Latest news with #X-Pro

Fujifilm just announced the X half — a digital camera that offers a unique film experience unlike any other

Tom's Guide

22-05-2025

Tom's Guide

Fujifilm just announced the X half — a digital camera that offers a unique film experience unlike any other

Fujifilm just launched the spiritual successor to its X-Pro lineup, and it's a camera unlike any other. Say hello to the Fujifilm X half, a digital camera with a dedicated film photography mode, that hopes to make photography simple and intuitive, thanks to a stripped back control scheme. It's designed extremely well and weighs just 8.46 ounces. The X half occupies an interesting place in Fuji's extensive cameras family. The manufacturer has injected the ethos, "Specs and technology aren't everything," into the X half's inception. Could this be one of the best cameras for photography purists? It features a 1-inch back-illuminated sensor that takes 17MP photos and records FHD/24p video. The back panel houses a 2.14-inch 0.92M-dot LCD touchscreen and a vertical touch panel that lets you swap between 13 of Fuji's most popular film simulation recipes. A fixed lens camera (32mm f/2.8 prime) like the Fujifilm X100VI, the X half has a retail price of $849 / £699. The camera, then, offers a film-like experience at an accessible price point, unlike the pricier Fujifilm X-Pro 3 which demands more money be spent on glass. The X half is great value for money, though, as it factors in the costs of getting film rolls developed. You can snap film photos and save them directly to your SD card — or view a short simulation of them "developing" within the new X half app. The X half has a few tricks up its sleeves. The rear LCD monitor, by default, shows you what the camera is pointing at, and you can view the photos you've taken, like on any other digital camera. But the X half has a dedicated film photography mode, where you select the film count (36, 72, etc.) and ISO value. This also turns the monitor into a shot counter, rolling onto the next number each time you take a photo. And just like on a film camera, you can't see the photo you've taken — until you offload the SD card or use the X half app. The 17MP images the X half produces are ideal for sharing on social media. You can create diptychs too. Pulling the lever next to the exposure compensation dial lets you take a second photo, and the camera then stitches them into one composition — and you can stitch a photo and video or two videos together too. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. Other features include Fujifilm's fantastic color science which is on full display here. The X half also features human face/eye detection unlike other half-frame film cameras, like the Pentax 17 or the Kodak Ektar H35. Alongside film recipes, there are several new filters to play with including light leak, expired film, miniature, double exposure, etc. I had the pleasure of seeing and using the camera for a couple of hours at a pre-launch briefing, and I had a very positive experience with it. A detailed review will follow soon, so keep your eyes peeled.

