By Eon-jae Jeong, Researcher, Safety System Design Team

It seems that these convenience features never end on the Cadenza! For the information here on the blog, though, this is our last installment for the extras you’ll find on our newest vehicle.

Heated Steering Wheel

Driving in wintertime is difficult on many fronts. In particular, exterior materials like metal and glass become cold in low temperature weather. The interior tends to be a bit warmer than the outside but I’m sure many of you will have experienced the discomfort of sitting inside a freezing vehicle.

When a vehicle has been parked outside for a long time in winter, the driver has to deal with an ice-cold steering wheel. The coldness of a steering wheel also tends to linger for a long time even after the heater has been turned on and the cabin temperature has risen.

Cold hands will no longer pose a problem for drivers of the Cadenza. The heated steering wheel features heated pads in the grip part that give off warmth.

Once a driver switches on the heated steering wheel, a battery-operated controller raises the temperature of the heating wires to provide a warm grip for drivers.

In particular, the use of a controller to manage the heating system prevents any sudden changes in temperature of the steering wheel. This ensures a safe and warm driving experience.

So driving with gloves on or while trying to warm freezing hands by rubbing them together will be a thing of the past in winter… that is, of course, when you’re driving a Cadenza!

Stay tuned to find out about Cadenza’s active and passive safety features… but, that will just have to wait until our next post!

※ Editor’s note: Options may differ by region

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Hi, everybody! Here’s part II of Cadenza’s emotional & comfortable feature story for all you (future) Cadenza owners. Let’s take a look.

Chrome garnish mood lighting and large room lamp

Young-beom Lee and Ki-hong Lee, Senior Researcher, Vehicle Design Team 2

Forget about boring and monotonous car interiors. Cadenza brings something refreshingly new to the concept of luxurious cabins.

The unique chrome garnish mood lighting and large room lamp elevate cabin lighting to a whole new level, satisfying the emotional needs of drivers with a special combination of light and lines.

The “floating” crash pad extends all along the front from the driver’s seat to the front passenger’s seat. The dynamic lines of the crash pad are further accentuated with chrome garnish mood lighting that provides indirect lighting through the use of strip lights within the garnish.

Chrome molding is applied to the outside of the molding while light shines through the lower part which does not have a cover. LED lights are installed inside the molding for uniform and subtle illumination, adding to the luxurious and solid feel of the interior.

In addition to the crash pad chrome garnish mood lighting, Cadenza is equipped with a front passenger reading light and large, integrated room lamp. (Large room lamp not applicable with panorama sunroof.)

Electronic driver’s seat extension

By Seong-hak Hong
Senior researcher
Seat System Design Team






Many specs and technologies are devoted to delivering the most comfortable driving. One of the items that affects drivers the most, and in a very direct way, is the seat. That’s because a driver needs to spend a significant amount of time in a seated position.

Sedans, SUVs and hatchbacks all have their own characteristic cabins and driver positions. And if a driver is tall or has long legs, they may find it difficult to get comfortable due to seats that fail to fully support their thighs.

As a solution, the Cadenza provides an electronic seat extension for the driver. The front part of the seat cushion moves forward and up to extend the cushion length and support longer thighs. The greater the contact between the thighs and the seat cushion, the more comfortable it is for drivers to sit for a long time and feel less fatigue due to evenly dispersed body pressure.

To activate the seat extension, drivers only need to press the front or back part of a switch that is attached to the side of the seat. The driver can adjust the seat’s movement until it is most comfortable for them and then take their finger off the switch.

The extending seat delivers a much more comfortable sitting position for drivers of the Cadenza.

In our next installment, we will discover a very useful feature for those of you dealing with cold winters. Stay tuned!

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You’ve waited some time for it, but here is a new installment on the various technologies featured in Cadenza. Kia researchers devoted hours of hard work to create technologies that appeal to the emotions of drivers and deliver a dynamic and luxurious driving experience. Kia BUZZ will present a series of posts over the next few days to describe these features in detail.

By Moo-yong Kim
Senior researcher
Vehicle Design Team 2






Auto Defogging System

Driving in the rain or in winter is always challenging. Bad weather impairs a driver’s vision – but that’s not all. Like the saying, “When it rains, it pours,” drivers have to contend with a slew of other factors in addition to the weather.

Foggy windows are annoying and potentially dangerous. Moisture inside a car is caused by the differences in temperature and humidity between the inside and outside of a car. Haze or fog can occasionally obstruct the driver’s visibility. However, it’s not a problem for drivers of Cadenza!

Kia Motors successfully developed an Auto Defogging System and installed the system in the Cadenza. The system removes moisture from the windows and controls humidity levels inside the cabin for maximum comfort.

On auto setting, wind is blown onto the windshield at the right temperature to remove moisture. A convenient feature is that the breeze can also be used to control the cabin temperature. A humidity sensor attached to the windshield and its control logic detect moisture on the window and automatically activate the A/C system to defog the windows without the driver having to press a button.

The auto defogging system found in competitor vehicles do not have the cabin temperature control function, which means the cabin can suddenly get hot when the system is turned on. The Cadenza though, ensures pleasant driving conditions as it removes the fog and controls the indoor temperature.

Next, discover something illuminating. Stay tuned for our next installment.

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Jae-hoon Oh, Principal research engineer, Gasoline Engine Design Team &
Sang-gyu An, Research engineer, Chassis Design Team 2

Hi! It has finally arrived. Kia’s brand new model, the All-new Cadenza is here.
I’m sure many of you are already aware of the many new technologies applied to the Cadenza to make it a truly luxury sedan. Today, we’d like to introduce the Lambda engine that’s behind the Cadenza’s powerful drive and Amplitude Selective Damper (ASD).

