Suddenly It's 2021: The 2021 Kia Seltos SX Turbo AWD

The 2021 Kia Seltos.

No, no....you haven't been in isolation that long.  But while you were, and while very few people were frequenting car dealerships, Kia has brought us the 2021 Seltos.

So Much Soul (So Little Money): The 2020 Kia Soul X-Line

The 2020 Kia Soul X-Line.

Full disclosure: I luck into things.  I have found some of my favorite places while completely lost.  Most of the jobs I have enjoyed most I didn't even apply for.  And I think I just found possibly the best all-around urban commuter car by saying "I'll take whatever you've got".

What Price Luxury? How About Under $50K?: The 2020 Kia Telluride SX AWD

The 2020 Kia Telluride.

2020 is a big year for Korean automakers Hyundai and Kia. Both have introduced luxury and sports cars in the past couple of years and this year, both have brought very convincing luxury SUVs to market. I told you about the Hyundai Palisade earlier this month---and now, I've driven its platform cousin, the Kia Telluride.

Evolutionary Revolution: The 2019 Kia Niro EV EX Premium

The 2019 Kia Niro EV EX Premium.

Okay, so you're ready to make the leap to an electric vehicle. An all-electric range of over 200 miles is within your comfort zone and you have choices. But the Tesla Model 3 seems a little too futuristic, you're not wild about the looks of the Nissan Leaf Plus and the Chevy Bolt seems too small.

The 2019 Kia Niro EV may be just what you're looking for. It's a conventional compact crossover, about the same size as a Toyota RAV4 or a Honda CR-V. In fact, Kia sells the Niro as a gasoline-powered model---but they also have the Niro EV, which is all-electric.

30 Minutes With: The 2020 Kia Telluride SX V6 AWD

The 2020 Kia Telluride SX V6 AWD.

Publisher's note: Normally, the cars you read about here at TireKicker are loaned to us by the press fleets of the various manufacturers for several days. Seven is typical.  Occasionally, we'll get a longer period of time, and sometimes it'll only be three or four days.  Our "30 Minutes With" series features cars we spent half an hour driving during the just-concluded Western Automotive Journalists Media Day in Monterey, California.

Needless to say, these are quick drives and brief impressions that we hope to be able to flesh out with a full review of the vehicle at some point in the near future.

Media Days is a driving program, with journalists taking cars from the staging area at Quail Lodge in Carmel Valley over Laureles Grade and back or off-road on the acclaimed Land Rover Experience on the grounds of Quail Lodge.

My seventh drive of the day was in the 2020 Kia Telluride SX V6 AWD.

Fire In Your Soul: The 2020 Kia Soul GT-Line 1.6 Turbo

The 2020 Kia Soul GT-Line 1.6 Turbo.

The Kia Soul is a survivor.  It arrived a decade ago in a flurry of quirky imported transportation boxes including the Scion xB and Nissan Cube, immediately caught on in a way the others didn't and now stands alone.  Why?  Because Kia got it right from the beginning, delivering a vehicle that was, Tardis-like, bigger on the inside---and then kept developing it.

The third generation of the Soul has landed for the 2020 model year and it is improved in every conceivable way.  Especially in terms of performance.

Thoroughly Modern Throwback: The 2019 Kia Forte EX

The 2019 Kia Forte EX.

If you believe everything you read, the four-door sedan is dead but doesn't know it yet.  People who analyze data and trends say we're headed for a future made up of crossovers, high performance coupes and ultra-luxury anythings because there's always a market for the exclusive and expensive---even if they're four-door sedans.

This might be age talking, but I'd hate to see that happen.  Because there is little on this earth as satisfying as a well-built four-door sedan.   BMW proved that all the way back in the 1970s with the 5-series.  Honda brought it to the masses in the 1980s with the Accord and Civic sedans.  Up to that point, two-door coupes were where the action was.  America wanted Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme coupes with vinyl roofs.  Until it didn't.

