2011 Kia Sportage Ex Sport Utility 4-door 2.4l on 2040-cars

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Kia Sorento is the official ride of the Justice League

Toyota showed us a Spongebob Squarepants-themed Toyota Highlander last week. Kia has now revealed a Justice League themed Sorento. Can we just have normal, competent crossovers without all the animation frosting, please?
To be fair, this Sorento is for a good cause. It will be part of a charity auction on eBay, benefitting DC Entertainment's We Can Be Heroes campaign, which raises money for the famine-ridden Horn of Africa, a region that's facing its worst food crisis in six decades. DCE's President, Diane Nelson, claims DC has managed to raise over $285,000 through crowd-funding campaigns and unique opportunities for its fans. The Justice League Sorento is just the latest such fund-raising opportunity, with the automaker having already commissioned a number of similar themed vehicles for individual members of the Justice League.
The seven-passenger Sorento was designed by Jim Lee and created by West Coast Customs. It sports graphics that, relative to the Spongebob Highlander, are downright subtle. Batman, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman are depicted on the driver's side, while Superman, the Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg are on the passenger side. The Justice League logo is emblazoned on the Sorento's hood.

Behind the scenes of our subcompact crossover comparison

The cameras had been set up for almost an hour, and now, the living room filled with the sweetness of freshly brewed blonde roast. The late-summer sun had just started peaking over towering maples. In a week the colors will start changing, the inevitable sign of the coming gray skies and snow. Half past eight, the editors arrived. The Scandinavian inspired house that served as the headquarters for our subcompact crossover comparison couldn’t accommodate all seven of us, so they had stayed at a turn of the century farmhouse down the road. While geese, chickens, cats and sheep made for an authentic Northern Michigan farm experience, ingredients for a good nightÂ’s sleep they were not. Within minutes Red Bulls cracked open and short, cocoa-colored mugs appeared, filled with a variety of caffeinated beverages.  “I thought we were gonna have fried eggs,” Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore said, smiling, before refusing a muffin. Associate Producer Alex Malburg ran from camera to camera, adjusting focus and exposure, trying to keep up with the ever-changing light, which poured into the room faster each minute.  “I was promised food. IÂ’m not filming.” Consumer Editor Jeremy KorzeniewskiÂ’s sarcasm thinly veiled his true feelings. To keep the group content I promised a craft-services buffet next time.  For the second time, we shot our comparison just outside of Traverse City. While we took advantage of a local off-road park for the first, this round proved a bit more tame, utilizing the hilly, winding, wine-country roads that define the region.  An air of nervousness could be detected. Only one person knew the outcome of our test, Senior Green Editor John Beltz Snyder. I found myself both impressed and surprised he had kept this secret overnight, though I came to find out later that he revealed the winner to Producer Amr Sayour on the drive to dinner the evening before.  The cameras started rolling, the audio recording, but the caffeine hadnÂ’t yet entered the bloodstream, with one exception. Associate Editor Joel Stocksdale sipped his lime green Mountain Dew. That seemed to be working, as he passionately laid out his argument for the Kia Soul and his preference for winter tires over all-wheel drive. From behind the camera I silently disagreed with him. “No one buys winter tires,” Jeremy argued. As we consumed more coffee, the sun came up, and so did the energy of the debate.

2020 Kia Telluride First Drive | The cool dad of crossovers

TELLURIDE, Colo. — We're going to be talking a lot here about practicality and value, but inevitably, the main appeal of the 2020 Kia Telluride comes down to its styling. People dig it. It's boxy, rugged and has a whiff of Range Rover premium cool. In a three-row crossover segment dominated by non-descript family haulers, the Telluride stands out by subtly flying its family flag. It's the cool dad in a leather jacket and Ray Ban Wayfarers standing next to the shlub in wrinkled khakis. The visual attraction carries inside. There is a style present in even low trim levels that you just won't get in the Honda Pilots and Subaru Ascents of this world, which prioritize simple functionality. The risk to that approach is that it makes it especially difficult on upper trims to make them look and feel like vehicles that warrant price tags approaching $50,000. The Telluride has no such issue, as the range-topping SX trim level we tested boasts a cabin worthy of such a luxury-nearing price tag. There's convincing wood trim, soft leather and leather-like surfaces everywhere, and feature content that's second to none in the segment. Better yet, the volume-selling EX trim level one rung down the ladder has pretty much the same look, but with fewer high-lux features slathered on. While the Telluride's mechanically related cousin, the Hyundai Palisade, has generated plenty of interest since its introduction, the big Kia feels like it has captured actual buzz. Still, the two are awfully similar on paper. The wheelbase is identical, as is the 3.8-liter V6, eight-speed automatic and 5,000-pound towing capacity. The Kia's is a mere 0.8 inch longer and 0.4 inches taller, but there's 1.8-inch greater third-row headroom, and three more cubic feet of space behind the third row — perhaps its most significant difference. The Telluride's cabin is also bigger and more spacious than popular entries like the Pilot, Ascent and Toyota Highlander. Only the 2020 Ford Explorer and gargantuan Chevrolet Traverse enjoy a size advantage among three-row crossovers. Importantly, however, the Telluride's big enough inside that shoppers should be able to easily distinguish it from the Sorento, despite both having three rows of seats. Simply, the Sorento is for people who might use the third row on occasion for short distances and/or with short people. The Telluride's third row can be used by anyone on a regular basis.