2011 Kia Sportage Lx on 2040-cars

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Kia's second Super Bowl commercial lets booth professionals have their revenge

This is more like it, Kia. After last year's highly successful Adriana Lima-infused Super Bowl commercial for the Optima, we weren't that impressed with this year's Super Bowl ad for the new Sorento called Space Babies that Kia showed us earlier in the week. Its second spot for this year's big game, however, gave us a chuckle.
Called Hotbots and starring Miss USA Alyssa Campanella as a futuristic robot, the ad plays out a fantasy that we know for certain has crossed the minds of many booth professionals. These are the attractive set of women and men who plant themselves next to new cars at auto shows. More than just eye candy, they're usually extremely well educated on the product's specs and features. Despite that fact, they have to put up with constant oogling and questions like, "Do you come with the car?" What this T-1000 won't put up with is fingerprints on her shiny new 2014 Kia Forte, and she does something about it. Watch for yourself below.

2017 Kia Cadenza has new styling, greater efficiency

The current Kia Cadenza went on sale in the US in April 2013, and three years later a new generation arrives at the 2016 New York Auto Show. This isn't just a mild refresh of the existing sedan, either. The latest Cadenza hits showrooms in late 2016 with improved styling, a stiffer platform, and a more efficient engine. Kia is holding back the 2017 Cadenza's exact powertrain specs until closer to launch. The new sedan still uses a 3.3-liter V6, which now has an estimated 290 horsepower, and the company plans to retune the powerplant for better fuel economy. The sedan also has an eight-speed automatic gearbox rather than the present six-speed. The current Cadenza makes 293 hp and has EPA estimates of 19 miles per gallon city, 28 mpg highway, and 22 mpg combined. The model's lighter platform makes the most of the improved powertrain. The updated chassis now consists of over 50 percent Advanced High Strength Steel, which is twice as much as before. The 2017 model has the same length as its predecessor but a longer wheelbase that increases rear legroom by half an inch. Additional sound deadening and acoustic absorbing laminate for the windshield and front windows create a quieter interior, too. The 2017 Cadenza's styling is a more angular evolution of the current sedan's stodgy look, with sharper edges for Kia's tiger nose grille, which is now convex. The Cadenza's lower trim levels feature mesh in the center, but the more expensive versions have vertical fins (pictured above). The four-door also has Z-shaped signature lights in the headlights, and the same motif is on the taillights. The latest Cadenza's interior cossets occupants with more soft-touch materials and high-tech amenities. Customers can spec active safety systems like adaptive cruise control with stop and go, a forward collision warning with automatic braking, lane departure warning, and the Smart Blind Spot Detection System that can brake the wheels to keep from drifting toward an adjacent vehicle. The rapid replacement for the last Cadenza suggests Kia wants to stay relevant among large, front-wheel drive sedans, like the Nissan Maxima, Toyota Avalon, and Buick LaCrosse. The new styling at least makes the Kia look more interesting in the segment, and the updated powertrain makes sure the four-door keeps up in the class.

Best car infotainment systems: From UConnect to MBUX, these are our favorites

Declaring one infotainment system the best over any other is an inherently subjective matter. You can look at quantitative testing for things like input response time and various screen load times, but ask a room full of people that have tried all car infotainment systems what their favorite is, and you’re likely to get a lot of different responses. For the most part, the various infotainment systems available all share a similar purpose. They aim to help the driver get where they're going with navigation, play their favorite tunes via all sorts of media playback options and allow folks to stay connected with others via phone connectivity. Of course, most go way beyond the basics these days and offer features like streaming services, in-car performance data and much more. Unique features are aplenty when you start diving through menus, but how they go about their most important tasks vary widely. Some of our editors prefer systems that are exclusively touch-based and chock full of boundary-pushing features. Others may prefer a back-to-basics non-touch system that is navigable via a scroll wheel. You can compare it to the phone operating system wars. Just like some prefer Android phones over iPhones, we all have our own opinions for what makes up the best infotainment interface. All that said, our combined experience tells us that a number of infotainment systems are at least better than the rest. WeÂ’ve narrowed it down to five total systems in their own subcategories that stand out to us. Read on below to see our picks, and feel free to make your own arguments in the comments. Best infotainment overall: UConnect 5, various Stellantis products Ram 1500 Uconnect Infotainment System Review If thereÂ’s one infotainment system that all of us agree is excellent, itÂ’s UConnect. It has numerous qualities that make it great, but above all else, UConnect is simple and straightforward to use. Ease of operation is one of the most (if not the single most) vital parts of any infotainment system interface. If youÂ’re expected to be able to tap away on a touchscreen while driving and still pay attention to the road, a complex infotainment system is going to remove your attention from the number one task at hand: driving. UConnect uses a simple interface that puts all of your key functions in a clearly-represented row on the bottom of the screen. Tap any of them, and it instantly pulls up that menu.