2025 Kia Tasman to get split safety rating

The Advertiser

09-05-2025

Automotive
The Advertiser

2025 Kia Tasman to get split safety rating

Kia Australia says the new Tasman dual-cab ute's success in the fleet market hinges on a five-star ANCAP safety rating which it expects to achieve, though the entire range isn't expected to be rated by the safety authority. Speaking with CarExpert at the prototype drive of the brand's first dual-cab ute, general manager for product at Kia Australia – Roland Rivero – said the local range will offer two front bumper variations, with the off-road bumper on the X-Line and X-Pro models less effective in pedestrian detection. "[The front bumper of lower grades] is safety related, in that the lower approach angle in effect assists with pedestrian safety, or vulnerable road user detection, and with the high approach angle the X-Line and X-Pro it's not as friendly from a lower leg perspective – so we want to give the Tasman a chance of hitting the five-star mark," Mr Rivero said. "Particularly because it's a non-negotiable for many fleets, we don't want to lose that potential 50 per cent of business if we don't achieve that five-star rating." Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now. When asked if there will be a split rating for the Tasman similar to how the previous-generation Kia Cerato had a split rating depending on specification, Mr Rivero said the off-road-focused models will likely go unrated instead. "At this point in time, the off-roaders will be unrated, in effect. But you can still take an S, SX or SX+ 4×4 off-road if you wanted to, and get a reasonable approach angle if you change the bar and put a bullbar in its place that will grant you a lot more clearance," Mr Rivero continued "We envisage some of the big fleets will do that – QFleet, Department of Agriculture, Department of Primary Industries – they do that, and they need a five-star rating from the get-go. "[Those customers] do a lot of rural driving, and kangaroos can become a problem, so they'll put the bull bars on. That's how we see the market playing out in that regard, from a bumper perspective." While the top-selling Ford Ranger (excl. Raptor) and Toyota HiLux (excl. GR Sport) feature five-star ANCAP ratings across most of their ranges, they're also subject to older test criteria, whereas the Kia is up against the latest standards. Standard safety equipment includes: Tasman SX adds: Tasman X-Line adds: Kia Australia has yet to confirm the Tasman's airbag count. The Kia Tasman is available for pre-order now, ahead of a first deliveries around July. Prices start from $42,990 before on-road costs for the entry-level S 4×2 dual-cab pickup, climbing to $74,990 for the loaded, off-road focused X-Pro. Read our full price and specs breakdown here. MORE: Everything Kia Tasman Content originally sourced from: Kia Australia says the new Tasman dual-cab ute's success in the fleet market hinges on a five-star ANCAP safety rating which it expects to achieve, though the entire range isn't expected to be rated by the safety authority. Speaking with CarExpert at the prototype drive of the brand's first dual-cab ute, general manager for product at Kia Australia – Roland Rivero – said the local range will offer two front bumper variations, with the off-road bumper on the X-Line and X-Pro models less effective in pedestrian detection. "[The front bumper of lower grades] is safety related, in that the lower approach angle in effect assists with pedestrian safety, or vulnerable road user detection, and with the high approach angle the X-Line and X-Pro it's not as friendly from a lower leg perspective – so we want to give the Tasman a chance of hitting the five-star mark," Mr Rivero said. "Particularly because it's a non-negotiable for many fleets, we don't want to lose that potential 50 per cent of business if we don't achieve that five-star rating." Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now. When asked if there will be a split rating for the Tasman similar to how the previous-generation Kia Cerato had a split rating depending on specification, Mr Rivero said the off-road-focused models will likely go unrated instead. "At this point in time, the off-roaders will be unrated, in effect. But you can still take an S, SX or SX+ 4×4 off-road if you wanted to, and get a reasonable approach angle if you change the bar and put a bullbar in its place that will grant you a lot more clearance," Mr Rivero continued "We envisage some of the big fleets will do that – QFleet, Department of Agriculture, Department of Primary Industries – they do that, and they need a five-star rating from the get-go. "[Those customers] do a lot of rural driving, and kangaroos can become a problem, so they'll put the bull bars on. That's how we see the market playing out in that regard, from a bumper perspective." While the top-selling Ford Ranger (excl. Raptor) and Toyota HiLux (excl. GR Sport) feature five-star ANCAP ratings across most of their ranges, they're also subject to older test criteria, whereas the Kia is up against the latest standards. Standard safety equipment includes: Tasman SX adds: Tasman X-Line adds: Kia Australia has yet to confirm the Tasman's airbag count. The Kia Tasman is available for pre-order now, ahead of a first deliveries around July. Prices start from $42,990 before on-road costs for the entry-level S 4×2 dual-cab pickup, climbing to $74,990 for the loaded, off-road focused X-Pro. Read our full price and specs breakdown here. MORE: Everything Kia Tasman Content originally sourced from: Kia Australia says the new Tasman dual-cab ute's success in the fleet market hinges on a five-star ANCAP safety rating which it expects to achieve, though the entire range isn't expected to be rated by the safety authority. Speaking with CarExpert at the prototype drive of the brand's first dual-cab ute, general manager for product at Kia Australia – Roland Rivero – said the local range will offer two front bumper variations, with the off-road bumper on the X-Line and X-Pro models less effective in pedestrian detection. "[The front bumper of lower grades] is safety related, in that the lower approach angle in effect assists with pedestrian safety, or vulnerable road user detection, and with the high approach angle the X-Line and X-Pro it's not as friendly from a lower leg perspective – so we want to give the Tasman a chance of hitting the five-star mark," Mr Rivero said. "Particularly because it's a non-negotiable for many fleets, we don't want to lose that potential 50 per cent of business if we don't achieve that five-star rating." Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now. When asked if there will be a split rating for the Tasman similar to how the previous-generation Kia Cerato had a split rating depending on specification, Mr Rivero said the off-road-focused models will likely go unrated instead. "At this point in time, the off-roaders will be unrated, in effect. But you can still take an S, SX or SX+ 4×4 off-road if you wanted to, and get a reasonable approach angle if you change the bar and put a bullbar in its place that will grant you a lot more clearance," Mr Rivero continued "We envisage some of the big fleets will do that – QFleet, Department of Agriculture, Department of Primary Industries – they do that, and they need a five-star rating from the get-go. "[Those customers] do a lot of rural driving, and kangaroos can become a problem, so they'll put the bull bars on. That's how we see the market playing out in that regard, from a bumper perspective." While the top-selling Ford Ranger (excl. Raptor) and Toyota HiLux (excl. GR Sport) feature five-star ANCAP ratings across most of their ranges, they're also subject to older test criteria, whereas the Kia is up against the latest standards. Standard safety equipment includes: Tasman SX adds: Tasman X-Line adds: Kia Australia has yet to confirm the Tasman's airbag count. The Kia Tasman is available for pre-order now, ahead of a first deliveries around July. Prices start from $42,990 before on-road costs for the entry-level S 4×2 dual-cab pickup, climbing to $74,990 for the loaded, off-road focused X-Pro. Read our full price and specs breakdown here. MORE: Everything Kia Tasman Content originally sourced from: Kia Australia says the new Tasman dual-cab ute's success in the fleet market hinges on a five-star ANCAP safety rating which it expects to achieve, though the entire range isn't expected to be rated by the safety authority. Speaking with CarExpert at the prototype drive of the brand's first dual-cab ute, general manager for product at Kia Australia – Roland Rivero – said the local range will offer two front bumper variations, with the off-road bumper on the X-Line and X-Pro models less effective in pedestrian detection. "[The front bumper of lower grades] is safety related, in that the lower approach angle in effect assists with pedestrian safety, or vulnerable road user detection, and with the high approach angle the X-Line and X-Pro it's not as friendly from a lower leg perspective – so we want to give the Tasman a chance of hitting the five-star mark," Mr Rivero said. "Particularly because it's a non-negotiable for many fleets, we don't want to lose that potential 50 per cent of business if we don't achieve that five-star rating." Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now. When asked if there will be a split rating for the Tasman similar to how the previous-generation Kia Cerato had a split rating depending on specification, Mr Rivero said the off-road-focused models will likely go unrated instead. "At this point in time, the off-roaders will be unrated, in effect. But you can still take an S, SX or SX+ 4×4 off-road if you wanted to, and get a reasonable approach angle if you change the bar and put a bullbar in its place that will grant you a lot more clearance," Mr Rivero continued "We envisage some of the big fleets will do that – QFleet, Department of Agriculture, Department of Primary Industries – they do that, and they need a five-star rating from the get-go. "[Those customers] do a lot of rural driving, and kangaroos can become a problem, so they'll put the bull bars on. That's how we see the market playing out in that regard, from a bumper perspective." While the top-selling Ford Ranger (excl. Raptor) and Toyota HiLux (excl. GR Sport) feature five-star ANCAP ratings across most of their ranges, they're also subject to older test criteria, whereas the Kia is up against the latest standards. Standard safety equipment includes: Tasman SX adds: Tasman X-Line adds: Kia Australia has yet to confirm the Tasman's airbag count. The Kia Tasman is available for pre-order now, ahead of a first deliveries around July. Prices start from $42,990 before on-road costs for the entry-level S 4×2 dual-cab pickup, climbing to $74,990 for the loaded, off-road focused X-Pro. Read our full price and specs breakdown here. MORE: Everything Kia Tasman Content originally sourced from:

