2010 Soul and 2011 Sorento Recalling
Kia recalling around 24,000 2010 Soul subcompacts and around 11,200 2011 Sorento crossovers, all built from September 7, 2009 through July 30, 2010, due to a potential fault with the vehicles’ electrical system.
In a letter to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), Kia said a limited number of wiring harnesses supplied by JCI and used in the Soul’s lighting speaker system, located in the front door trim panels, and the Sorento’s interior accent illumination, placed in the front and rear door trim panels, may have been improperly soldered.
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NHTSA Probes 2010 Kia Soul
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) have launched a preliminary investigation into Kia’s 2010 Soul after receiving a complaint about a steering shaft that literally fell off from the steering wheel on a new car with just 4,300 miles on the odometer. NHSTA said the issue could potentially affect more than 51,000 Kia Soul cars.
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Economy kills Kia Soulster
Kia says that expanding the Soul lineup beyond the current five-door hatch would prove to be more difficult than you might think. Earlier reports stated that Kia was keen to the idea of building an open-top Soul, but changing economic times seem to have crushed those plans.
“(The Soul) tends to be a niche vehicle,” Orth Hedrick, director-product planning, tells Ward’s at a Sportage media event here. “There is very high appeal to a very narrow group of buyers.”
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2011 Kia Sportage Pricing Released
Kia realesed today pricing for its all-new 2011 Sportage compact crossover. The 2011 Sportage goes on sale in the U.S. at the end of the July with a starting price of $18,990. There are three trim levels, Base, LX and EX. Standard safety features include ABS, Electronic Stability Control (ESC) and six airbags.
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Black and White Editions of Picanto, Rio and Soul
The new special editions named Domino and Echo that both play on black and white color schemes has been unveiled for Kia’s UK-market lineup. The Domino special edition is available on the Picanto and Rio superminis, while the Echo is offered on the Soul crossover.
The Picanto Domino is motivated by a 1.1-litre petrol engine hooked up to either a manual or automatic transmission, while the Rio Domino is available with a 1.4-litre petrol or 1.5-litre CRDi diesel engine. Both the Rio and Picanto Domino editions are available in white or optional black metallic paint. Buyers can also opt for a contrasting black or white stripe covering the bumpers, mirrors and door handles.
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Kia Soul Irmscher 001
Meet another special edition version of the Kia Soul. The new tuning package comes from German tuning house Irmscher.
Called the “Edition Irmscher 001″, the new tuning package adds a variety of features including two-tone leather seats with red or graphite-colored diamond quilting pattern on the cushions and backrests, and black carbon-fiber-style leather on the outside areas. The same black-carbon-style leather is also found on the car’s steering wheel and gearbox.
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Kia Forte awarded IIHS ‘Top Safety Pick’
The Kia Forte received ratings of “Good” (the highest achievable) in front, side, rear and rollover impact crash tests – something that safety-minded buyers will surely appreciate. This gives the Kia’s Forte more ammo to compete head on with the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla, its two main competitors, which have also been dubbed as Top Safety Picks by IIHS. Curiously, only the sedan was mentioned in the IIHS study, so we can’t say if this prestigious honor carries over to the two-door coupe Koup. Hit the jump to read the full IIHS press release.
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Kia Forte Koup SX-R
The Kia has announced a new ‘R’ package of its Forte Koup model with styling and performance accessories for the SX model. The bad new for fans: the ‘R’ package is available only to Canadian customers.
The package includes a pair of front lip spoiler, chunky side skirts and a discreet boot lid spoiler. The two-door model’s looks are complemented by a set of neat 18-inch alloy wheels wrapped in Yokohoma S-drive tires, and ‘R’ branded badges and door sills.
While the R treatment does nothing to the Koup SX’s 173-horsepower 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine, it does add a sport exhaust, AEM air filter, new springs that lower the ride height by 1.3” and a strut bar to improve handling.
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2011 Kia Sportage
Look at the first official photos of the next generation 2011 Kia Sportage that will be unveiled at the upcoming 2010 Geneva Motor Show.
The new Sportage carries the new Kia family look as seen on the Soul, Cadenza sedan and Sorento SUV, but it appears to have a more European flavor to it.
The five-door crossover shares its platform with the also new Hyundai Tucson, known as the Hyundai ix35 in Europe. It is longer and wider than the outgoing Sportage, something that should translate to improved cabin space.
The 2011 Sportage will be offered with the same 2.0-liter and 2.4-liter four cylinder engines coupled to six-speed transmissions as the Tuscon in North America, while in Europe, it will most likely get the same 1.7-liter and 2.0 liter diesels, and 1.6-liter and 2.0-liter gasoline units as the iX35.
Kia’s Safety Features and Reasons Its Cars are Cheap to Insure
Rising up out of Asia, as its name implies when translated to Sino-Korean, Kia began as a steel tubing and bicycle manufacturer when it was founded in 1944. It is the oldest car company of South Korea, and despite some trouble when the Asian financial crisis hit in 1997, it still stands as one of the most well-known international car companies. When it comes to safety features, Kia Motors’ cars have a lot to offer. Let’s take a look at one of these cars to find out just how safe these features keep you.
The Kia Soul is a South Korea-produced compact, mini MPV launched at the 2008 Paris Motor Show. It has a bold and edgy design, and it comes with more styling and package combinations than any Kia vehicle created before. When it comes to its safety features, it’s apparently topnotch as it has been awarded by the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) with 5 stars, which is the highest possible safety rating. Despite its size, it got an overall weighted score of 75%. Breaking down the crash test results, it was rated 87% for adult protection, 86% for child protection, 39% for pedestrian protection, and 86% for Safety Assist equipment.
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