2008 Kia Rio Base Sedan 4-door 1.6l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Best and worst car brands of 2022 according to Consumer Reports

It's that time again, Consumer Reports this morning lifting the curtain on its 2022 Annual Car Brand rankings and its 10 Top Picks in the car, crossover, and truck category. Drumroll, please: This year, Subaru climbs two spots to claim the winner's circle, having come third the last two years. Last year, Mazda climbed three spots from 2020 to take the crown. This year, Mazda slipped to second, BMW taking the last spot on the podium, also a one-spot drop from 2021. Six automakers in the top 10 hailed from Japan, which is one more than last year, and five luxury makers occupied the top 10, which is two more than last year. And South Korean representation didn't crack the top this year, after Hyundai managed tenth last year. The seven makes after BMW are: Honda, Lexus, Audi, Porsche, Mini, Toyota, and Infiniti.  The magazine and testing concern says its Brand Report Card "[reveals] which automakers are producing the most well-performing, safe, and reliable vehicles based on CR’s independent testing and member surveys," and that "Brands that rise to the top tend to have the most consistent performance across their model lineups." The domestics also took steps back among the 32 OEMs ranked on the 2022 card. Chrysler and Buick were the domestic carmakers who made last year's top 10 in eighth and ninth, respectively. This year, Buick dropped to eleventh, Chrysler to thirteenth. Dodge went from fourteenth to sixteenth. CR continues to ding Tesla's yoke steerer, the not-exactly-natural handhold responsible for the electric carmaker going from sixteenth last year to twenty-third this year.

LeBron James ad claims $10M fan bet proving he drives K900

As one of the nation's most famous and top paid professional athletes, LeBron James' Kia K900 sponsorship has always left us suspicious to its sincerity. The basketball player could buy any other vehicle in the world but claimed to be a fan of Kia's rear-wheel drive sedan even before he signed up as the brand's pitchman. While no weirder than many other NBA auto ads, the idea is still hard to believe. The company now wants to challenge the cynics with a three-commercial campaign called The Truth that stars King James responding to actual tweets about him driving the K900. The first commercial titled Ten Mil (above) starts with James checking Twitter and finding a skeptic that bets $10 million that the player doesn't drive the K900 to games. Since that's not the case, James confirms that a wager on social media is a binding contract and hops in the Kia with an armored car following him to go pick up the cash. However, the spot misses the mark slightly because we still only have James' word that he really takes the Kia to games Once the spots start airing, you can bet Cleveland fans start keeping an eye on how the player arrives to Quicken Loans Arena. It better be in the K900 for this campaign to work. LEBRON JAMES TELLS "THE TRUTH" ABOUT DRIVING HIS KIA K900 LUXURY SEDAN 11-Time NBA All-Star Responds To Real Tweets in New Ad Campaign First of three spots from "The Truth" campaign will begin airing on TV tonight and can be viewed at Kia.com and YouTube.com/Kia Multiplatform campaign will run through the remainder of basketball season and includes television, digital and social media elements IRVINE, Calif., December 3, 2015 – Last year, when LeBron James Tweeted "Rolling around in my K900. Love this car!!" and later stated he was a K900 driver before becoming Kia Motors' luxury ambassador, naysayers took to social media to question the validity of his claims. Now, with sales of Kia's rear-drive luxury sedan up considerably over 2014 levels, the 11-time NBA All-Star and avid car collector is tackling that skepticism head-on to prove the K900 is in fact "Fit For A King" in a new ad campaign from Kia Motors America (KMA).

2018 Kia Stinger GT Long-Term Update | It's a hatch!

Our long-term 2018 Kia Stinger GT is a lovely sedan. We've talked a bit about what it's like to live with day-to-day and just how well the GT badge fits on a car like this. It's racked up more than 10,000 miles in the few months it's been in our fleet. I'm personally hoping we can crest 20,000 miles before its year with us is up. The sleek design (both inside and out), sharp handling and peppy 3.3-liter twin-turbo V6 might get all the attention, but people tend to forget it's practical, too. Just look at that cargo area! I sometimes forget that most people don't spend all day and night thinking about cars, poring over photos and spec sheets like we do. When I posted a photo on Twitter last month, one commenter seemed quite surprised to realize that the Stinger had a hatch rather than a trunk. It's one of my favorite things about this car, but it seems it's not common knowledge. If we can't get a true wagon, hatches like the Stinger, the Porsche Panamera and Audi A5/S5/RS5 Sportback are great alternatives. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. The Stinger has 23.3 cubic feet of space with the seats up, though Kia doesn't list the area with the seats down. For reference, the Kia Optima has 15.9 cubic-feet in its trunk. Winter in Detroit sucks, and the Stinger GT's standard Michelin Pilot Sport 4S summer tires aren't ideal for sub-freezing temperatures. Nokian Tyres was kind enough to donate a set of Hakkapeliitta studless winter tires for the Stinger (more on those in another post soon). When the tires arrived, I put the seats down and threw all four in the back of the car and took it to the tire shop. I had to remove the sun shade, but that was the only real fitment issue. About a week later, just before Christmas, Amazon dropped the price on a 55-inch TV I've had my eye on for months. I placed my order and had it shipped to our office lest package thieves steal it from my porch. I wasn't sure it would fit in the Stinger, but it was just about perfect. Another half inch and I would have needed our long-term Honda Ridgeline. Related Video: