Kia Retona

Production period:	1997-2001
Class:	off road
Body versions:	SUV station wagon
Engines:	Gasoline : 2.0 litres (100 kW)  Diesel: 2.0 litres (64 kW)
Length:	4000 mm
Width:	1745 mm
Height:	1835-1895 mm
Wheelbase:	2360 mm
Curb weight:	1490-1518 kg

The Kia Retona is an off-road vehicle of the Korean manufacturer Kia Motors from the late 1990s. 

History

Kia led the first presented in 1997 as the successor to the Asia Rocsta Retona, initially only in the variant with four-cylinder turbo diesel and five-speed manual transmission. In the middle of 2000, a gasoline engine with the same capacity was replaced, and in early 2001 the model was discontinued without a direct successor. It is the civilian version of the Korean military jeep built on the same chassis as the Kia Sportage. The name Retona stands for Return to Nature. Main competitors of the Kia Retona were the Suzuki Jimny and the Lada Niva.

Four-wheel drive 

In normal road operation (two-wheel drive), the front wheels are disconnected from the drive train. This avoids unwanted wear of the front drive train and increased fuel consumption. The separation is done by freewheel hubs. The locking of the freewheel hubs is done either automatically or manually.

The automatic freewheel hubs work either with negative pressure or mechanically. For automatic freewheel hubs, after the four-wheel drive has been switched off, it must be moved backwards to reactivate the freewheel. This is not necessary with the pneumatic freewheel hubs controlled by negative pressure.

With manual freewheel hubs, the freewheel must be switched on or unlocked directly at the wheel hub before switching on and after switching off the four-wheel drive.

• 1997 Presentation of the Kia Retona as successor to the Asia Rocsta
• 2000 May: Introduction of 2.0-liter 16V petrol engine with 101 kW (137 hp)
• 2001 January: Production stopped without a direct successor