2014 Kia Sorento Limited on 2040-cars

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2014 Kia Sorento garners five-star NHTSA rating

The 2014 Kia Sorento has just earned a five-start crash-test rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, as well as a Top Safety Pick rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
According to Kia, the new Sorento scored well in both frontal and side-impact crash tests, while also netting high marks in rollover testing. Orth Hedrick, Kia's American director of product planning said, "Already a compelling entry in the compact CUV category, earning a five-Star rating from NHTSA makes the Sorento an even stronger contender within its segment while underscoring Kia's overall commitment to delivering safety and exceptional value to our customers."
The Sorento joins the Sportage within the Kia range, and the Honda CR-V, Hyundai Santa Fe Sport, Mazda CX-5 and Subaru Forester in netting a five-star score in the small, CUV segment. Take a look below for the official press release from Kia.

EPA says it will more closely monitor fuel economy claims from automakers

The unintended acceleration brouhaha at Toyota led to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration tightening the vise on recall procedures. Likewise, the fuel economy kerfuffle that blew up with Hyundai and Kia's admission of overstated fuel mileage claims could lead to the Environmental Protection Agency policing automaker assertions by performing more audits.
At least, that's what a senior engineer with the government agency said while in Michigan giving a talk, according to a report in Automotive News. What that actually means, however, is still in question. Just ten to 15 percent of new vehicles - something like 150 to 200 cars per year - are rested by the EPA to verify automaker numbers. The EPA's own tests include a "fudge factor" to adjust lab mileage for real-world mileage, and the agency still relies on automakers to submit data for tests that it doesn't have the facilities to perform. How much more auditing can the EPA really expect to do, or perhaps a more relevant question would be how much more accurate could the EPA's audits become?
The price of gasoline, the psychological importance of 40 miles per gallon to a frugal car buyer, an automaker wanting to further justify the price premium of a hybrid, all of these things contribute to fuel economy numbers that insist on creeping upward. Perhaps the senior engineer encapsulated the whole situation best when he said, "Everybody wants a label that tells you exactly what you're going to get, but obviously that's not possible. A good general rule of thumb is that real-world fuel economy is about 20 percent lower than the lab numbers." If the lesson isn't exactly 'buyer beware,' it's at least 'buyer be wary.'

A closer look at the Kia GT4 Stinger Concept

When we named the Kia GT4 Stinger Concept as our top debut at the 2014 Detroit Auto Show, our comments section had, let's call it, a tantrum. People were not pleased. Debuting alongside hugely significant production cars like the Chevrolet Corvette Z06, Ford Mustang, Ford F-150, Lexus RC F, BMW M3/M4 and Chrysler 200 (not to mention great concepts like the Toyota FT-1, Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge and Volvo Concept XC Coupe), what business did a tiny, turbocharged, rear-drive Kia concept car have winning the prize as the best of Detroit?
Well, as it turns out, it has every right to be there. Our own Michael Harley sat down with the head of US design for Kia, Tom Kearn, to discuss the GT4 Stinger and find out just what the brand was thinking when it decided to create such an enthusiast-oriented concept. The interview gives a great insight into the car and its design, while Harley goes into some detail at the end of the video about why the GT4 was the Autoblog Editors' Choice of the 2014 Detroit Auto Show.
Scroll down to watch the full interview.