Kia

My dilemma was that I needed to take my daughter and all of her dorm room stuff to school after break. As the trip was a double-digit drive, in hours, I needed something compact, economical, and by all means as spacious as possible.

While I love horsepower and off road capability, there's something to be said for a practical car that is affordable, handles well, and has an amazing fuel economy. While a hatchback hybrid like the Kia Niro certainly isn't the sexiest car I've driven recently it performed incredibly well. Considering that it got more miles per gallon than the three trucks I'd be driving later in the week COMBINED, that was pretty impressive! While I knew the Niro would be perfect around town... what about going over mountains with tight turns and steep grades?

As you know, I'm a huge fan of Kia and I own a Soul. The company is something very special that you don't find that often - in the auto industry or really anyplace else. There is a sense of confidence that comes from being a winner and that's true for the 2017 Kia Sportage as well. Having first launched in 1995, the Sportage (like its sister models) has moved from "this cheap Korean brand" to one of the best in the industry. What makes it special though is that they are laser focused on brand integration and catering to a certain lifestyle that just makes you crave getting an invite to the party. To help celebrate the launch of the new Sportage we were invited to drive it around San Diego, eat some great food, hang out with some amazing people, and party the way only a true rock star can!

With "Auto Show Season" in full swing now it's likely that you are going to see an EV this year and think, "I wonder what it's like to live with one?". That's how I felt a few months ago. Luckily Kia was kind enough to loan me a Soul EV for a week to test it out. This isn't a review of the Soul EV but rather a summary of my experience living in what is likely the future of personal transportation.

A few months ago I had the chance to take a spin in the 2015 Optima and now I have had the chance to put the all-new 2016 version through it's paces too. Kia refers to their objective with the Optima as being to "Defy Ordinary" and that's why they chose the setting of Aspen, Colorado to showcase their latest version of this great family sedan.

Last week I had the chance to attend one of the most amazing trade shows ever - The SEMA Show. If you've ever wondered what might happen if you brought thousands of car geeks together to show off their creations and passion for all things car related then you have to visit this show. Thankfully I was invited as a special guest of Kia to see some of their latest creations as part of this year's marketing theme #KiaWanderlust.

I'm lucky - not a month goes by where I don't get a chance to hop in an awesome new car and take it for a spin. While many of my friends get jealous when I talk about jetting off to Aspen or some other exotic locale, the reality is that you can have a similar experience even closer to home by visiting your local auto show and checking out the Kia Ride & Drive.

It's tough being a guy with a family, in the past you could have that two-seat coupe and be the envy of the guys at the office, but now you have kids, a wife, mortgage and you gotta be practical. (Or at least that's what your wife keeps telling you!)

For far too long, "practical" meant being boring and conservative while sacrificing "style" and "vroom" for "safety" and "space for the kids". As you know, I love Kia and I am a Kia owner myself, so I was really excited to check out the 2015 Optima prior to our trip next month for the launch of the 2016 version.

This weekend while watching NASCAR it's hard to miss the overt commercialism of the sport. As you watch cars fly by with logos on almost every square inch of space where a camera just might pan to during the race it's sort of crazy. That's true for the World Challenge Racing League that Kia competes in too, but instead of blasting Kia logos and oil companies, Kia and the team owners Kinetic Racing decided to do something special and focus on promoting two very important and awesome charities - B.R.A.K.E.S. and DonorsChoose.org. Sure, there's a Kia logo on the side, but in press materials and on the track, these cars are referred to as the No. 36 DonorsChoose.org Optima turbo and the No. 38 B.R.A.K.E.S. Optima turbo.

That says something about the company when they lead by promoting two amazing charities rather than focusing just on their own brand, and I found that refreshing.

You don't always need to travel somewhere far to have the perfect romantic getaway. Sometimes, you will find something great right in your backyard that is an experience you will remember for a lifetime. That's what happened for Heather and I last weekend when I got a last minute invitation to be Kia's guest at the Kia Classic in Carlsbad, California. While this happened to only be 30 minutes from home it was the perfect getaway and since the Park Hyatt Aviara is pet friendly it made things that much better!

A few months ago we got a chance to test drive the "not a minivan" Kia Sedona and while it was fun to drive around the streets of Dana Point, I couldn't help but feel that where it would really shine would be on a long road trip.  Between the peppy engine, comfortable seats, great complement of electronic gadget, and some bad-ass passenger seats that recline almost like International First Class airline seats this is the car that you would want to drive if you were wanting to see America with your best friends.

Luxury car probably isn't what comes to mind when you think about the Kia brand - but I just drove a car that has changed my perception of one of my favorite auto companies. The K900 is their flagship vehicle and while I feel like there were some things I didn't care for, my complaints are sort of like bitching about my ice cream being too creamy or my down pillow being too soft. This is a car that if they are able to continue to evolve it should have everyone from Lexus to Mercedes and BMW concerned. It is a great car that illustrates just how far this "upstart" Korean company has come from one known as creating cheap cars for kids to now a world-class luxury car that fully loaded clocks it at almost $70,000!

Electric cars aren't sexy, they aren't fast enough to have fun with, and they certainly aren't fun to drive - right? WRONG! The folks at Kia should be very proud of the latest iteration of the Kia Soul. While mocked as "that hamster car" the truth is that this is one of the most stylish and fun to drive cars in the world right now. That's not shared by everyone, but it is true for me and at least several million other people who have bought one and helped propel the rapid growth of this once "upstart" auto manufacturer.