S-Class From Seoul: The 2019 Kia K900

The 2019 Kia K900.

Once upon a time, not that long ago if you're of a certain age, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class was considered the finest sedan in the world.  Best-engineered, best-equipped, best-built.  Then everyone got in the act---everyone largely being Lexus---and the big Benzes were built to a price point, and not an engineering standard.

These days, it's really more features and brand preference that will steer you in your decision to buy a Mercedes S Class, a BMW 7 series, an Audi A8, a Tesla Model S or a Lexus LS.  So why not break free of the caste system and save a few tens of thousands in the process?  

Yes, we're suggesting you consider taking a pass on the big five of luxury sedans and buy a Kia.

BMW With A Side of Kimchi: The 2018 Kia Stinger GT2 AWD

The 2018 Kia Stinger GT2 AWD.

"This is the car they said couldn't be built by this company."  That's been said a lot about Kia products
over the past 24 years as the South Korean carmaker kept stepping up its game, first in terms of content, then quality, then styling and now, performance.

With the Stinger GT2 AWD, Kia has built a 167 mile per hour, zero-to-60 in 4.7 seconds, 12.9 seconds in the quarter-mile sports sedan.  And lest you think that the headline above is hype, Kia benchmarked the BMW 4-series in developing the Stinger.  And most of its performance stats put it right in the hunt with mid-sizers from BMW, Audi and Mercedes.  The 0-60 time is actually a tenth of a second quicker than the BMW 440i Gran Coupe, and a full second quicker than the Audi A5 Sportback.

Minimalism Has Its Upside: The 2018 Kia Rio LX 5-Door

The 2018 Kia Rio LX 5-Door.

It's been a while since we said it (for that matter, since we've been given the opportunity, with all the fully-loaded top-of-the-line vehicles that have landed in our driveway), but the real test of a car's goodness is to drive the base model.  With no panoramic sunroof or thousand-watt audio system to distract you, you can focus in on what the manufacturer got right and wrong, decide if the car is something you'd enjoy owning for the length of a loan and then make decisions about higher trim levels or option packages.

The Kia Rio 5-Door came to us in LX (base) version a few days ago, with only two options...an automatic transmission and carpeted floor mats. 

And we love it.

The Time May Be Right: The 2017 Kia Cadenza Limited

The 2017 Kia Cadenza Limited.

Three years ago, Kia launched the new-for-2014 Cadenza.  The ad campaign called the car "impossible to ignore".  Car shoppers managed.  I can't find the '14 sales figures, but in 2015, they sold all of 7,343 of them, which puts it in Buick Cascada territory.  2016 was worse, with sales down to 4,738, which makes it the 225th best selling car in America (the list only goes to 298), outselling the Porsche Panamera but running behind its similarly targeted cousin, the Hyundai Azera.

Part of the problem, as I wrote at the time, was that Kia was promoting the '14 Cadenza as a luxury car when, in fact, what they'd built was a very good full-size family sedan with several features usually found on more upscale cars.  Commendable, especially at $35,100, but not a luxury car.  Even with another six grand-plus worth of options that took the bottom line to $41,900.

Soul With Speed: The 2017 Kia Soul ! (Exclaim)

The 2017 Kia Soul ! (Exclaim).

The Kia Soul has proven itself to be the best of the funky little urban "is it a car or a crossover?" boxes that came along at the beginning of the decade.  In fact, save the Nissan Juke, which moves a fraction of the number of copies the strong-selling Soul does, the others (Scion xB, Nissan Cube) are dead and gone.

The Soul simply offered a stronger blend of utility, price and features.  And now, performance enters the mix.

Prius Fighter Plus: The 2017 Kia Niro Touring

The 2017 Kia Niro Touring.

It was just over a month ago that we reviewed the 2017 Kia Niro FE, the base trim level for Kia's new hybrid...and our take was that, at 52 miles per gallon city/49 highway and $23,785 including delivery, the Toyota Prius has reason to worry.

