Nik J Miles

Posts Tagged ‘Kia’

Sometimes a car catches me totally off guard because it turns out to be so much more fun to drive than I expected.  The Kia Forte Koup is such a car.  While its namesake, the Kia Forte sedan is a very good car and an excellent value, it’s not the kind of car that makes me jump up on the table and say, “Wow! What a fun car to drive.”  The Koup, on the other hand, got me very excited.

In late 2009, about six months after the introduction of the new Forte, Kia rolled out a two-door coupe version of the Forte, called the Koup (which I understand is a marriage of words Kia and coupe).  Because it wasn’t available in the press fleet, I didn’t pay much attention to the little coupe until several months later when I had a chance to drive it at a media event sponsored by one of our auto writer groups. Read the rest of this entry »

NWAPA

Imagine driving a very cool new car for a distance between 9 to 25 miles, getting out and then into another very cool car for another 9 to 25 mile leg and then repeating the same routine through 23 cars in a two day period.

Welcome to the 2010 NWAPA (Northwest Automotive Press Association) Run to the Sun held recently in western Washington.  After 23 cars and more than 450 miles of smiles, here are our quick impressions of the Kia Forte Koup.

NWAPA

Since opening four dealerships in the Portland, Ore. area in 1994, Kia has made gigantic strides in quality, quantity  of models and sales (the big one). With most of Kia’s emphasis on the economical sedans and wagon-style vehicles, we hear little about the Forte Koup (coupe).  In fact, since it was introduced at the 2009 New York auto show, we have had almost no drive time in it.  After quick drives at the “Run”, we were both surprised by how much we liked this little two-door.  It’s available in two models with two engines and three transmissions.  The “Run” car was the upper level SX with a 173-hp, 2.4-liter four cylinder driving the front wheels through the six-speed manual transmission.  The attractive Koup makes the 0 to 60 mph run in 8.3 seconds, which is no big deal, but the driving fun factor was an 8 or  9.  We are anxious to spend more time in this one.  Pricing starts at $17,290 for the EX with five-speed manual transmission and peaks at just over $21,000 for the SX with an automatic moonroof and leather seating.

See the other 22 “Run to the Sun” Cars here.

San Francisco – Kia was actually one of the leaders of the compact SUV movement in the United States when they introduced the original Sportage in 1993, more than three years before the first Honda CR-V or the Toyota RAV4.

Moving into the third generation with the introduction of the 2011 Sportage, the sophisticated new CUV (compact utility vehicle) is a perfect illustration of how far this brand has come in less than two decades and it is a bellwether to the company’s future. Read the rest of this entry »

Some name changing may be on the Kia agenda for the U.S. market.  Hyundai Motor Co. Vice Chairman Chung Eui-sun told an Automotive News reporter Kia’s is considering changing its U.S. lineup nomenclature from product names to alphanumerics.
In South Korea and some other markets, the names are already partially alphanumeric.   For example, the mid-sized sedan known as the Optima in the U.S. is named the K5, a large sedan known as Cadenza in some markets — but not yet sold in the United States — is named the K7, and the Forte likely will become the K3. Read the rest of this entry »

Kia Motors America recently released a new advertising campaign, titled “This or That,” for the 2010 Kia Soul. “This or That” is the rebirth of the initial Kia Soul award winning advertising campaign created by David&Goliath, KMA’s advertising agency of record, and brings back the loveable Hamsters due to popular demand.

Soul is Kia’s funky-cool personalizable urban passenger vehicle and the new spot builds on its creative theme in the style of a music video set to the classic hip hop track “The Choice is Yours” by notable 90′s hip hop group Black Sheep.

The new campaign is playing on the cable TV networks Comedy Central, Fuse, MTV, MTV2 and Spike. The campaign runs through July. Beginning May 28, the ad will appear in movie theaters across the country, and Kia has created a presence online at Pandora, Facebook, Social Vibe’s PetVille, www.kia.com and a YouTube contest.

Kia Motors America (KMA) globally unveiled the all-new 2011 Optima midsize sedan at the New York International Auto Show. Arriving in showrooms in early fall, the next generation Optima continues Kia’s design-led transformation while revealing a completely new and stunning design language for Kia. Optima’s groundbreaking spirit continues with the introduction of three new powertrains – including the brand’s first-ever hybrid in the U.S. (available in 2011) – which deliver class-leading power and fuel economy while the latest technology features and luxury amenities are available at the touch of a button or a simple voice command.

Adding another chapter to Kia’s ever-evolving design transformation story, Kia Motors America held the North American debut of the all-new 2011 Sportage compact CUV in conjunction with the 2010 New York International Auto Show (NYIAS). Taking a “Kue” from Kia’s concept vehicle of the same name that was shown during the 2007 NAIAS in Detroit, the completely redesigned Sportage offers a more urban and fluid silhouette than its predecessor while retaining the functional features and benefits of the popular CUV.

When the Kia Forté sedan came out last summer, it was a revelation that the budget Korean automaker was committed to moving upscale and competing with Honda and Toyota for small car buyers. The sturdy Forté was well-liked by the press and the market alike. And right at the end of the press introduction, Kia gave us a sneak peak at the 2010 Kia Forté Koup. The two-door version of the Forté had a generally sportier look to it, a more powerful engine, and generally represented more of everything I liked about the Forté sedan.

Read the rest of this entry »

Suzuki has taken a big step up this year with the brand new 2010 Kizashi.

 The Kizashi is a compact four-door sedan, powered by a spunky 2.4-liter engine, making 185 horsepower and 170 pound-feet of torque. Buyers have a choice of six-speed manual or Continuously Variable transmission with Front Wheel Drive, or an automatic All Wheel Drive transmission. Read the rest of this entry »

Kia Motors America (KMA) will debut a highly modified Soul urban passenger vehicle as the Official Safety Car of the U.S. Touring Car Championship (USTCC) circuit sanctioned by the National Auto Sport Association (NASA) at the season opener race on March 21 at Infineon Speedway in Sonoma, Calif. Based off of the Soul sport, which receives 30 MPG/hwy and modified by GOGOGEAR promotions for this role, this specially equipped vehicle features an upgraded suspension and tires for handling during the USTCC race series