2025 Kia Tasman review: Prototype off-road drive

The Advertiser

09-05-2025

Automotive
The Advertiser

2025 Kia Tasman review: Prototype off-road drive

Who would have thought a dual-cab ute from a mainstream Korean brand would be the most talked-about new vehicle of the year. The 2025 Kia Tasman is the company's first proper attempt at a dual-cab ute, aiming to capitalise on the ever-enduring of pickups in the Australian market and other parts of the world. It's also filling a key gap in Kia's lineup, given what's really stopping it from achieving Top 3 status on the Australian sales charts is the lack of a commercial utility to duke it out with the likes of Toyota, Ford and Mazda. But come July that's all about to change, and Korea made sure it got people talking with the design. Love it or hate it, you can't accuse the Tasman of being a copycat take on any of the name-brand utes like some Chinese competition. Further, Kia's approach has been a focus on comfort and versatility, highlighted by its very SUV-like cabin and localisation of the ride and handling setup to tailor it to varying Australian tastes. Ahead of the full production-spec market launch in the new financial year, Kia Australia invited us to try a handful of pre-production prototypes – of varying degrees, mind you – in flagship X-Pro specification to get an early taste on some closed off-road courses before the final spec lands in local dealers. Is Kia's polarising dual-cab up for the mammoth task of competing with Australia's favourite vehicles? Read on to find out. The Kia Tasman range will open from $42,990 before on-road costs when the dual-cab range launches in July, with the flagship X-Pro on test in pre-production form to start from $74,990 plus on-road costs. To see how the Kia Tasman lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool If you thought the Ford Ranger and Volkswagen Amarok were SUV-like inside, the Tasman feels positively luxurious. While the brown interior of some of the pre-production cars sadly won't be making it to the launch range – please sound off in the comments if you want it here – the interior of the Tasman distinguishes itself from other Kia models in terms of overall design though retains a lot of elements that we know and love from the brand's passenger vehicles. There's a surprising amount of soft-touch materials littered throughout, nicely contrasted with the brown elements of the Korean-market colourway. A more demure blackish-grey cabin was also present, and while it's nowhere near as visually stimulating, our comments around the craftsmanship and feel remain. X-Pro models will get a cool quilted leather trim complete with electric front seat adjustment and memory functions for the driver, heating and ventilation for the front pews as well as heated outer rear seats, in addition to a sunroof. Really, you could be in a boxy Kia SUV if you didn't know what it looked like from the outside. Kia's connected car Navigation Cockpit (ccNC) also features, with conjoined 12.3-inch widescreens incorporating the digital driver's cluster and touchscreen infotainment displays. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto features across the range, with the SX and up adding native satellite navigation. All Tasmans will feature the Kia Connect suite of net-based services too, including remote functions controlled via a smartphone application, as well as connected navigation for compatible systems. The upright fascia and straight lines of the cabin give a real impression of width and space, and there are cool stitching and trim details mixed in. The mesh-effect vent treatment also looks pretty cool. Storage is good too, with a dual charging tray for smartphones as well as big cubbies dotted throughout. Tradies and families shouldn't have much trouble stowing their odds and ends. Another thing to note is the general feeling of quality. This doesn't feel like a commercial-spec cabin, at least in this grade, and all the touchpoints and switchgear feels solid. We don't have images of an Australian-spec rear seat, but there's good space in there for adults even if you squeeze three across. Naturally, we didn't spend a whole lot of time back there to get a proper feel. There was no time to trial its tub or towing abilities either, so we'll have to wait until the full production launch for that. See the below table for key specs. *Sub-1000kg payload available to qualify for novated leases To see how the Kia Tasman lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool At launch just one powertrain will be offered across the range, a 2.2-litre four-cylinder single-turbo diesel. As previously reported, local versions of the Tasman are homologated to older Euro 5 standards in line with Australian mandates, and therefore don't feature AdBlue injection. Kia Australia says the Tasman will likely remain Euro 5-compliant until the Euro 6d emissions standard is mandated in Australia across the industry from around 2028 – and the Euro 6-compliant 2.2-litre diesel with AdBlue is already offered in other overseas markets. Further, the 2.5-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol available in Korean models, which develops a healthy 207kW/421Nm, is off the cards for the Australian market. Hybrid and 'electrified' powertrains are "under study" according to the local product team, though additional detail isn't official just yet. To see how the Kia Tasman lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool I'll preface this again with the fact we spent a limited time driving the pre-production Tasman X-Pro on a couple of short off-road courses at the Glenworth Valley location. Over two days we were given short stints behind the wheel of an "X-Pro-ish" pre-production vehicle on a couple of different off-road activities. Kia's team said this vehicle was "around 90 per cent" production-spec. The first activity was a little obstacle including a water crossing, muddy trails and some offset moguls. Our time in the driver's seat was pretty fuss free, though some journalists struggled for traction out of muddy and watery dips after successive runs saw the all-terrain tyres get a little mud-plugged. Kia has equipped the Tasman with an on-demand four-wheel drive system with 4A mode, which means the Tasman's on-demand technology will activate the rear axle when it detects slip. While this kind of all-wheel drive system seems pretty common, a lot of dual-cab utes – namely the four-cylinder ones – have selectable four-wheel drive with standard 2H (rear-wheel drive) mode for normal driving. For the general trail work over gravel and mud we kept the Tasman in its 4A mode, letting the system do the work. Once we got to the ruts and moguls, we pulled up and used the rotary selector dial to engage 4L – or Four-Low. These obstacles gave us an opportunity to try the Ground View Monitor camera system that uses the surround and front-facing cameras to stitch together a see-through chassis feed, with graphics and animations for the front wheels so you know where to place the vehicle ahead of an obstacle. Now this isn't ground-breaking stuff, and has been available in rival 4WDs for some time, but Kia's camera quality and digital graphics are really crisp and easy to view on the move. The off-road pages in the infotainment system are also handy. You can get a real-time feed of a visualisation of your Tasman X-Pro with readouts for pitch and roll, torque distribution and wheel articulation. It animates the vehicle in motion and steering angles, as well as showing oil pressure, battery voltage, and tyre pressures. In fairness this first exercise wasn't designed to really test the Tasman at its limits, but it was probably as gnarly as most people heading up a camp trail will likely go. The mix of conditions and surfaces also allowed us to get a feel of how the Tasman handles off-road terrain with regards to traction, steering and noise intrusion. From the get go I noticed how insulated the Tasman's cabin is. The four-cylinder diesel sounds quite loud and rattly on the outside but is impressively suppressed in the cockpit. Likewise, noise from the road surface is nicely kept at bay and the general rigidity feels very good too – you don't get the scuttling noise from the separate cabin and tub like a lot of other utes experience on the rough stuff. The steering is very light but relatively direct and communicative for this type of vehicle, though I found the pre-production car was a little vague about centre which meant a lot of mini-corrections when driving on the off-road courses. Kia Australia's representatives told me they're applying another revision to the steering tune to ensure better on-centre feel, so it'll be interesting to drive the final production spec off-road. On day two we tackled a pretty rocky and rutted hillclimb, this time to better demonstrate the 4WD system's capabilities as well as the X-Trek feature which is unique amongst the dual-cab ute segment. The X-Pro comes with an electronically-locking rear differential with in-cabin switch, while the wider range gets a reactive limited-slip rear differential. We actually didn't use the diff lock feature in the X-Pro prototype, though during the product presentation we were shown visual representations