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The Kia Soul, successful as it is, has all the sex appeal of a refrigerator - or it did, until now.

At this week's Chicago auto show Kia pulled the covers off this three-door Soul coupé concept, called the Track'ster, hinting at what could possibly be the future of the Soul family.

Designer Tom Kearns said in his presentation: “The idea was to make the Track'ster tough looking, like a bulldog - but it had to be approachable as well.

“We wanted to base the car in reality so people instantly knew it was a Soul, but with a lot of attitude. It had to be a bold interpretation that would change people's conceptions of what a sporty Kia could be.”

CARVED FROM SOLID ALUMINIUM

Bold starts with the orange and white colour scheme and carbon-fibre grille trim, while deeply recessed headlight lenses, accented with LED's, echo the Track'ster's trapezoid theme.

But the front end is dominated by a huge lower intake, between big LED driving lights with carved-from-solid aluminium bezels, above a road-skimming carbon-fibre spoiler.

The extended front doors have smooth push-style handles - machined from solid aluminium, to match racing-style fuel filler cap - while the carbon-fibre side skirts are accented in orange, with rear-brake cooling ducts that actually work.

Also carved from solid aluminium are the 19” rims, made by HRE to a Kearns design, wrapped in 245/40 front and 285/35 rear Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 gumballs.

MORE THAN JUST A PRETTY FACE

The concept's wheelbase is 2570mm, about 20mm longer than the production Soul, its track 125mm wider, and it runs on lowered, stiffened suspension tuned for the track.

Now this is where it gets interesting: the Track'ster is more than just a pretty face. It's a runner, with a turbocharged, two-litre engine pushing 185kW (66 percent more than the standard Soul) through a short-throw six-speed manual 'box to an electronically controlled all-wheel drive system.

Huge vented and cross-drilled Brembo brakes (355mm with six-pot callipers in front, 345mm with four pot callipers at the rear) keep it all on the straight and narrow.

BUILT-IN EQUIPMENT BINS

The interior is trimmed in two different shades of grey leather with orange accents and racing seats upholstered in orange suede. The big primary dials are pocketed deep inside red-glowing nacelles, with technical info such as oil temperature and battery voltage in a centre binnacle and important stuff like audio, aircon and satnav based on a centre-stack touch-screen.

Where the back seats of a production Soul would be, however, there are two built-in equipment bins and a rally-style spare-tyre rack with a quick-release handle on the specially-made rear suspension brace.

Kearns explained: “We saw the Track'ster as a performance car for track days as well as road driving.

“The idea was to make the tools and equipment necessary to keep the car perfectly tuned and set up easily accessible, with large, paneled bins for racing gear such as helmets, suits and gloves.”

There were never any plans to produce the Track'ster, but Kia's California design centre team had a lot of fun with the project.

“Concept cars are icing on the cake,” grinned Kearns. “They allow us to dream about what could be - regardless of whether that dream becomes a reality.”

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