Kia Sportage Ex 2007 2.7l V6 2wd Auto Gold, Cruise Or Trade For Optima 2012 on 2040-cars

Auto blog

2015 Kia Rio freshens up for France

We've always felt that the current-generation Rio is styled with European flair, so good on Kia for showing its refreshed new look here at the Paris Motor Show.
The B-segment hatchback's aggressive looks get modestly more so for the new model year, with a revamped tiger nose grille and new light fixtures, along with a pair of hash marks in the fog lamp area. To us, the current car, introduced for 2012, still looks quite fresh, but we like the subtly new light fixtures and suite of new wheel designs.

2014 Kia Optima is better by a nose

Kia is showing off a slew of vehicles here in New York, including the ever-so-slightly refreshed 2014 Optima sedan you see here. The brunt of the changes surround the new front fascia, with repositioned LED lighting above the headlamp units and some new quad-LED fogs rounding of a touched-up front bumper. At the rear, Kia has reworked the taillamps, and of course, LEDs are found there, as well.
Other changes to the Optima for 2014 include the additions of two new displays inside the cabin - a 4.3-inch TFT display in the gauge cluster and a larger, eight-inch high-resolution screen that houses the navigation and infotainment data. There are also new seats inside the Optima, which are hopefully more comfortable and offer better bolstering than the decidedly flat chairs found in the current car, plus Kia has added available new safety features like blind spot monitoring and cross-traffic alert.
The powertrain offerings have not changed for 2014 - base cars still get a naturally aspirated 2.4-liter engine while the SX models get the 2.0-liter turbo. There is, however, a new Drive Mode Select system specifically for the SX, which adjusts transmission shift points and steering weight for a more engaging dynamic, or so we're told. (The Optima Hybrid model did receive upgrades to its battery and electric motor just recently, but those changes technically hit during the 2013 model year - it is not immediately clear if the gas-electric model will receive the updates shown here).

Audi, Jag, Kia and Tesla top Strategic Vision 2014 Total Quality Index

A couple weeks ago, J.D. Power released its latest Initial Quality Study, which gave high marks to Porsche, Hyundai and General Motors, with the latter earning more individual IQS awards than any other manufacturer. Now, it's Strategic Vision's turn, and it's doling out its praise not to Porsche, but to Tesla, which wasn't even included in the JD Power IQS.
The Model S was named the best vehicle overall in total quality, while Porsche's corporate brother and endurance-racing rival, Audi, was named the best premium brand, alongside Jaguar. Strategic Vision cited the Q5 and the ancient Q7 for individual segment awards, as well as the A5, which was a mere point off the top of its segment. SV also handed out compliments for the Audi's interior work. The win for the German brand is a nice improvement over its IQS score, with which it landed above the industry average, but solidly mid-pack.
Jaguar was without a segment winner, although SV did say that the Indian-owned English brand had a number of vehicles very near the top of their segments. This is the second significant win for Jag in two weeks, after it finished second overall on the JD Power IQS a few weeks ago.