The hill a BYD Shark 6 couldn't climb has been completed by the new Kia Tasman, modified only with different tyres.
Kia has become the latest car maker to send its new ute to tackle one of Australia's most difficult off-road hill climbs – Beer O'Clock Hill in Queensland – to prove its capability to local buyers.
The steep, rocky hill climb infamously stumped a BYD Shark 6 plug-in hybrid ute, before rival GWM completed the challenge with its competing Cannon Alpha PHEV – as well as its Tank 300 and Cannon XSR diesel 4WDs.
But whereas it is believed GWM may have needed multiple attempts to climb the hill, the Kia Tasman – in flagship X-Pro off-road trim – is claimed to have reached the summit on its first go.
The only modification made to the Kia – as with the GWM Cannon Alpha PHEV – was a set of Mickey Thompson Boss all-terrain tyres.
It is despite only being fitted with a rear differential lock, rather than both front and rear like the GWM, the Tasman making up the difference with sophisticated traction-control software, including a Rock drive mode.
Located in The Springs 4x4 Adventure Park in The Glen, Queensland, in recent months Beer O'Clock Hill has grown from a popular spot for weekend off-road enthusiasts, to a marketing tool for car brands to show what their utes can do.
The Tasman supplied to the park – and its owner Lucas Bree – is a pre-production example that can't be driven on public roads by non-Kia employees, such is the Korean giant's keenness to demonstrate its new pick-up.
"For a rear [differential] locked only vehicle to get up this hill is just incredible," Bree said in a video on his Team Bree Offroad YouTube channel showcasing the climb.
"No camera is ever going to do this hill any justice, at all, but the Tasman went up.
"The clearance is really, really good. It's not banging and clanging and carrying on underneath, it's got enough clearance. I feel confident in the car."
The Tasman's climb was not faultless, however, the vehicle's engine switching off part-way up the climb – and, after it was restarted, Bree commenting on the transmission upshifting at an awkward moment.
"The traction control is working splendid in the front ... This is actually doing really well, considering. The traction control is cutting in and out, I can hear it," Bree said.
"... I feel confident in the car. The car doesn't feel like it's super unstable, or anything like that. And it's taken a pretty good beating."
A post-climb look underneath the Tasman revealed only a few scuffs on underbody components, none of which is "significant," according to Bree.
Arriving in showrooms in recent days, ahead of a ramp-up of customer deliveries in the coming weeks, the Tasman is Kia's first entry into the dual-cab ute market, topped by the X-Pro ($74,990 plus on-road costs) variant shown here.
Over the X-Line model below it, the flagship grade adds 17-inch black alloy wheels with all-terrain tyres (a different brand to those on the Beer O'Clock Hill vehicle), X-Trek and Rock modes, off-road metrics on the touchscreen, and underbody fuel-tank protection.
It also includes a selectable electronically-locking rear differential, compared to the auto-locking mechanical version on cheaper model grades.
Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner
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