Car Throttle

The Chicago auto show is upon is, which means... well, some facelifts, some new models, but not huge news like Detroit or Geneva.  Still, new stuff!   Inside: Two new Acuras, perhaps the world's most powerful 4-seat production convertible, minor facelifts for a Datsun, a big ol' GMC, and a sweet new Kia they need to make pronto.  Oh, and some bad news on Fisker. Acura officially debuted two new production cars - the ILX (pictured above) and the new RDX.  The ILX takes over for both the Canadian-market CSX sedan (Civic based), and will replace the US-market TSX sedan (Euro Accord-based) as Acura's entry-level model.  Why don't they call it the Integra?  Dunno.  Power comes from three sources.  The base model has a 2.0L I4

Even though the recent recession fatally wounded parts of the industry and fossil fuels running dry will threaten its future, the world of cars is still very much alive and kicking. There is such a variety of new products coming out this year ranging from affordable city cars you'll actually want to own, to ridiculously expensive supercars you'll lust after, old school coupes to revolutionary family cars, petrol engines to plug-in electric motors. The list is almost endless. So to help fellow car lovers and "new kids on the block" out, here's a round-up of 33 cars we can't wait to see in 2012 in order of release date. January 2012 Kia Optima It's been available around the world for a while but the Kia Optima

Kia Motors Manufacturing Slovakia today announced the production of their 1,000,000th car from their factory in Zilina, five years after the first car rolled off their line. The lucky millionth car? A white, diesel-engined cee’d SW. That alone doesn’t really tell the whole story though, so allow me to explain why I think Kia is winning; not just in the UK but overseas too. The brand which translates roughly to “coming out of Asia” was founded in 1944 and as most manufacturers, didn’t start life off by producing consumer cars – indeed their first appliances were steel tubing and bicycle parts. Their shift to focus on cars happened thirty years later in 1974, but this didn’t catapult them immediately into the limelight – issues in 1997

I'll be honest, my original interest in the Kia Optima SX 2.0T was the engine.  Plain and simple, I was curious about it.  They're claiming some stuff that to me seems impossible, and I wanted to plant my foot to the carpet in one and see if they were phoning it in, or if it was the real deal.  Turns out there's more to the Optima SX 2.0T than just a cool engine.  I was, if not shocked, then at least pleasantly surprised by this car on a lot of levels.  Read on to find out why. The Optima is not a new model; it's been around in the US since 2000.  Until it's most recent redesign last year, it never entered the conscious of people

Kia has a sports theme going on with their SEMA cars.  Well that, and race cars.  I showed you the Rio Surf concept and the Forte Hockey concept in the first preview post, and there's also a basketball-themed Optima and a Golf-themed Soul.

Of all the sports-themed Kias, the "Slam Dunk" Blake Griffin Optima Hybrid (pictured top) is... the weirdest.  Blake Griffin has been bouncing around (pun intended) in Kia ads for a bit now, so the tie-in isn't surprising.  Most obvious on this Hybrid Optima would be the basketball-looking paint job, although it strikes me as looking a bit like snake skin.  The custom paint was done by West Coast Customs, and a set of 20" matte black wheels spruce

The yearly SEMA (Special Equipment Manufacturers Association) show happens in Las Vegas.  That's enough reason to want to go to it.  But more than the exotic locale (way better than, err, Detroit), SEMA is a hotbed of aftermarket parts.  If you're inclined to think this is a no-big-deal sort of affair, that's not the case.  The SEMA show attracts so much attention that manufacturers themselves have been getting into the SEMA game for a few years now, whether directly or through various 3rd party companies.

There are so many "new car" debuts prior to SEMA that I would literally flood your RSS feed with them.  I don't want to do that.  Plus, I can't write an entire article about a Chevy Sonic

At 1.45pm on an already tiring Frankfurt Motor Show day, I headed to the Kia booth and was pleasantly surprised to see the Kia GT concept and to hear that this has no longer become a concept but is planned to head to the production lines in South Korea in 2013. Instead of housing a V8 engine as was previously thought, Kia have decided to switch in a V6 3.3-litre turbocharged petrol unit which is good for 390bhp and 394lb-ft of torque all coming in via an 8-speed automatic 'box. This marks a significant change in direction for Kia who want to now completely refresh their 6 vehicle line-up to modernise the brand and pack it full of sporting potential. The GT concept is impressive for what

I'm not just being mysterious; Kia really hasn't announced a name for it.  But what's in a name, anyway?  What's interesting here is that Kia wants to build a low-slung, rear wheel drive "four-door coupe." Besides a coupe of computer renderings, Kia hasn't given a whole lot of details on the car, but Frankfurt isn't that far away now - so expect more soon.  The big news is that this concept is on a rear-wheel-drive chassis.  That means it could either be based on the Genesis sedan (which has double wishbone independent front suspension) or the related Genesis Coupe (which uses simpler McPherson struts for space constraints.)  Still, this would be the first time Kia has offered a rear-wheel-drive vehicle since the original Sportage quasi-SUV from

The Kia Koup (yes, it is spelled with a K by the manufacturer) is the closest Kia has come to a dedicated performance car in recent years. Hyundai has gotten a diverse array of coupes over the years, including the Tiburon, Genesis Coupe and Veloster. Hyundai and Kia are both under one roof, but vehicles between the two have been impressively differentiated. For instance, look at the Sonata and the Optima - you wouldn't be able to tell they shared anything. For most enthusiasts the Optima is the vehicle of choice. It has a driver-focused cockpit and a more aggressive, chiseled appearance. Hyundai is softer in approach, evidenced by its "fluidic sculpture" design language. That carries through to other aspects as well - Kia is more performance-oriented.

Continuing along with the rest of the new stuff at NYIAS this year, welcome to Part 2 of our "best of the rest" coverage, a sort of all-at-once splurt of information to keep you up to date on the latest developments, without boring you to death with new paint colors for the Kia Optima.  Here we go. 2012 Subaru Impreza Sedan/Hatchback Subaru has finally come to their senses with the Impreza.  While it's always been a relatively fun-to-drive car even in non-turbocharged form, it hasn't really experienced great sales in the economy-car market compared to more conventional rivals.  The biggest reason would be the big-car fuel economy in a small, unrefined package.  The current Impreza 2.5i makes a fairly impressive 173bhp from it's single-cam 2.5L horizontally