K900 Gives Kia a Luxury ‘Multi-Vitamin’
Filed under: Equinox, Autos
Kia K900 felt at home on California mountain roads.
By John Gilbert
To the uninformed, K900 might sound like the latest super-vitamin, capable of doing mighty things for your well-being and overall health. In a way, it is that for Kia, because the K900 is Kia’s all-out luxury sedan, powering Kia to rise to a new dimension in automotives.
Skeptics might say that Kia has become known for building strong and inexpensive economy cars, so what are they thinking building a large sedan to compete in the all-out luxury car segment? “We didn’t build the K900 just to serve the market,” said Orth Hedrick, Kia’s vice president of product planning. “This car is designed to change the perception of Kia.
“We had four points we focused on — design, luxury, performance, and technology. In design, we think we hve a modern, timeless look that has a presence.
“For luxury, we have an elegant version of the signature grille and 16-element LED headlights on the outside, and a new definition of what a luxury interior has to be, with modern, sophisticated materials and every touch point making you think luxury and sophistication. It took us three or four years to find a source for the Nappa leather hides from South America that were exactly what we wanted, and the natural wood accents complement it.
Four 4-beam clusters make 16 LED headlights for the K900.
“Performance comes from the platform with a stance that can only be gotten by rear-wheel drive,” Hedrick added. “We’ve got 52 percent of the weight on the front and 48 percent on the rear, with a solid structure.”
Of course, the 5.0 V8 is a key element of the performance, with 429 horsepower and 376 foot-pounds of torque, running through an 8-speed automatic that Kia has tweaked for quicker shifting, up and down.
Technology is evident throughout the exterior styling and mechanical features, but blends with luxury that surrounds occupants on the inside. Seats are encompassing in their support and comfort. The multimedia driver assist has a 9.2-inch screen in the center stack, with adjustable redundant readouts on a heads-up display. The optional Harmon Kardon Lexicon audio system has a 12-channel digital amplifier and 17 speakers. Adaptive lane-finding is a feature on the headlights, which have a unique arrangement with two 4-LED clusters on each side, making 16 separate beams. Read more
New Engines Give Volvo More From Less
Filed under: Equinox, Autos
New Volvo S60 has both style and new power to handle future challenges.
By John Gilbert
LAS VEGAS, NEV. — Volvo has always built solid and substantial vehicles, with equal parts inherent safety and the durability to last indefinitely. While mastering those impressive objectives, Volvo engineers also are programing their cars for the future, with a new family of 4-cylinder engines that can be tuned and tweaked to span all the demands of power and efficiency for the company’s latest sedans, wagons and SUVs.
Volvo’s recent models have used 4-cylinder, 5-cylinder, 6-cylinder and even V8 engines to handle the varying needs of different Volvo vehicles. While Volvo’s assorted engines have all won acclaim, the magic of computerized supercharging and turbocharging can push its new high-tech 4s to cover all horsepower and torque requirements.
The new modular Volvo-built 2.0-liter 4 is designed to be built alongside the current tried and true 2.5-liter 5-cylinder and the 6, engines that will be phased out as the new 4s are phased in. The existing 5-cylinder has 226 horsepower and 275 foot-pounds of torque; the existing 6 has 276 horsepower and 325 foot-pounds — good figures indeed.
However, the new “T5” is turbocharged, and the new “T6” is both supercharged for low-RPM duty and turbocharged for the high end. Using both techniques gives the new 4 stunning power — 302 horsepower and 295 foot-pounds of torque. For good measure, both new engines are rated at over 30 miles per gallon in highway driving, and have a combined city-highway estimate of either 28 or 29 mpg.
“We were very proud when our 6-cylinder turbo made the ‘Ward’s 10-Best Engines’ list, but our new 4-cylinders will outperform them and will crowd them out.” said Jan-Erik Larsson, Volvo’s chief powertrain engineer. ”We are develping other engines as well. In Europe, we have a turbo-diesel, and a plug-in hybrid. We have put a lot of resources into producing the attributes customers want.