of how the proactive rear torque split benefits in low-grip conditions. Basically, you get smoother and more predictable progress by way of better traction and control. The X-Trek function unique to the X-Pro is like the Crawl Mode you'll find in a Toyota LandCruiser. Think of it as a hill-ascent control (rather than the common hill descent control) that allows the vehicle to maintain a steady speed navigating uphill and rocky climbs without driver input via the throttle. It takes a quick switch into 4L and then pressing the labelled switch, and off you go. You can adjust the speed in five stages, and particularly on rougher terrain avoids you coming on and off the throttle over rocks and bumps, maintaining consistent throttle input and speed through obstacles which is preferable in these kinds of scenarios. The Ground View Monitor also came in handy here giving good forward visibility over crests, given how upright and bluff the Tasman's face and bonnet is, and there was greater variance in the readouts to the off-road menus. It may be long but the Tasman only scraped its bum on the sharpest of dips, in part helped by the X-Pro's lofty 252mm running clearance and 26.2-degree departure angle. Kia quotes approach and rampover angles of 32.2 and 25.8 degrees, respectively. For reference, a Ford Ranger Wildtrak Bi-Turbo quotes 234mm of unladen ground clearance, as well as approach, departure and rampover angles of 30/23/21 degrees respectively. If I was to mention one main gripe it was on the odd occasion the Tasman's eight-speed auto would get caught between gears around the 12-15km/h mark, often shifting up and letting revs drop too low and then shifting down. In both instances this resulted in a lurching sensation with too much throttle application, which was annoying and can be unnerving if you're scaling a slipper and rocky climb. You can take control via the paddles if you need, though. To see how the Kia Tasman lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool The X-Pro will sit atop a five-trim range in Australia – read our full price and specs article here. Tasman S equipment highlights: Tasman SX adds: Tasman SX+ adds: Tasman X-Line adds: Tasman X-Pro adds: To see how the Kia Tasman lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool The Tasman can be ordered in a choice of eight exterior paint colours depending on variant. Standard: $NCO Premium: $700 To see how the Kia Tasman lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool The Kia Tasman is as yet unrated by ANCAP, though Kia Australia anticipates a rating will be announced in August. Kia has engineered two distinct front bumper designs for the Tasman, one being more road-focused for the core range and the other more off-road friendly for the X-Line and X-Pro models. As a result, Kia Australia is aiming for a five-star ANCAP safety rating from S through SX+ grades, with the X-Line and X-Pro set to be unrated regardless. Standard safety equipment includes: SX and above add Kia's Highway Driving Assist system and navigation-based adaptive cruise control. The X-Line and above are equipped with parking collision avoidance assist, a surround-view camera and blind-spot cameras. To see how the Kia Tasman lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool As the wider Kia Australia lineup, the Tasman will be covered by a seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty. Finer details like servicing intervals and capped-price service pricing will be announced closer to launch. To see how the Kia Tasman lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool It's early days, but it seems the Tasman has been subject to a very vigorous development process to ensure it's as competitive as it can be in Australia's ever-popular dual-cab ute segment. First impressions of the X-Pro are solid, capable specifications and 4WD equipment bolstered by a luxurious, quiet cabin. Still, we need to try it on the black stuff and while towing to flesh out how it compares with key rivals. I'm also a fan of the looks. Sure it's not classically handsome, but Kia's dual-cab forges its own trail with its distinctive and imposing design, and there are some cool colours available to offset the contrast cladding – I'd actually prefer the grey fenders on the Tan Beige paint, personally. But this was just a palette cleanser and quick first taste of Korea's new dual-cab. I'll have to withhold full impressions – including on-road and towing assessment – until the full production launch in July. I'm expecting big things, though… Interested in buying a Kia Tasman? Get in touch with one of CarExpert's trusted dealers hereMORE: Everything Kia Tasman Content originally sourced from: Who would have thought a dual-cab ute from a mainstream Korean brand would be the most talked-about new vehicle of the year. The 2025 Kia Tasman is the company's first proper attempt at a dual-cab ute, aiming to capitalise on the ever-enduring of pickups in the Australian market and other parts of the world. It's also filling a key gap in Kia's lineup, given what's really stopping it from achieving Top 3 status on the Australian sales charts is the lack of a commercial utility to duke it out with the likes of Toyota, Ford and Mazda. But come July that's all about to change, and Korea made sure it got people talking with the design. Love it or hate it, you can't accuse the Tasman of being a copycat take on any of the name-brand utes like some Chinese competition. Further, Kia's approach has been a focus on comfort and versatility, highlighted by its very SUV-like cabin and localisation of the ride and handling setup to tailor it to varying Australian tastes. Ahead of the full production-spec market launch in the new financial year, Kia Australia invited us to try a handful of pre-production prototypes – of varying degrees, mind you – in flagship X-Pro specification to get an early taste on some closed off-road courses before the final spec lands in local dealers. Is Kia's polarising dual-cab up for the mammoth task of competing with Australia's favourite vehicles? Read on to find out. The Kia Tasman range will open from $42,990 before on-road costs when the dual-cab range launches in July, with the flagship X-Pro on test in pre-production form to start from $74,990 plus on-road costs. To see how the Kia Tasman lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool If you thought the Ford Ranger and Volkswagen Amarok were SUV-like inside, the Tasman feels positively luxurious. While the brown interior of some of the pre-production cars sadly won't be making it to the launch range – please sound off in the comments if you want it here – the interior of the Tasman distinguishes itself from other Kia models in terms of overall design though retains a lot of elements that we know and love from the brand's passenger vehicles. There's a surprising amount of soft-touch materials littered throughout, nicely contrasted with the brown elements of the Korean-market colourway. A more demure blackish-grey cabin was also present, and while it's nowhere near as visually stimulating, our comments around the craftsmanship and feel remain. X-Pro models will get a cool quilted leather trim complete with electric front seat adjustment and memory functions for the driver, heating and ventilation for the front pews as well as heated outer rear seats, in addition to a sunroof. Really, you could be in a boxy Kia SUV if you didn't know what it looked like from the outside. Kia's connected car Navigation Cockpit (ccNC) also features, with conjoined 12.3-inch widescreens incorporating the digital driver's cluster and touchscreen infotainment displays. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto features across the range, with the SX and up adding native satellite navigation. All Tasmans will feature the Kia Connect suite of net-based services too, including remote functions controlled via a smartphone application, as well as connected navigation for compatible systems. The upright fascia and straight lines of the cabin give a real impression of width and space, and there are cool stitching and trim details mixed in. The mesh-effect vent treatment also looks pretty cool. Storage is good too, with a dual charging tray for smartphones as well as big cubbies dotted throughout. Tradies and families shouldn't have much trouble stowing their odds and ends. Another thing to note is the general feeling of quality. This doesn't feel like a commercial-spec cabin, at least in this grade, and all the touchpoints and switchgear feels solid. We don't have images of an Australian-spec rear seat, but there's good space in there for adults even if you squeeze three across. Naturally, we didn't spend a whole lot of time back there to get a proper feel. There was no time to trial its tub or towing abilities either, so we'll have to wait until the full production launch for that. See the below table for key specs. *Sub-1000kg payload available to qualify for novated leases To see how the Kia Tasman lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool At launch just one powertrain will be offered across the range, a 2.2-litre four-cylinder single-turbo diesel. As previously reported, local versions of the Tasman are homologated to older Euro 