I get the vibe that Kia’s GT-branded cars are meant to feel more relaxed than, say, Hyundai’s N or something an M BMW. And for all the hardware like an e-diff and torque vectoring via braking, I think that’s certainly true of this EV9 GT. If you weren’t told it was a performance derivative, and set off in Eco mode with its very laid-back throttle response, you might well not know it was.
The drive modes sharpens the throttle response considerably, and opens up some performance measuring options: you can log your 0-62mph time and standing start distances. Although it’s an EV, so it’s not like they’ll vary much or that you’ll burn out a clutch trying it.
If you do want to feel a bit clutchy, though, in Hyundai Ioniq-N style there is a fake gearbox option, which pipes engine-adjacent noises into the cabin and allows the steering wheel paddles, which adjust regen-levels normally, to turn into faux shift paddles. The ‘engine’ redlines at 6800rpm, has more throttle-off braking at high than low revs, and more power at higher revs of course. It’ll bang the limiter, won’t downshift into over-revds, and so on. It’s as plausible as in an Ioniq, though more muted, and feels rather more surplus to requirements given the nature of the car.
Throttle response is most urgent when you reach GT mode, which brings vivid instruments too. And in that mode it does feel very responsive. Not fastest-Tesla or Porsche kind of fast, but I can’t imagine wanting to go quicker in a car of this size.
— Source: Autocar (https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/kia/ev9-gt)