“Nobody can predict what future cars will be using. Long-term, we think we’ll be using electric power, but as we get there, will we be using gasoline engines, diesels, hybrids, or pure electric power? No question, our industry is in a state of transition right now. Whatever we will be using by 2050, we know that internal combustion engines will still be in use in some form in the near future, say, 2020.”
Newest Volvo S60 sedan will be accompanied by V60 wagon in new Swedish company’s plan.
As an automobile company always exuding stability, Volvo has spent a lot of its history in transition. In recent years, that transition has been toward high style, and Volvo could well place the new cars on a pedestal and promote their styling alone. Instead, it’s time for Volvo engineers to show off their newest engines, which were introduced to the media in the latest S60 sedan, V60 wagon, and XC-60 compact SUV through the countryside surrounding Las Vegas. It took most of us in the automotive media a while to figure out the new designations, because while they describe different engineering tricks on the same basic engine, they are, at best, confusing. Read more
Big 3 Again Big at Detroit Auto Show
Filed under: Equinox, Features, Autos
Redesigned Chevrolet Stingray was voted 2014 North American Car of the Year.
By John Gilbert
DETROIT, Mich. — Chevrolet became king of the “good ol’ boys” at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit by kicking off media preview days with the celebration of its biggest day ever.
Chevrolet swept both the 2014 North American Car of the Year with the restyled Corvette and North American Truck/Utility of the Year with the revitalized Silverado. While electric cars, hybrids, and ultra-high-gas-mileage technology filled Cobo Hall with a sea of advanced engine technology, the awards were swept by two Chevy stalwarts — with nary an overhead camshaft found amid any engines available in either of the two vehicles — as the Corvette and Silverado won the hearts of tradition-bound selectors.
For 2014, Chevrolet Silverado has new design, engine improvements.
The car and truck announcements, voted on by 49 independent media types, kicked off the early morning start to two days of media presentations for a reported 5,169 automotive writers, broadcasters and bloggers who converged on Motor City. Their presentation was immediately followed by a parade of what was reported as 50 vehicle unveilings, many of them worldwide introductions.
The resurgent “domestic” manufacturers of the traditional Detroit Big Three made strong showings, and even though the global marketplace blurs the lines, with numerous import brands made in the U.S., and more U.S. brands making their vehicles outside U.S. borders, the delineation continues, which at least allows for more convenient categorization: Read more
KIA’s New-Age Beat Is Soul-ful
Bright new colors, more planted stance,interior upgrades, direct-injection engines improve Soul for 2014.
By John Gilbert
The hamsters are back, bobbing their heads in trendy rhythm as they avoid more humdrum vehicles that insist on sharing the roadways with the Kia Soul, and it’s a welcome and comforting cast that has become as trendy as the little square car itself. Almost.
Revised and upgraded engines, with gasoline direct-injection in both the base 1.6 and upgraded 2.0-liter 4-cylinders, plus revised and improved suspension systems for better stability and handling, and a stiffer platform with lighter and stronger body components, makes for a deceptively improved driving experience. The first Soul was neat and trendy; the 2014 model is neat, trendy, and significantly improved as a driver’s car.
Over its five-year lifespan, the Soul has become bigger than even Kia imagined, and the revised 2014 model proves Kia has finally maneuvered around to take advantage of its trendiness. For example, Kia picked Minneapolis as the site for introducing the new Soul, because Minneapolis seems to be the hot ticket in surveys of trendy places to live and visit. The introduction was held at the trendy Graves 601 Hotel, which is across the street from the legendary First Avenue nightclub made trendy as an enduring music venue by Prince, an iconic hometown hero.
Such symbolism, and the similar but longer-wider-more-refined car itself, indicates the remarkable popularity of the Soul can only increase with the new generation.
Kia can be excused for questioning the Soul’s identity, and even its own during its whirlwind rise in popularity, which pretty well parallels the lifespan of the Soul. For example, even company executives were unable to provide a satisfactory answer to whether it should be “Kia,” or “KIA,” because the corporate logo of the South Korean automaker is in all cap letters. Similarly, Kia seemed uncertain where it stood back in December of 2008, when it introduced the somewhat bizarre squarish subcompact called the Soul.
