2010 Kia Sportage Lx on 2040-cars

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Kia Stinger will be getting more power for 2021

The 2021 Kia Stinger will get more oomph when it arrives later this year, but a new report says the tweaks will come from modifications to its existing powertrain, not a new option atop the range. The report from Australian site CarSales, which cites anonymous sources close to the automaker, appears to throw cold water on rumors that the Stinger would get the 3.5-liter turbocharged V6 from the new Genesis G80 sedan, which delivers 380 horsepower and 391 pound-feet of torque. The report says that the G80's 304-hp 2.5-liter turbo-four will not be coming to Australia as a replacement for the Stinger’s base 255-hp 2.0-liter turbo-four, and we would doubt it would for the United States, either.  In its range-topping models, the Stinger's 3.3-liter twin-turbo V6 offers 365 hp and 376 lb-ft. CarSales reports that engine will be juiced for more power by tweaking its bimodal exhaust. Unspecified design and equipment changes are also reportedly due. Now in its third year on the market, the Stinger turned a lot of heads when it debuted in 2017 at the Detroit auto show, and a long-term test version of the 2018 Stinger GT impressed Autoblog editors. It has failed to catch fire with buyers, but a performance-oriented premium sedan/hatchback made by Kia was always going to be a sales success long shot.  During the first three months of 2020, Kia sold 2,560 Stingers in the United States, down nearly 21%. Sales in 2019, when there was no global pandemic to skew numbers, totaled 13,861, down 17.5%. Kia discontinued the Premium trim packages for 2020. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

2014 Kia Cadenza

Kia's Second Effort At Luxury Finds More Love Than The Amanti
The same recent global economic crises that have led luxury automakers to invade the small car market are also somewhat responsible for the influx of near-luxury sedans from mainstream automakers. As the likes of Mercedes-Benz and Audi are reaching down for new customers, automakers like Hyundai, Chevrolet and Toyota are reaching up to bridge the gap and fill in the white space between the industry's typical high-volume large sedans and established luxury sedans. Joining this emerging market, the 2014 Kia Cadenza is the latest sedan to blur the line between value and luxury. One of Kia's core focuses has been offering value to customers, and even with a starting price of $35,100, the Cadenza still represents plenty of that kind of thinking.
Despite what might first come to mind, the Cadenza is not named after a piece of furniture. Instead, Kia notes the name for its new front-wheel-drive flagship comes from the Italian musical term that translates as 'cadence'. The name thus fits in nicely with the brand's other musically inspired model name, Forte. Much like the Hyundai Genesis, the Cadenza will serve as a test of sorts to see how much customers are willing to pay for a Kia, and despite recent reports indicating that Kia has confirmed the Quoris for next year, the reality is that the availability of the bigger rear-wheel-drive flagship will be determined in part by how well the Cadenza strikes a chord with buyers.

Are old airbags killers?

Takata airbags may not be the only ones with some very serious problems. A new report from TheDetroitBureau.com claims that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened its second investigation into bad airbag inflators, and this time, they aren't from Takata. The focus of this latest case is on the airbag inflators in some 500,000 older Chrysler Town and Country minivans and Kia Optima sedans, all of which come from ARC Automotive. While the Takata case looks at problems stemming from the engineering and production process, the ARC investigation focuses on the age of the inflators. As TDB explains, airbag inflators are essentially what the military refers to as shaped charges, sort of like Claymores (for fans of the Call of Duty series). In combat, they blow up in a specific direction, protecting those behind the explosion, although in the case of airbags, the explosion "[creates] a precise rush of hot gases" that inflate the bags. NHTSA's worry is that with the increased average age of today's vehicles, years and years of being bounced, jolted, and shaken about and exposed to often-radical temperature changes have altered the nature of the explosives in these vehicles, causing too big of an explosion. "It may be a reasonable assumption that as these things age they deteriorate." – Analyst George Peterson "It may be a reasonable assumption that as these things age they deteriorate," analyst George Peterson told TheDetroitBureau.com. NHTSA boss Mark Rosekind backed up aging angle. "Cars are lasting on the road a lot longer than ever before," Rosekind told TDB, adding that seals could start breaking down. "Is aging now an issue? That's part of the investigation going on." NHTSA has only identified two "incidents" so far, although according to Center for Auto Safety Director Clarence Ditlow, there's genuine concern that there could be additional unidentified cases. "Could we have missed more? That could be the case," Ditlow told TDB, citing the misidentified deaths in the Takata investigation. Ditlow was quick to point out that, even in older vehicles, airbags are much more likely to protect than harm. "No one is saying you should disable your airbags," the safety advocate told TDB. "You're far more likely to be helped than hurt by one if they go off." At least one automaker, meanwhile, has already been advised of the investigation by NHTSA and is checking its airbags.