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Kia Soul getting turbo power, possible AWD

It's been a long time coming, but it appears we might finally see a turbocharged Kia Soul next year. Kia officials reportedly confirmed the hotter Soul to Motor Trend recently, and also stated that the company is (still) investigating the use of all-wheel drive for the next generation of its boxy hatchback.
The turbo Soul will arrive with the same 1.6-liter four-cylinder found in the Forte, rated at 201 horsepower and 195 pound-feet of torque. According to Motor Trend, Kia wanted to launch the hotter Soul this year, but didn't have the retuned steering or suspension calibration, as well as the larger brakes, ready in time. Transmission pairings weren't discussed, but Kia does mate both its six-speed manual and automatic units to the 1.6T.
As for all-wheel drive, this isn't the first time we've heard reports on this front, and it seems like a pretty natural fit, to us. Adding AWD would allow the Soul to better compete with vehicles like the Nissan Juke and the upcoming Chevy Trax and Jeep Renegade. But as of right now, a four-wheels-driven Soul hasn't been given an official go-ahead.

Next-gen Kia Optima previewed for New York Auto Show

To say the Optima is a vital product for Kia would be an understatement. In fact, the Korean automaker reports that the sedan has been its best-selling model in America for three years running. Replacing it with an all-new model, then, would be a big move for Kia, and that's exactly what it's gearing up to do. The all-new Optima is previewed here in a pair of teaser renderings, and the car is set to debut at the New York Auto Show. Though Kia has given us little in the way of information to accompany the drawings, it's clear that the design has borrowed heavily from the Sportspace concept that debuted in Geneva earlier this month – albeit in production form, and with a trunk instead of an extended roofline. The outgoing Optima was introduced five years ago and is built at plants around the world for local consumption, including in Georgia for the North American market. This will be the fourth iteration of the breed. KIA TO UNVEIL ALL-NEW OPTIMA AT NEW YORK AUTO SHOW Following its 2010 debut at the New York International Auto Show, the Optima became a catalyst for Kia Motors' tremendous growth and has been the brand's best-selling vehicle in the U.S. for three years running. Now, five years later, Kia will return to New York on Wednesday, April 1, for the world debut of the passionately designed and obsessively crafted all-new version of its popular midsize sedan. Related Video:

2020 Kia Cadenza gets a bigger touchscreen and a new dash to fit it

Admit it, you forgot the Kia Cadenza existed. You might've even thought it was something you put in the living room somewhere between the hutch and the chesterfield. But the 2020 Kia Cadenza is a thing, still, and the full-size sedan's even been given a nip, tuck and extra features for this new model year. To the surprise of no one, this revised Cadenza is identical to the Korean-market K7 we showed you last June. We even included some of those images in the above gallery since Kia only provided a pair of pics for the Chicago Auto Show reveal. However, as it seems likely you'll need side-by-side images to tell the difference between the 2019 and 2020 Cadenzas, here you go. There. As you can now tell, the 2020 Cadenza has an enlarged concave grille that nevertheless maintains Kia's signature "tiger nose" shape. The headlights are now all-LED and fit within a sleeker slit-like housing. The bumper portion has also been redone with the old quad pod of LED lights in each corner giving way to an architectural metallic trim piece that spans its width. The rear bumper and taillights have also been given a re-think. The interior gets more noteworthy changes, however. The dash has been redone to accommodate the standard 12-inch panoramic touchscreen that migrates from the Telluride and other higher-end vehicles in the Hyundai empire. The air vents are now below the screen rather than on either side of it, and the screen itself fits just forward of the concave dash surrounding it. The design achieves the purpose of reducing visual bulk without resorting to the iPad-glued-to-the-dash look. The climate and secondary infotainment controls were also lowered and rearranged into a waterfall panel that now meets up with the center console. 2020 left, 2019 right Interior feature content is largely the same apart from three extra USB ports (one more up front, two in the rear) and an enhanced 10-watt wireless charging pad. It's the safety tech roster that really gets bolstered, however, as Kia's Drive Wise suite of driver assistance features now comes standard. This includes the extensive blind-spot monitoring system that won Autoblog's Technology of the Year award, as well as forward collision warning with pedestrian/cyclist detection and automatic emergency braking, lane-keeping assist, adaptive cruise control with steering assist and navigation-system input, and the Safe Exit Assist feature that warns passengers when traffic is detected from the rear.