At that time, at a fancy hotel on the Miami coastline, the Soul had to share the spotlight with Britney Spears, who was shielded from the masses by an entourage of security forces and policemen trying to protect the budding media star. And we mean Ms. Spears, not the new little square car from Kia. However, in the five years since, it’s anybody’s guess which one’s identity has proven more popular and enduring, but that’s another story.
The original Soul introduction made media stars out of some weird little furry cartoonish hamsters, using them liberally as a bopping bunch of critters rhythmically driving along in traffic in the ad campaign. Obviously, the intent was to try to lure a younger batch of customers, but Kia seemed unsure and maybe even embarrassed that its tangential move might be going too far. At subsequent car introduction, officials even apologized, saying not to worry, there would be no more hamsters. I argued with company executives that the hamsters were not only a clever and memorable symbol, but the furry critters might be more iconic than the car itself. It took time, but the hamsters returned. Read more
Mazda3 for 2014: A Car for Any Year
Mazda3 5-door hatchback, left, or sleek sedan will offer consumers a tough choice.
By John Gilbert
The 2014 Mazda3 is a quick and agile compact that has a distinctive flair and the ability to change directions instantaneously — much like its namesake company.
In an automotive world dominated by companies large enough to resemble cruise ships, Mazda is more like a speedy runabout, able to change directions almost immediately. A year ago, Mazda introduced its CX-5, a newly engineered compact SUV holistically built from the ground up to Mazda’s just-revealed Skyactiv technology. The vehicle impressed all who drove it or looked at it, and it finished as runner-up to the revised Ram 1500 in the North American Truck/Utility of the Year competition.
That was just the tip of the Skyactiv iceberg, and the company has followed up with an impressive midsize sedan makeover for the Mazda6. And now it has produced the compact Mazda3.
The result is that both the Mazda3 and Mazda6 are among the candidates on the short list for the 2014 North American Car of the Year award. In a year where the candidate list is filled with flashy sports cars, luxury sedans, sporty sedans, and economy cars, and even its larger sibling, the Mazda3 concedes nothing, and its technology, appearance and performance mean it must be seriously considered by all jury members who drive it.
The full list of car candidates voted onto the short list is, in alphabetical order: the BMW 4 Series, Cadillac CTS, Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, Chevrolet Impala, Infiniti Q50, Jaguar F-Type, Kia Cadenza, Lexus IS, Mazda3, Mazda6, Mercedes-Benz CLA, and the Toyota Corolla. In addition, truck/utility candidates are: Acura MDX, BMW X5, Buick Encore, Chevrolet Silverado, GMC Sierra, Hyundai Santa Fe LWB, Jeep Cherokee, Kia Sorento, Land Rover Range Rover Sport, Nissan Rogue, Subaru Forester, and the Toyota Tundra.
Some of the car candidates are priced well over $50,000, and even over $75,000. That also has to work in favor of the Mazda3, which has a price range of $16,945 for the most basic I-SV model with a stick shift, and it ranges upward to $18,445 for the I-Sport, $19,595 for the I-Touring, and up to $22,745 for the I-Touring with technology and GT packages. The same models with the 2.0 and 6-speed automatic is about $1,000 more all the way up. The 2.5-liter engine comes only with the automatic, in either S-Touring at $24,595 or the S-GT at $25,995. Read more
About the Author
John Gilbert is a lifetime Minnesotan and career journalist, specializing in cars and sports during and since spending 30 years at the Minneapolis Tribune, now the Star Tribune. More recently, he has continued translating the high-tech world of autos and sharing his passionate insights as a freelance writer/photographer/broadcaster. A member of the prestigious North American Car and Truck of the Year jury since 1993. John can be heard Monday-Friday from 9-11am on 610 KDAL(www.kdal610.com) on the "John Gilbert Show," and writes a column in the Duluth Reader.
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