Lambda II 3.5 gasoline engine
What do you think is the most essential element for Cadenza to realize its motto of being a ‘dynamic sedan’? That’s right, a strong heart, in its case, a powerful engine. To deliver class-leading performance, Kia outfitted the Cadenza with the Lambda II 3.5 gasoline engine. An updated version of the Lambda featured in the Opirus/Amanti, the new engine delivers durability and reliability along with driving performance.

We adopted a new intake manifold system which significantly impacts performance. The previous 2-stage was replaced with a 3-stage variable intake system (VIS) for consistently superior performance at all driving speeds. The Lambda II 3.5 gasoline engine was developed to outperform other 3.5 liter engines by our competition.

One of the most important considerations in developing a large displacement engine is reducing engine weight. To this end, we optimized the design of the crank and cylinder block to lighten the weight and also applied a plastic water temperature control. It was the world’s first plastic water temperature control used in a 6-cylinder engine and is also used in the Opirus/Amanti. Its application shaved 3% off the weight of the new Lambda engine.

The Variable Flow Oil Pump (VFP) optimizes the flow of the oil depending on the discharge pressure, thereby minimizing engine performance loss when driving at a high speed or high RPM. Furthermore, we applied a low-friction coating method using Diamond-Like Carbon (DLC), a new material technology, to moving parts. By reducing friction, we raised fuel efficiency of the engine.

The Cadenza also has a Mechanical Lash Adjuster (MLA) and a ratchet type hydraulic auto tensioner in the timing chain system to achieve both lightness and stiffness, thus increasing durability and reliability.

To reduce environmental pollution and maintenance costs, we applied an ultra thin-wall catalyst for advanced emission conversion and an environmentally-friendly oil filter that requires only the filter paper to be replaced during maintenance checkups.

The rated RPM, which signifies the engine RPM at top output level, was raised from 6,000 RPM of the previous Lambda engine to 6,600 RPM for improved performance.

The application of diverse engine and new material technologies means the Lambda II 3.5 engine offers range-topping maximum power of 290 hp and maximum torque of 34.5 kgf.m.

The engine delivers driving performance as a dynamic luxury mid-size sedan ,thus exceeding the high demands of Cadenza customers in its excellent performance & style.

Amplitude Selective Damper (ASD)

The engine is like the heart of a car and a strong engine is pivotal to the car’s performance. The more powerful an engine is, the more it requires sophisticated automotive control parts to support and endure its performance. One can compare it to a healthy heart requiring strong arms and legs.

Cadenza is the first in its class to feature Amplitude Selective Damper (ASD) as a standard feature. ASD ensures control over the car body and realizes a solid and stable drive.

ASD ensures drivers enjoy optimal riding comfort and handling under any road conditions. A low damping force is applied to provide a comfortable ride when the vehicle goes over roads with undulations that produce high-frequency, low-amplitude vibrations. A high damping force maintains stiff suspension when the vehicle turns or goes over bumps to improve body and wheel control.

Today, we introduced the engine and suspension systems that act as the heart, arms and legs of the Cadenza. Look forward to more postings in the future on other fascinating new technologies.

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By Kim, Seok-hwan
Research Engineer
Seat System Design Team






Hi there!

When a driver or passenger gets into a car, what part do they come into contact with immediately and for the longest period of time? It’s the seat. Seats are an essential part of a car because the feeling or comfort of seats can determine the value of the car. Seats are also an area where we are seeing rapid technological advances. So today, I’d like to tell you more about the ‘Seat R&D Symposium’ and new seat technologies.

A plethora of new car seat technologies are being developed to deliver an emotional driving experience. For instance, we’re even seeing massage seats that relax tired muscles. Studies are being conducted into hybrid seats that graft various electronic devices, new materials and safety technologies to provide a more comfortable ride. On November 5 of 2009, about 250 of Korea’s leading car seat experts gathered at Rolling Hills Hotel in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi-do, for the ‘Seat R&D Symposium.’ Participants discussed new seat technologies currently under development and plotted future strategies for the sector.

The symposium included presentations of 29 working-level research papers on five major seat-related research areas, namely electronics, emotional driving, comfort, safety and mechanism. In addition, audience members listened to four presentations by invited professors. Particularly noteworthy was the presentation of research into intelligent seats as part of the newly created electronics sector which provided a blueprint into the future of automobile seats. Papers by US and European seat experts also shed light on global seat trends and technological standards.

Some of the emerging technologies that garnered the most attention were Haptic Interactive Seat, Pre-Safe Seat and Pre-Crash Head Restraint. Haptic is a term related to the sense of touch. For example, cell phones like the Apple iPhone are controlled and manipulated by touching the screen with your hand. The Haptic Interactive Seat incorporates sensors that follow the movement of the driver’s pupils so that when the driver is determined to be dozing at the wheel, the seat vibrates to wake up the driver. Additionally, if the navigation system is telling the driver to turn left, the left side of the seat vibrates to remind the driver of the turn direction.

This smart technology represents the present and future of cutting-edge seats found inside Kia cars. It surpasses the technological standards of our peers who only provide audio warnings to drowsy drivers.

The Pre-Safe Seat and Pre-Crash Head Restraint protect passengers by analyzing the situation before an impact. An exhibition of some 20 new seat technologies was also held alongside the symposium.

Demonstration of Haptic Interactive Seat
Seats are the first and last contact point between a car and its occupant. Accordingly, it is essential for carmakers to apply the latest technologies and materials to seats. The Seat R&D Symposium is just one of the efforts by Kia Motors to develop more advanced seat technologies. We’ll be working hard to create seats that are beyond your imagination.

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