2015 Kia Lx on 2040-cars

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2014 Kia Sportage facelift arrives with updated 2.4L, new grille

The third-generation Sportage has been around for a few years now, but Kia is making some minor changes to its compact crossover for 2014. As expected with a small, mid-cycle refresh, there isn't anything too major to report here, but the important news for the 2014 Sportage involves what's behind that modestly updated fascia.
Kia has revamped the Sportage's base 2.4-liter inline four-cylinder engine to add direct injection, which is said to improve efficiency, although no fuel economy numbers have been released yet. Switching to DI has also increased the engine's output, up slightly from 176 horsepower and 168 pound-feet of torque in 2013 to 182 hp and 178 lb-ft for 2014. Additionally, LX models now receive the sportier shock setup previously available only on EX and SX trims.
More importantly, the base trim level has been dropped from the 2014 Sportage lineup, meaning the car's manual transmission has been axed, as well. Pricing hasn't been released yet, but the 2013 Sportage already undercut competitors like the Chevy Equinox and Toyota RAV4 by thousands of dollars, so even a modest increase for 2014 would still position the Kia rather nicely in the segment.

2022 Acura MDX and a trio of lovely sedans | Autoblog Podcast #662

In this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Road Test Editor Zac Palmer. This week, they talk about the cars they've been driving, including the 2021 Volkswagen Arteon, 2021 Kia K5 GT, 2022 Acura MDX and long-term 2021 Acura TLX. In this week's news, they talk about the possibility of a Nissan Xterra return and break down what's going on over at Lotus — the British sports car company is axing its current lineup and replacing the Elise, Exige and Evora with a new car called the Type 131. Autoblog Podcast #662 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown What we're driving:2021 Volkswagen Arteon 2021 Kia K5 GT 2022 Acura MDX 2021 Acura TLX A-Spec News Return of the Nissan Xterra nameplate? Lotus Type 131 replacing the entire Lotus lineup Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Related Video:

The Kia Sedona is the most neglected car model currently on sale

Today is a rainy day. What does a car nut do on a rainy day? After my spouse said I could have some free time, I started to wonder things. Bizarre things. Like, what happened to minivans? In addition to Ford, Chevy, and Dodge, other manufacturers jumped into the minivan pool. Remember the Mercury, Nissan, and Mazda's minivans? They stormed on the scene en masse in the 1980's and 1990's and then seemed to peter out as the crossover craze began taking full effect at the turn of the millennium. Now there are fewer minivan offerings and one in particular seems neglected. Well, it's still raining. So, I thought I would write down some of my thoughts in that vein. Today, Honda and Toyota are often seen as the minivan rivals, picking at each other in commercials and one-upping the other with little things, like an internal vacuum cleaner. But, don't forget Chrysler who has always been around in the category (they invented it if you believe their advertisements). So, they are always respected in the field, even though the Grand Caravan and Pacifica arguably aren't up to the Honda and Toyota standards. That's not to say they aren't worthy of serious consideration if you're looking for a minivan, because they are. All the products in this category have become relatively good and are far better in quality than anything from 30 years ago. There's another manufacturer out there however, making a minivan that is hardly ever heard from in automotive advertising circles. That is Kia. Their Sedona model is one of the most neglected models currently on sale. The Kia Sedona is a good product, a worthy competitor in the minivan category. It even has lots of conveniences at a price point that should appeal to minivan buyers (thousands less than Honda or Toyota). But, the parent company's limited advertising has not brought the attention to the model that it deserves. Toyota at least makes an effort to put some swagger into it's marketing campaign for their Sienna. The Swagger Wagon videos are still popular. Toyota has even made an off-road version of the Sienna to keep the Sienna top of mind, even if it is a ridiculous concept that will never go into production. So, what?! It's a fun exercise to keep their product somewhat viral. Kia, well... does anybody remember anything cool about the Sedona? Hold on... Yes! There was that Photo Safari Sedona back in 2015.