Thoughts from the Curb

Nov 6, 2008 - Behind the Scenes: Annyeang from Korea

Annyeang and hello from Seoul. It's getting late here and I'm tired after a very full day of traveling -- by airplane for an hour to Gwangju in the south, several bus rides and a two-hour drive route in the 2010 Kia Soul (pictured). This was my first trip to Korea, first trip to Asia and therefore my first driving experience in both. It was surprisingly not as difficult as I was afraid of. At least in Gwangju, it was very orderly driving all around. In fact, I was quite proud that myself and Road & Track's Mike Monticello were the only driving team to pass the chaparone lead car and try our best with the map and directions. Doing so allowed us to go faster but we also ran the risk of ending up in the middle of nowhere...in Korea...without a full map...completely incapable of speaking Korean...or reading Korean.

We got to visit the Soul's plant in Gwangju, which also builds the Kia Rondo (aka Rondooooooh!). It was my first trip to a car plant, and if a local car plant ever offers tours of the facility, I suggest you do it. It was one of the most facinating things I've ever seen -- it was all such a beautiful dance between man, machine and the computers that coordinate them all.

I'll have more stuff from my trip here two weeks from now when I get back from vacation (special guest blogger next week). Look for a Scenes from the Curb featuring hideous Korean market cars and a further thoughts about the Kia Soul (my Inside Line story will beat it to the Web).

-James Riswick

5:43 am | Categories: behind the scenes at edmunds.com Permalink | Alert Administrator

Add to: