Kia
Driven: 2011 Year In Review(s)
2011 has been a busy year in the Winding Road offices, with auto shows, new model launches, and the usual comings and goings of the automotive industry filling the virtual pages of our website. Even with all the activity, there has been a near-constant stream of automobiles filtering in and out of our parking lot, giving us no shortage of vehicular material to write about.
2011 IIHS Top Safety Picks Include 66 Vehicles
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has announced its list of Top Safety Picks for the 2011 model year, which includes a record number of 66 vehicles this year despite increased safety standards.
Winding Road Issue 65 Is Now Available!
In this issue of Winding Road, Audi hands us the keys to its Quattro Concept, and it has us looking toward the future.
Blog: Mercedes-Benz E350 Wagon Is A Case For Unashamed Love Of Wagons
The E-Class sedan is a classically handsome vehicle. The wagon, with its extended roofline, curved rear windows, and a bumper that blends more integrally into the whole rear landscape of the vehicle, looks great. Taking in the E350 wagon, I don’t get the feeling that this is the humble grocery-getter that wagons have come across as for many years. I think—and the E wagon supports my case—that this notion is obsolete.
LA 2010: 2011 Kia Optima Hybrid
Kia has unveiled the manufacturers first hybrid vehicle, the new Optima Hybrid. The green Optima is motivated by a 2.4-liter four-cylinder and a forty horsepower electric motor. When working together, the gas and electric engines generate a total of 206 horsepower.
Spy Shots: Kia Rio Spotted
Today, our spy shooter delivered these photos of the new Kia Rio five-door hatchback.
Winding Road Issue 61 Is Now Available!
In this issue of Winding Road, we get behind the wheel of newest iteration of Subaru’s performance flagship, the 2011 WRX STI.
Nissan Prices 2011 Juke
Nissan released pricing for its new small crossover, the 2011 Nissan Juke, and it will start under $19,000.
Quick Drive: 2010 Kia Forte Koup SX
For the price, of course, it takes some work to think of a better car. The Fit is more tossable and agile, but it lacks the Koup’s style. The Cube has style, but of a different sort, and isn’t as fast as the Koup, even if it is more entertaining. The Scion tC is a direct competitor, and I thought the tC was more engaging if slightly more ragged in its presentation. Of course you can spend more and get some really interesting cars (MazdaSpeed3, Civic Si, Mini), but we’re talking substantially more coin. So, all in all, the Koup seems like a pretty good value.
Driven: 2011 Kia Sportage
Don’t say “Spor-taah-je” like “fromage.” It’s pronounced straight American, “Sport-age.” The folks from Kia say it that way probably because the third-generation compact crossover is about as American as you can get.
Secondhand Gems: Thinking Inside The Box
There are few automotive genres that polarize the motoring masses more than the one we’re about to discuss. Perhaps the word genre isn’t entirely accurate here, because the three vehicles featured in this comparison have, at one point or another, been labeled the following: crossover, sport-utility vehicle, compact, subcompact, five-door hatchback, station wagon, and our personal favorite, foxy boxy. (It’s possible we made that last category up.) What matters here is that these three cars are pretty much all of the above, making them a bit hard to pigeonhole. And therein lies the appeal for these, um, vehicles. They’re not status quo, they’re not cookie cutter, and while their love-it-or-hate-it styling isn’t for everyone, there’s no denying the sense of individuality these vehicles bestow upon their owners. So go ahead and label these non-conformist rides goofy, or hideous, or ugly, but don’t forget to include quirky, cool, and the most important descriptor of all, successful—especially in the youth market where individuality is everything.
2010 World Car Of The Year Winners: It’s A Volkswagen World
On April 1st at the New York International Auto Show, the sixth annual World Car Awards were handed out and the Volkswagen Group made out handsomely.
Spy Shots: Kia Forte Hatchback Tests In Sweden
These spy photos of the Kia Forte hatchback have been ripening in our inbox while we put together the newest issue of Winding Road. We’ve been pleased for the most part with the Fortes we have already driven, and a hatchback version seems like a natural evolution.
2010 Chicago Auto Show Wrap-Up
We just finished up our coverage of the 2010 Chicago Auto Show, and we saw a lot of new and concept cars, some fantastic, some milquetoast. Here, all in one place, is the list and links for our Chicago coverage.
Chicago 2010: Kia Ray Concept Smiles For Our Cameras
Kia’s latest concept, the Ray, is one of the more beautiful things that we’ve seen from the automaker as of late. It’s a swoopy, fluid design, and it certainly looks the part of a battery-electric hybrid.
Chicago 2010: Kia Ray Concept Combines Style And Efficiency
Not only is the Kia Ray Concept an interesting endeavor into the future possibilities of fuel-efficient vehicles, it marks the fist vehicle developed specifically under Kia’s new EcoDynamics sub-brand (similar to the BMW “Project I”). It’s certainly a looker, with a swooping, futuristic design, and we hope that something similar actually comes to production sometime soon.
Geneva Preview: Kia To Show Sexy New 2011 Sportage
Just as the first few 2010 Hyundai Tucsons are just now rolling off of assembly lines, we now have some official details and images about its sister car, the Kia Sportage. First and foremost, the 2011 Sportage (which will debut next month at the Geneva Motor Show) looks substantially better than the outgoing model, with lines more apt of a crossover rather than a small SUV.
Kia Ray Plug-In Concept To Debut In Chicago Next Month
Just a few weeks after Hyundai pulled the wraps off of its Blue-Will plug-in hybrid concept, sister company Kia will now be showing an electric concept of its own at this year’s Chicago Auto Show.
Driven: 2010 Kia Forte Koup
Not long after the launch of the Forte sedan, Kia now introduces the Forte Koup—a sleek entry into a class of vehicles dominated by the Honda Civic, Ford Focus, and Scion tC (which has lost a lot of its youthful Scion luster in recent years). Based on the same good-to-do groundwork as the Forte sedan, the Koup adds a bit more charm and slightly better dynamics to the Forte package; and without spoiling this review, it’s safe to say that Kia may have just built the best coupe available for under $20K.
Kia To Drop Borrego SUV From 2010 U.S. Lineup
The Kia Borrego is only one year old, but because of slow sales and a stronger focus on small crossovers, the full-size sport-ute will not be returning to American dealerships for the 2010 model year.
Kia Ignition Soul Offers An Even More Unique Look At A Value
Kia announced this week the arrival of a special edition of the Kia Soul, called Ignition.
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