crack.

24:55 So it used to be that Tesla was like the king

25:01 of straight line performance.

25:02 And I guess they kind of still are,

25:04 but they were also really good at the software stuff

25:06 that allowed you to do fun things in EVs.

25:09 Well, that game is now changing.

25:10 And I just love the fact that Kia

25:11 has just dialed so much ridiculousness into this.

25:14 It is a colossally quick in a straight line,

25:17 but when you put it in drift mode

25:18 or switch stability control,

25:20 it is still a really fun and capable car to drive.

25:22 The Hyundai version of this, the Ioniq 5N,

25:24 is about to launch,

25:25 and that is coming with even more features on top of that.

25:28 So this is a surprisingly enjoyable car to drive.

25:31 So yeah, hats off to Kia for creating a bit of a ball terror

25:34 in the EV segment.

25:35 I am keen to see how it compares

25:37 to the Model Y performance though.

25:38 So we're yet to drive that,

25:39 and I really wanna see how they go up against each other.

25:42 So if you did enjoy this video,

25:43 please make sure you like it,

25:45 you share it with your mates.

25:46 And if you haven't done so already,

25:47 subscribe to our channel and press the bell icon as well.

25:50 Let me know in the comment section below,

25:51 what do you reckon about this thing?

25:53 Would you buy one over a Tesla?

25:54 I am keen for your feedback,

25:56 but until next time, take it easy.

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