5 standards in line with Australian mandates, and therefore don't feature AdBlue injection. Kia Australia says the Tasman will likely remain Euro 5-compliant until the Euro 6d emissions standard is mandated in Australia across the industry from around 2028 – and the Euro 6-compliant 2.2-litre diesel with AdBlue is already offered in other overseas markets. Further, the 2.5-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol available in Korean models, which develops a healthy 207kW/421Nm, is off the cards for the Australian market. Hybrid and 'electrified' powertrains are "under study" according to the local product team, though additional detail isn't official just yet. To see how the Kia Tasman lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool I'll preface this again with the fact we spent a limited time driving the pre-production Tasman X-Pro on a couple of short off-road courses at the Glenworth Valley location. Over two days we were given short stints behind the wheel of an "X-Pro-ish" pre-production vehicle on a couple of different off-road activities. Kia's team said this vehicle was "around 90 per cent" production-spec. The first activity was a little obstacle including a water crossing, muddy trails and some offset moguls. Our time in the driver's seat was pretty fuss free, though some journalists struggled for traction out of muddy and watery dips after successive runs saw the all-terrain tyres get a little mud-plugged. Kia has equipped the Tasman with an on-demand four-wheel drive system with 4A mode, which means the Tasman's on-demand technology will activate the rear axle when it detects slip. While this kind of all-wheel drive system seems pretty common, a lot of dual-cab utes – namely the four-cylinder ones – have selectable four-wheel drive with standard 2H (rear-wheel drive) mode for normal driving. For the general trail work over gravel and mud we kept the Tasman in its 4A mode, letting the system do the work. Once we got to the ruts and moguls, we pulled up and used the rotary selector dial to engage 4L – or Four-Low. These obstacles gave us an opportunity to try the Ground View Monitor camera system that uses the surround and front-facing cameras to stitch together a see-through chassis feed, with graphics and animations for the front wheels so you know where to place the vehicle ahead of an obstacle. Now this isn't ground-breaking stuff, and has been available in rival 4WDs for some time, but Kia's camera quality and digital graphics are really crisp and easy to view on the move. The off-road pages in the infotainment system are also handy. You can get a real-time feed of a visualisation of your Tasman X-Pro with readouts for pitch and roll, torque distribution and wheel articulation. It animates the vehicle in motion and steering angles, as well as showing oil pressure, battery voltage, and tyre pressures. In fairness this first exercise wasn't designed to really test the Tasman at its limits, but it was probably as gnarly as most people heading up a camp trail will likely go. The mix of conditions and surfaces also allowed us to get a feel of how the Tasman handles off-road terrain with regards to traction, steering and noise intrusion. From the get go I noticed how insulated the Tasman's cabin is. The four-cylinder diesel sounds quite loud and rattly on the outside but is impressively suppressed in the cockpit. Likewise, noise from the road surface is nicely kept at bay and the general rigidity feels very good too – you don't get the scuttling noise from the separate cabin and tub like a lot of other utes experience on the rough stuff. The steering is very light but relatively direct and communicative for this type of vehicle, though I found the pre-production car was a little vague about centre which meant a lot of mini-corrections when driving on the off-road courses. Kia Australia's representatives told me they're applying another revision to the steering tune to ensure better on-centre feel, so it'll be interesting to drive the final production spec off-road. On day two we tackled a pretty rocky and rutted hillclimb, this time to better demonstrate the 4WD system's capabilities as well as the X-Trek feature which is unique amongst the dual-cab ute segment. The X-Pro comes with an electronically-locking rear differential with in-cabin switch, while the wider range gets a reactive limited-slip rear differential. We actually didn't use the diff lock feature in the X-Pro prototype, though during the product presentation we were shown visual representations of how the proactive rear torque split benefits in low-grip conditions. Basically, you get smoother and more predictable progress by way of better traction and control. The X-Trek function unique to the X-Pro is like the Crawl Mode you'll find in a Toyota LandCruiser. Think of it as a hill-ascent control (rather than the common hill descent control) that allows the vehicle to maintain a steady speed navigating uphill and rocky climbs without driver input via the throttle. It takes a quick switch into 4L and then pressing the labelled switch, and off you go. You can adjust the speed in five stages, and particularly on rougher terrain avoids you coming on and off the throttle over rocks and bumps, maintaining consistent throttle input and speed through obstacles which is preferable in these kinds of scenarios. The Ground View Monitor also came in handy here giving good forward visibility over crests, given how upright and bluff the Tasman's face and bonnet is, and there was greater variance in the readouts to the off-road menus. It may be long but the Tasman only scraped its bum on the sharpest of dips, in part helped by the X-Pro's lofty 252mm running clearance and 26.2-degree departure angle. Kia quotes approach and rampover angles of 32.2 and 25.8 degrees, respectively. For reference, a Ford Ranger Wildtrak Bi-Turbo quotes 234mm of unladen ground clearance, as well as approach, departure and rampover angles of 30/23/21 degrees respectively. If I was to mention one main gripe it was on the odd occasion the Tasman's eight-speed auto would get caught between gears around the 12-15km/h mark, often shifting up and letting revs drop too low and then shifting down. In both instances this resulted in a lurching sensation with too much throttle application, which was annoying and can be unnerving if you're scaling a slipper and rocky climb. You can take control via the paddles if you need, though. To see how the Kia Tasman lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool The X-Pro will sit atop a five-trim range in Australia – read our full price and specs article here. Tasman S equipment highlights: Tasman SX adds: Tasman SX+ adds: Tasman X-Line adds: Tasman X-Pro adds: To see how the Kia Tasman lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool The Tasman can be ordered in a choice of eight exterior paint colours depending on variant. Standard: $NCO Premium: $700 To see how the Kia Tasman lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool The Kia Tasman is as yet unrated by ANCAP, though Kia Australia anticipates a rating will be announced in August. Kia has engineered two distinct front bumper designs for the Tasman, one being more road-focused for the core range and the other more off-road friendly for the X-Line and X-Pro models. As a result, Kia Australia is aiming for a five-star ANCAP safety rating from S through SX+ grades, with the X-Line and X-Pro set to be unrated regardless. Standard safety equipment includes: SX and above add Kia's Highway Driving Assist system and navigation-based adaptive cruise control. The X-Line and above are equipped with parking collision avoidance assist, a surround-view camera and blind-spot cameras. To see how the Kia Tasman lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool As the wider Kia Australia lineup, the Tasman will be covered by a seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty. Finer details like servicing intervals and capped-price service pricing will be announced closer to launch. To see how the Kia Tasman lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool It's early days, but it seems the Tasman has been subject to a very vigorous development process to ensure it's as competitive as it can be in Australia's ever-popular dual-cab ute segment. First impressions of the X-Pro are solid, capable specifications and 4WD equipment bolstered by a luxurious, quiet cabin. Still, we need to try it on the black stuff and while towing to flesh out how it compares with key rivals. I'm also a fan of the looks. Sure it's not classically handsome, but Kia's dual-cab forges its own trail with its distinctive and imposing design, and there are some cool colours available to offset the contrast cladding – I'd actually prefer the grey fenders on the Tan Beige paint, personally. But this was just a palette cleanser and quick first taste of Korea's new dual-cab. I'll have to withhold full impressions – including on-road and towing assessment – until the full production launch in July. I'm expecting big things, though… Interested in buying a Kia Tasman? Get in touch with one of CarExpert's trusted dealers hereMORE: Everything Kia Tasman Content originally sourced from: Who would have thought