Visually, they nailed it. Looks like a cross between a Range Rover and an Escalade. Perfect for the market.

Is it weird that I want this to be the Kia sibling more? I love the Kia IP and the simpler interiors.

Seriously.

This is true - and I hope to be able to drive (slightly faster) on back roads across the country at some point.

How does this work exactly? Yes, they capture goods worth millions of dollars. But they can’t sell them on the open market. So their street value is meaningless. Can someone explica me?

Came here to post this. Was not disappointed.

Ha! Sounds like the gods didn’t wait long till requiring a push.

We are pulling for you, David.

I rented a Kia Optima on Thursday and I was blown away. It probably beats the Camry and Accord competition when it came to NVH, confidence on the road and overall build quality. And it wipes the floor with the American competition.

Keep the GTI. My recommendation would be a roof rack and a cargo box for when you fill up in the crap-department. We have two kids, a dog and a 2013 Outback. Perfectly OK for 99.9% of trips, and when we go on vacation with the dog (once a hear) the rooftop box goes on top.

COTD material right there.

I absolutely agree with you. It’s just one of the perverse ironies of our pivot toward a more decent, humanistic foreign policy. It sometimes makes it harder to effect change in repressive regimes due to the implied threat of regime change.

Back in the day, we were OK with repressive dictators who upheld our side in the cold war. That made things really easy. We support you, you kill commies who happen to be your political enemies anyway.

I loved model rockets as a kid. The pro move was to pack the parachute with builder’s chalk so you got a really satisfying cloud when the “ejection charge” blew.

This is such a good rig. LOVE IT.

NP All Day Long.

Great series!

Hence my carefully calculated snark to avoid crucifixion! I thought I’d redirect away from being a pedant with a not-very-witty remark about bellybutton lint.

Let me guess...Hwy 54 in Carrboro?

Great review. That stereo is the same unit, I think, as the previous gen Forester/Impreza, which is to say, it’s effing terrible.