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2018 Kia Stinger GT AWD Review: A 1,400-mile grand tour in Kia's grand tourer

They call the 2018 Kia Stinger a GT. It's powerful and sleek with a low-slung seating position, quick steering and, even with all-wheel drive, a tail-happy nature. It looks killer in red. And with its V6-powered engine, the letters GT are even festooned upon its liftgate. Well, that's nice, but how does it actually deliver on the grand-tourer formula of rapid, comfortable and stylish transportation? Well, to find out, I put the Stinger GT to a grand-touring test. Starting in the western Rockies and the remote ski town of Crested Butte, Colo., my destination would be home in Portland, Ore. The Google-suggested way is 18 hours on mostly Interstates 70, 15 and 84. However, interstates are boring and are better suited to a perfectly capable but utterly soulless family transportation appliance. A proper grand tour should include two-lane highways and scenic detours, so that's exactly what I'd do. It would add hours and miles, but also, most hopefully, a vastly more memorable experience. Well, as my photos will attest, the scenery didn't disappoint. And, as you'll see in the videos, neither did the Stinger. Episode 1: Setting Off Episode 2: It's a hatchback! Crested Butte, Colo., to Moab, Utah Crested Butte is way off the beaten path, a charming mountain village deep in the western Colorado Rockies mostly free from the usual uber-commercial, Disney-like feel of ritzier, easier-accessed ski towns. Its main street thoroughfare, authentically Western rather than engineered to be so, is surrounded by scattered subdivisions and majestic mountains beyond. It had been buried in 9 feet of snow just a few weeks prior. The local citizenry didn't seem particularly bothered by that. Though most of that 9 feet had melted, the ground was still very much white, requiring the Stinger GT to shed its usual summer rubber in favor of Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4 winter tires. These are specifically intended for performance car applications like the Stinger, sacrificing just a smidge of icy traction in favor of superior handling and steering feel when on dry pavement. There's no need to delay the verdict here: after 1,400 miles, the Stinger felt just as generally compelling and dynamic on the Alpins as when I drove it last November in Southern California on summer tires. The other half of the Stinger's snow defense is the GT's optional all-wheel-drive system, which adds $2,000 to its price tag (as-tested $52,300).

2021 L.A. Auto Show roundup | All the reveals, reviews, pictures

The L.A. Auto Show took place this week for the first time since the onset of the pandemic. It was a show packed with news and reveals, which hasn't really been the case with other shows we've seen this year, and Autoblog was on the floor covering every minute of it. Well, Riswick and Stocksdale were, anyway. The rest of us were sitting at home in our sweatpants, but hey, we'll take credit anyway. Let's get to it. Hyundai Seven Concept This is the Hyundai Seven Concept, and it’s meant to act as a preview for an incoming electric SUV for the Ioniq brand. It leans more toward the concept side of the spectrum than a production car, but expect the final SUV to take design cues from the Seven Concept. Kia Concept EV9 The Hyundai Seven counterpart isn't the only big, bold electric SUV at L.A. this year. Kia has its own take, and it's a modernized version of the traditional boxy utility vehicle called the Concept EV9. It also previews one of the next production electric cars for the brand, which should look right at home next to things like the Telluride. 2023 Kia Sportage HEV As promised, the 2023 Kia Sportage HEV has been revealed. The hybrid powertrain makes the compact SUV the most powerful version available, and it goes on sale next year. The engine is a turbocharged 1.6-liter four-cylinder paired with a 44-kW electric motor. Total output is 226 horsepower. The company didn't give a torque number, but it should basically be the same as the Sorento HEV that has the same basic powertrain: 258 pound-feet. Those numbers are a healthy step up from the 187 horsepower of the base 2.5-liter engine. 2022 Range Rover If you noticed how extra smooth and suave the new Range Rover looked during its recent reveal, Autoblog's James Riswick got a design tour that revealed some of the technological secrets to its success. "Less is more" is harder to achieve than it looks. Fisker Ocean Fisker has brought the new Ocean EV to the L.A. Auto Show, with a public preview at Manhattan Beach and a presence at the show itself. You can watch the public show reveal above, and see more shots from the show floor below. Fisker says the Ocean will start at $37,499 before incentives. That entry model would be the Sport trim with a single, 275-horsepower motor driving the front wheels and 250 miles of estimated range. It also has a 0-60 time of 6.9 seconds. 2023 Toyota bZ4X This is the 2023 Toyota bZ4X, due to hit U.S.

Almost Jeffersonian | 2017 Kia Optima Plug-In Hybrid Second Drive

On a drive of Kia's new Optima Plug-In Hybrid (in showrooms since April), we visited Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, our third president's sprawling estate in central Virginia. Even in the absence of Twitter, Jefferson enjoyed a restless curiosity about an array of subjects. While his day gigs – declaring independence and consummating the Louisiana Purchase – occupied much of his life, he always made time for intellectual pursuits and making daily life better, so we think he'd grasp the rightness of the Optima. In the science of the plug-in hybrid, there's little new. The combination of gas and electric motors is intended to reduce the carbon footprint of a conventional drivetrain. Add a motor, install more battery capacity and enable that battery to be recharged over a long lunch or overnight, and you have a plug-in hybrid with up to 29 miles of electric-only operation. With the gas tank included, you get roughly 600 miles of combined driving range. (That's DC to Atlanta, had Jefferson wanted to visit Atlanta.) Visually, there's little to distinguish this PHEV from a conventional Optima. Its alloy wheels are aerodynamically cleaner and front fascia less disruptive - and includes an active air flap, no less. The exterior design, though dated, still impresses. A spacious interior is what you'd expect from Kia. And so, regrettably, are some hard plastic surfaces. That plastic is appropriate in a $20,000 Soul, less so in a $40,000 Optima Plug-In. Nothing here is completely off-putting, and we've always liked Kia's integration of audio and A/C controls. But so much is good about the Optima that you expect something nicer as you slide behind the wheel. The front seats are both supportive and accessible. Our test vehicle, equipped with $5,250 of EX Technology, offered a panoramic sunroof, heated and ventilated front seats, a power front passenger seat with adjustable lumbar, and heated outboard rear seats. That same package also includes a bundle of safety technology, including a forward collision warning system, advanced smart cruise control, blind spot detection, lane departure warning, and rear cross traffic alert. A modern hybrid generates a lot of info, and learning to access it all will require more than the few hours we had in the car. Your economy – the Optima's innate efficiency and your driving style – is available at the push (or two) of a button. And you can choose from all-electric EV or hybrid mode by using Kia's Mode Select control.