a dual-cab ute from a mainstream Korean brand would be the most talked-about new vehicle of the year. The 2025 Kia Tasman is the company's first proper attempt at a dual-cab ute, aiming to capitalise on the ever-enduring of pickups in the Australian market and other parts of the world. It's also filling a key gap in Kia's lineup, given what's really stopping it from achieving Top 3 status on the Australian sales charts is the lack of a commercial utility to duke it out with the likes of Toyota, Ford and Mazda. But come July that's all about to change, and Korea made sure it got people talking with the design. Love it or hate it, you can't accuse the Tasman of being a copycat take on any of the name-brand utes like some Chinese competition. Further, Kia's approach has been a focus on comfort and versatility, highlighted by its very SUV-like cabin and localisation of the ride and handling setup to tailor it to varying Australian tastes. Ahead of the full production-spec market launch in the new financial year, Kia Australia invited us to try a handful of pre-production prototypes – of varying degrees, mind you – in flagship X-Pro specification to get an early taste on some closed off-road courses before the final spec lands in local dealers. Is Kia's polarising dual-cab up for the mammoth task of competing with Australia's favourite vehicles? Read on to find out. The Kia Tasman range will open from $42,990 before on-road costs when the dual-cab range launches in July, with the flagship X-Pro on test in pre-production form to start from $74,990 plus on-road costs. To see how the Kia Tasman lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool If you thought the Ford Ranger and Volkswagen Amarok were SUV-like inside, the Tasman feels positively luxurious. While the brown interior of some of the pre-production cars sadly won't be making it to the launch range – please sound off in the comments if you want it here – the interior of the Tasman distinguishes itself from other Kia models in terms of overall design though retains a lot of elements that we know and love from the brand's passenger vehicles. There's a surprising amount of soft-touch materials littered throughout, nicely contrasted with the brown elements of the Korean-market colourway. A more demure blackish-grey cabin was also present, and while it's nowhere near as visually stimulating, our comments around the craftsmanship and feel remain. X-Pro models will get a cool quilted leather trim complete with electric front seat adjustment and memory functions for the driver, heating and ventilation for the front pews as well as heated outer rear seats, in addition to a sunroof. Really, you could be in a boxy Kia SUV if you didn't know what it looked like from the outside. Kia's connected car Navigation Cockpit (ccNC) also features, with conjoined 12.3-inch widescreens incorporating the digital driver's cluster and touchscreen infotainment displays. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto features across the range, with the SX and up adding native satellite navigation. All Tasmans will feature the Kia Connect suite of net-based services too, including remote functions controlled via a smartphone application, as well as connected navigation for compatible systems. The upright fascia and straight lines of the cabin give a real impression of width and space, and there are cool stitching and trim details mixed in. The mesh-effect vent treatment also looks pretty cool. Storage is good too, with a dual charging tray for smartphones as well as big cubbies dotted throughout. Tradies and families shouldn't have much trouble stowing their odds and ends. Another thing to note is the general feeling of quality. This doesn't feel like a commercial-spec cabin, at least in this grade, and all the touchpoints and switchgear feels solid. We don't have images of an Australian-spec rear seat, but there's good space in there for adults even if you squeeze three across. Naturally, we didn't spend a whole lot of time back there to get a proper feel. There was no time to trial its tub or towing abilities either, so we'll have to wait until the full production launch for that. See the below table for key specs. *Sub-1000kg payload available to qualify for novated leases To see how the Kia Tasman lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool At launch just one powertrain will be offered across the range, a 2.2-litre four-cylinder single-turbo diesel. As previously reported, local versions of the Tasman are homologated to older Euro 5 standards in line with Australian mandates, and therefore don't feature AdBlue injection. Kia Australia says the Tasman will likely remain Euro 5-compliant until the Euro 6d emissions standard is mandated in Australia across the industry from around 2028 – and the Euro 6-compliant 2.2-litre diesel with AdBlue is already offered in other overseas markets. Further, the 2.5-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol available in Korean models, which develops a healthy 207kW/421Nm, is off the cards for the Australian market. Hybrid and 'electrified' powertrains are "under study" according to the local product team, though additional detail isn't official just yet. To see how the Kia Tasman lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool I'll preface this again with the fact we spent a limited time driving the pre-production Tasman X-Pro on a couple of short off-road courses at the Glenworth Valley location. Over two days we were given short stints behind the wheel of an "X-Pro-ish" pre-production vehicle on a couple of different off-road activities. Kia's team said this vehicle was "around 90 per cent" production-spec. The first activity was a little obstacle including a water crossing, muddy trails and some offset moguls. Our time in the driver's seat was pretty fuss free, though some journalists struggled for traction out of muddy and watery dips after successive runs saw the all-terrain tyres get a little mud-plugged. Kia has equipped the Tasman with an on-demand four-wheel drive system with 4A mode, which means the Tasman's on-demand technology will activate the rear axle when it detects slip. While this kind of all-wheel drive system seems pretty common, a lot of dual-cab utes – namely the four-cylinder ones – have selectable four-wheel drive with standard 2H (rear-wheel drive) mode for normal driving. For the general trail work over gravel and mud we kept the Tasman in its 4A mode, letting the system do the work. Once we got to the ruts and moguls, we pulled up and used the rotary selector dial to engage 4L – or Four-Low. These obstacles gave us an opportunity to try the Ground View Monitor camera system that uses the surround and front-facing cameras to stitch together a see-through chassis feed, with graphics and animations for the front wheels so you know where to place the vehicle ahead of an obstacle. Now this isn't ground-breaking stuff, and has been available in rival 4WDs for some time, but Kia's camera quality and digital graphics are really crisp and easy to view on the move. The off-road pages in the infotainment system are also handy. You can get a real-time feed of a visualisation of your Tasman X-Pro with readouts for pitch and roll, torque distribution and wheel articulation. It animates the vehicle in motion and steering angles, as well as showing oil pressure, battery voltage, and tyre pressures. In fairness this first exercise wasn't designed to really test the Tasman at its limits, but it was probably as gnarly as most people heading up a camp trail will likely go. The mix of conditions and surfaces also allowed us to get a feel of how the Tasman handles off-road terrain with regards to traction, steering and noise intrusion. From the get go I noticed how insulated the Tasman's cabin is. The four-cylinder diesel sounds quite loud and rattly on the outside but is impressively suppressed in the cockpit. Likewise, noise from the road surface is nicely kept at bay and the general rigidity feels very good too – you don't get the scuttling noise from the separate cabin and tub like a lot of other utes experience on the rough stuff. The steering is very light but relatively direct and communicative for this type of vehicle, though I found the pre-production car was a little vague about centre which meant a lot of mini-corrections when driving on the off-road courses. Kia Australia's representatives told me they're applying another revision to the steering tune to ensure better on-centre feel, so it'll be interesting to drive the final production spec off-road. On day two we tackled a pretty rocky and rutted hillclimb, this time to better demonstrate the 4WD system's capabilities as well as the X-Trek feature which is unique amongst the dual-cab ute segment. The X-Pro comes with an electronically-locking rear differential with in-cabin switch, while the wider range gets a reactive limited-slip rear differential. We actually didn't use the diff lock feature in the X-Pro prototype, though during the product presentation we were shown visual representations of how the proactive rear torque split benefits in low-grip conditions. Basically, you get smoother and more predictable progress by way of better traction and control. The