Now, we've just finished a week in the top-level 2017 Kia Niro Touring and we're still very, very impressed.

Prius Fighter? The 2017 Kia Niro FE

The 2017 Kia Niro.

Traditionally, fuel economy has not been enough to make a car competitive with the Toyota Prius.  The sales charts are littered with failures that got close to the Toyota hybrid's vaunted fuel economy, but didn't sell ---because they didn't look like a hybrid.  People who bought the Prius over much of its 20-year history have wanted other people to know they were driving a fuel-saving hybrid just by looking at it.

Well, in its current generation, Toyota appears to have taken the "different" way too far.  The radically re-styled Prius is selling in fractions of the numbers of its ancestors.

So is the time right for a car that delivers the mileage but looks like a conventional car?

The Optimal Optima? The 2017 Kia Optima Plug-In Hybrid

The 2017 Kia Optima Plug-In Hybrid.

I am rapidly becoming a fan of plug-in hybrids.  Here's my reasoning:

Pure electrics can leave you stranded, or at the very least, unable to get where you need to go as quickly as you could with a gasoline-powered car.

Gasoline-electric hybrids use gasoline and pollute the air for at least part of most trips.

A plug-in hybrid gives you a certain amount of pure electric range before switching into hybrid mode...meaning it's at least possible, depending on your commute and other trips, to not use a single drop of gas or put a particle of tailpipe emissions into the atmosphere for days, weeks or longer.

Solid Contender: The 2017 Kia Forte EX

The 2017 Kia Forte EX.

We've been charting the rise of the Kia Forte among subcompact sedans for seven years now.  The 2010 model was the moment you could pinpoint when any doubt about Kia being serious went away. It put the Koreans within striking distance of the then-and-now leaders from the Japanese, the Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic.

With the 2014 model, the Forte closed the gap.  And the new 2017, a mid-cycle refresh,  cements the Forte's position as a solid contender in a competitive segment.

Don't Mess With Success: The 2017 Kia Sorento SXL AWD V6

The 2017 Kia Sorento SXL AWD V6.

We've made no secret of our admiration for the Kia Sorento  here at TireKicker over the past couple of years.  If you haven't read about its stellar performance during Mrs. Tirekicker (then known as Navigator) and my 10-day, 1800-mile Utah camping trip during the summer of 2014, by all means do. You'll see how it earned that admiration.  That was a 2015 model, and in January of '15, Kia introduced the new 2016, which we didn't subject to such rigors, but which proved to be a very nice example of just how good a vehicle Kia can make.

UPDATED: What A Difference Eight Years Makes: The 2017 Kia Sportage SX FWD and AWD

The 2017 Kia Sportage SX FWD.

TireKicker is about six weeks away from its eighth birthday.  When we published our first pixel in August of 2008, the Kia Sportage was a penalty box...a cramped, underpowered, underwhelming attempt to get in on the ground floor of what then were called "cute utes".

A few weeks later, though, the 2009 model hit dealer showrooms.  It was several levels of improvement all at once.  You can read our review and see some regrettably low-res pictures here.

If the '09 was that much of a leap forward, the 2017 Kia Sportage defies laws of physics and heads straight for alchemy.  Yes, it's that good.

EcoPower To The People: The 2016 Kia Optima LX Turbo

The 2016 Kia Optima Turbo.

Those of you with practical budgets yet enthusiast hearts may have had your pulses race a bit to learn that Kia is now making its base LX Optima available with a turbocharged engine.  Well, it's not exactly what you think.

How Soon Is Next Time? The 2016 Kia Sedona SXL

The 2016 Kia Sedona.

There is very little to feel sorry about for Kia these days.  The onetime punchline of a car company has made enormous strides in the past seven or eight years, to the point where their products are now legitimate competitors to Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Mazda.  Here in California, there is no stigma to owning one of these South Korean machines.  They seem as thick on the ground as their more established Japanese competitors.

But there's one place where Kia hasn't brought its "A" game.  And that's the Sedona minivan.