X-Trek function unique to the X-Pro is like the Crawl Mode you'll find in a Toyota LandCruiser. Think of it as a hill-ascent control (rather than the common hill descent control) that allows the vehicle to maintain a steady speed navigating uphill and rocky climbs without driver input via the throttle. It takes a quick switch into 4L and then pressing the labelled switch, and off you go. You can adjust the speed in five stages, and particularly on rougher terrain avoids you coming on and off the throttle over rocks and bumps, maintaining consistent throttle input and speed through obstacles which is preferable in these kinds of scenarios. The Ground View Monitor also came in handy here giving good forward visibility over crests, given how upright and bluff the Tasman's face and bonnet is, and there was greater variance in the readouts to the off-road menus. It may be long but the Tasman only scraped its bum on the sharpest of dips, in part helped by the X-Pro's lofty 252mm running clearance and 26.2-degree departure angle. Kia quotes approach and rampover angles of 32.2 and 25.8 degrees, respectively. For reference, a Ford Ranger Wildtrak Bi-Turbo quotes 234mm of unladen ground clearance, as well as approach, departure and rampover angles of 30/23/21 degrees respectively. If I was to mention one main gripe it was on the odd occasion the Tasman's eight-speed auto would get caught between gears around the 12-15km/h mark, often shifting up and letting revs drop too low and then shifting down. In both instances this resulted in a lurching sensation with too much throttle application, which was annoying and can be unnerving if you're scaling a slipper and rocky climb. You can take control via the paddles if you need, though. To see how the Kia Tasman lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool The X-Pro will sit atop a five-trim range in Australia – read our full price and specs article here. Tasman S equipment highlights: Tasman SX adds: Tasman SX+ adds: Tasman X-Line adds: Tasman X-Pro adds: To see how the Kia Tasman lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool The Tasman can be ordered in a choice of eight exterior paint colours depending on variant. Standard: $NCO Premium: $700 To see how the Kia Tasman lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool The Kia Tasman is as yet unrated by ANCAP, though Kia Australia anticipates a rating will be announced in August. Kia has engineered two distinct front bumper designs for the Tasman, one being more road-focused for the core range and the other more off-road friendly for the X-Line and X-Pro models. As a result, Kia Australia is aiming for a five-star ANCAP safety rating from S through SX+ grades, with the X-Line and X-Pro set to be unrated regardless. Standard safety equipment includes: SX and above add Kia's Highway Driving Assist system and navigation-based adaptive cruise control. The X-Line and above are equipped with parking collision avoidance assist, a surround-view camera and blind-spot cameras. To see how the Kia Tasman lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool As the wider Kia Australia lineup, the Tasman will be covered by a seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty. Finer details like servicing intervals and capped-price service pricing will be announced closer to launch. To see how the Kia Tasman lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool It's early days, but it seems the Tasman has been subject to a very vigorous development process to ensure it's as competitive as it can be in Australia's ever-popular dual-cab ute segment. First impressions of the X-Pro are solid, capable specifications and 4WD equipment bolstered by a luxurious, quiet cabin. Still, we need to try it on the black stuff and while towing to flesh out how it compares with key rivals. I'm also a fan of the looks. Sure it's not classically handsome, but Kia's dual-cab forges its own trail with its distinctive and imposing design, and there are some cool colours available to offset the contrast cladding – I'd actually prefer the grey fenders on the Tan Beige paint, personally. But this was just a palette cleanser and quick first taste of Korea's new dual-cab. I'll have to withhold full impressions – including on-road and towing assessment – until the full production launch in July. I'm expecting big things, though… Interested in buying a Kia Tasman? Get in touch with one of CarExpert's trusted dealers hereMORE: Everything Kia Tasman Content originally sourced from: Who would have thought a dual-cab ute from a mainstream Korean brand would be the most talked-about new vehicle of the year. The 2025 Kia Tasman is the company's first proper attempt at a dual-cab ute, aiming to capitalise on the ever-enduring of pickups in the Australian market and other parts of the world. It's also filling a key gap in Kia's lineup, given what's really stopping it from achieving Top 3 status on the Australian sales charts is the lack of a commercial utility to duke it out with the likes of Toyota, Ford and Mazda. But come July that's all about to change, and Korea made sure it got people talking with the design. Love it or hate it, you can't accuse the Tasman of being a copycat take on any of the name-brand utes like some Chinese competition. Further, Kia's approach has been a focus on comfort and versatility, highlighted by its very SUV-like cabin and localisation of the ride and handling setup to tailor it to varying Australian tastes. Ahead of the full production-spec market launch in the new financial year, Kia Australia invited us to try a handful of pre-production prototypes – of varying degrees, mind you – in flagship X-Pro specification to get an early taste on some closed off-road courses before the final spec lands in local dealers. Is Kia's polarising dual-cab up for the mammoth task of competing with Australia's favourite vehicles? Read on to find out. The Kia Tasman range will open from $42,990 before on-road costs when the dual-cab range launches in July, with the flagship X-Pro on test in pre-production form to start from $74,990 plus on-road costs. To see how the Kia Tasman lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool If you thought the Ford Ranger and Volkswagen Amarok were SUV-like inside, the Tasman feels positively luxurious. While the brown interior of some of the pre-production cars sadly won't be making it to the launch range – please sound off in the comments if you want it here – the interior of the Tasman distinguishes itself from other Kia models in terms of overall design though retains a lot of elements that we know and love from the brand's passenger vehicles. There's a surprising amount of soft-touch materials littered throughout, nicely contrasted with the brown elements of the Korean-market colourway. A more demure blackish-grey cabin was also present, and while it's nowhere near as visually stimulating, our comments around the craftsmanship and feel remain. X-Pro models will get a cool quilted leather trim complete with electric front seat adjustment and memory functions for the driver, heating and ventilation for the front pews as well as heated outer rear seats, in addition to a sunroof. Really, you could be in a boxy Kia SUV if you didn't know what it looked like from the outside. Kia's connected car Navigation Cockpit (ccNC) also features, with conjoined 12.3-inch widescreens incorporating the digital driver's cluster and touchscreen infotainment displays. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto features across the range, with the SX and up adding native satellite navigation. All Tasmans will feature the Kia Connect suite of net-based services too, including remote functions controlled via a smartphone application, as well as connected navigation for compatible systems. The upright fascia and straight lines of the cabin give a real impression of width and space, and there are cool stitching and trim details mixed in. The mesh-effect vent treatment also looks pretty cool. Storage is good too, with a dual charging tray for smartphones as well as big cubbies dotted throughout. Tradies and families shouldn't have much trouble stowing their odds and ends. Another thing to note is the general feeling of quality. This doesn't feel like a commercial-spec cabin, at least in this grade, and all the touchpoints and switchgear feels solid. We don't have images of an Australian-spec rear seat, but there's good space in there for adults even if you squeeze three across. Naturally, we didn't spend a whole lot of time back there to get a proper feel. There was no time to trial its tub or towing abilities either, so we'll have to wait until the full production launch for that. See the below table for key specs. *Sub-1000kg payload available to qualify for novated leases To see how the Kia Tasman lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool At launch just one powertrain will be offered across the range, a 2.2-litre four-cylinder single-turbo diesel. As previously reported, local versions of the Tasman are homologated to older Euro 5 standards in line with Australian mandates, and therefore don't feature AdBlue injection. Kia Australia says the Tasman will likely remain Euro 5-compliant until the Euro 6d emissions standard is mandated in Australia across the industry from around 2028 – and the Euro 6-compliant 2.2-litre diesel with AdBlue is already offered in other overseas markets. Further, the 2.5-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol available in Korean models, which develops a healthy 207kW/421Nm, is off the cards for the Australian market. Hybrid and 'electrified' powertrains are "under study" according to the local product team, though additional detail isn't official just yet. To see how the Kia Tasman lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool I'll preface this again with the fact we spent a limited time driving the pre-production Tasman X-Pro on a couple of short off-road courses at the Glenworth Valley location. Over two days we were given short stints behind the wheel of an "X-Pro-ish" pre-production vehicle on a couple of different off-road activities. Kia's team said this vehicle was "around 90 per cent" production-spec. The first activity was a little obstacle including a water crossing, muddy trails and some offset moguls. Our time in the driver's seat was pretty fuss free, though some journalists struggled for traction out of muddy and watery dips after successive runs saw the all-terrain tyres get a little mud-plugged. Kia has equipped the Tasman with an on-demand four-wheel drive system with 4A mode, which means the Tasman's on-demand technology will activate the rear axle when it detects slip. While this kind of all-wheel drive system seems pretty common, a lot of dual-cab utes – namely the four-cylinder ones – have selectable four-wheel drive with standard 2H (rear-wheel drive) mode for normal driving. For the general trail work over gravel and mud we kept the Tasman in its 4A mode, letting the system do the work. Once we got to the ruts and moguls, we pulled up and used the rotary selector dial to engage 4L – or Four-Low. These obstacles gave us an opportunity to try the Ground View Monitor camera system that uses the surround and front-facing cameras to stitch together a see-through chassis feed, with graphics and animations for the front wheels so you know where to place the vehicle ahead of an obstacle. Now this isn't ground-breaking stuff, and has been available in rival 4WDs for some time, but Kia's camera quality and digital graphics are really crisp and easy to view on the move. The off-road pages in the infotainment system are also handy. You can get a real-time feed of a visualisation of your Tasman X-Pro with readouts for pitch and roll, torque distribution and wheel articulation. It animates the vehicle in motion and steering angles, as well as showing oil pressure, battery voltage, and tyre pressures. In fairness this first exercise wasn't designed to really test the Tasman at its limits, but it was probably as gnarly as most people heading up a camp trail will likely go. The mix of conditions and surfaces also allowed us to get a feel of how the Tasman handles off-road terrain with regards to traction, steering and noise intrusion. From the get go I noticed how insulated the Tasman's cabin is. The four-cylinder diesel sounds quite loud and rattly on the outside but is impressively suppressed in the cockpit. Likewise, noise from the road surface is nicely kept at bay and the general rigidity feels very good too – you don't get the scuttling noise from the separate cabin and tub like a lot of other utes experience on the rough stuff. The steering is very light but relatively direct and communicative for this type of vehicle, though I found the pre-production car was a little vague about centre which meant a lot of mini-corrections when driving on the off-road courses. Kia Australia's representatives told me they're applying another revision to the steering tune to ensure better on-centre feel, so it'll be interesting to drive the final production spec off-road. On day two we tackled a pretty rocky and rutted hillclimb, this time to better demonstrate the 4WD system's capabilities as well as the X-Trek feature which is unique amongst the dual-cab ute segment. The X-Pro comes with an electronically-locking rear differential with in-cabin switch, while the wider range gets a reactive limited-slip rear differential. We actually didn't use the diff lock feature in the X-Pro prototype, though during the product presentation we were shown visual representations of how the proactive rear torque split benefits in low-grip conditions. Basically, you get smoother and more predictable progress by way of better traction and control. The X-Trek function unique to the X-Pro is like the Crawl Mode you'll find in a Toyota LandCruiser. Think of it as a hill-ascent control (rather than the common hill descent control) that allows the vehicle to maintain a steady speed navigating uphill and rocky climbs without driver input via the throttle. It takes a quick switch into 4L and then pressing the labelled switch, and off you go. You can adjust the speed in five stages, and particularly on rougher terrain avoids you coming on and off the throttle over rocks and bumps, maintaining consistent throttle input and speed through obstacles which is preferable in these kinds of scenarios. The Ground View Monitor also came in handy here giving good forward visibility over crests, given how upright and bluff the Tasman's face and bonnet is, and there was greater variance in the readouts to the off-road menus. It may be long but the Tasman only scraped its bum on the sharpest of dips, in part helped by the X-Pro's lofty 252mm running clearance and 26.2-degree departure angle. Kia quotes approach and rampover angles of 32.2 and 25.8 degrees, respectively. For reference, a Ford Ranger Wildtrak Bi-Turbo quotes 234mm of unladen ground clearance, as well as approach, departure and rampover angles of 30/23/21 degrees respectively. If I was to mention one main gripe it was on the odd occasion the Tasman's eight-speed auto would get caught between gears around the 12-15km/h mark, often shifting up and letting revs drop too low and then shifting down. In both instances this resulted in a lurching sensation with too much throttle application, which was annoying and can be unnerving if you're scaling a slipper and rocky climb. You can take control via the paddles if you need, though. To see how the Kia Tasman lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool The X-Pro will sit atop a five-trim range in Australia – read our full price and specs article here. Tasman S equipment highlights: Tasman SX adds: Tasman SX+ adds: Tasman X-Line adds: Tasman X-Pro adds: To see how the Kia Tasman lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool The Tasman can be ordered in a choice of eight exterior paint colours depending on variant. Standard: $NCO Premium: $700 To see how the Kia Tasman lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool The Kia Tasman is as yet unrated by ANCAP, though Kia Australia anticipates a rating will be announced in August. Kia has engineered two distinct front bumper designs for the Tasman, one being more road-focused for the core range and the other more off-road friendly for the X-Line and X-Pro models. As a result, Kia Australia is aiming for a five-star ANCAP safety rating from S through SX+ grades, with the X-Line and X-Pro set to be unrated regardless. Standard safety equipment includes: SX and above add Kia's Highway Driving Assist system and navigation-based adaptive cruise control. The X-Line and above are equipped with parking collision avoidance assist, a surround-view camera and blind-spot cameras. To see how the Kia Tasman lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool As the wider Kia Australia lineup, the Tasman will be covered by a seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty. Finer details like servicing intervals and capped-price service pricing will be announced closer to launch. To see how the Kia Tasman lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool It's early days, but it seems the Tasman has been subject to a very vigorous development process to ensure it's as competitive as it can be in Australia's ever-popular dual-cab ute segment. First impressions of the X-Pro are solid, capable specifications and 4WD equipment bolstered by a luxurious, quiet cabin. Still, we need to try it on the black stuff and while towing to flesh out how it compares with key rivals. I'm also a fan of the looks. Sure it's not classically handsome, but Kia's dual-cab forges its own trail with its distinctive and imposing design, and there are some cool colours available to offset the contrast cladding – I'd actually prefer the grey fenders on the Tan Beige paint, personally. But this was just a palette cleanser and quick first taste of Korea's new dual-cab. I'll have to withhold full impressions – including on-road and towing assessment – until the full production launch in July. I'm expecting big things, though… Interested in buying a Kia Tasman? Get in touch with one of CarExpert's trusted dealers hereMORE: Everything Kia Tasman Content originally sourced from:

West Australian

09-05-2025

Automotive
West Australian

2025 Kia Tasman to get split safety rating

Perth Now

09-05-2025

Automotive
Perth Now

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