raadsel

The 12V battery reset button is because it does not have a physical 12V battery, it uses a portion of the LiPo hybrid battery. From what I understand, if the car sits too long or you run down the "12V battery" (such as using the stereo while the car is off), the battery disconnects while it still has a minimum amount of charge. The button allows you to reconnect the battery to start the car.

The best bet is to buy them on eBay, it appears currently most are selling for around $60 -- far better than the $150 the dealer charges. As for the new streets, it typically takes at least 2 years for the new streets to be added. If automakers want to continue to sell navigation units, they really need to find a way to improve them. Faster and free updates, better traffic reporting, etc. As it is, Android Auto/Apple CarPlay gives you far better navigation through your car's head unit than the factory navigation does.

I'm not having any trouble starting my car, but there are times when my door doesn't want to unlock. I need to troubleshoot it further but it is fairly random. A couple of times I've actually grabbed the fob from my pocket and pushed the unlock button; I need to try the back or passenger door when the driver door doesn't unlock. I did replace the battery in my fob a month or so ago, just to make sure that wasn't an issue. Just curious if anyone else has had a similar problem.

Even more interesting, it appears Kia is making an Optima Hybrid Sportwagen, though the report I saw was for a PHEV.

I don't see where you really corrected much. I will admit, I missed that they added the "LED Signature lighting" to the 2017 C-Max but that appears to be the only mistake you pointed out. I put "heated and cooled seats" because it seemed stupid and less clear to just say cooled seats, and I thought I had previously pointed out the heated seats on the C-Max, that it is the same as the Niro EX only having heated seats. You'll also notice where you say, "only available in the Touring model," I was pointing out the features that are added by the Touring trim. So, again, the only actual mistake was that I missed they had added LED lighting to the 2017 C-Max. Again, I don't know how they've set up EV mode on the Niro. I do know the Prius does not go into EV mode above 40 mph and I also know the Prius beats the C-Max in fuel economy; that was my point. It may be the Niro does not go into pure EV mode at higher speeds -- I hope at some point to find out more of the technical details but at this point we don't know (beyond what you think you have figured out from your test drives). As for you getting better fuel economy on your test drives, I would hope so. I wanted people to draw their own conclusions but, if you watch the video, you'll notice that he tended to "floor it" when accelerating (you can tell by the "Eco Gauge" getting maxed out). He was definitely not driving efficiently, rather driving it like most test drivers do, and yet he still managed to get the EPA numbers. As for Lane Keep, I don't see why it matters that you find it annoying. I have known people that find rain sensing wipers annoying; everyone has different ideas about what they find important on a car. I was merely listing what the differences in options on each car, that people would figure out from that which car. or both, have the options they find important. My plan is to drive both a Niro EX and Touring; I've heard that the two drive differently, that the tires make quite a bit of difference (with most reviewers preferring the way the EX drives). I also need to drive the new C-Max (I believe there are still only 2016s in my area) and get a feel for how much it has changed versus my 2013 SEL. Though I don't think I'll want one, I'll likely also want to drive the Hyundai Ioniq, just to compare it, as well.

It is interesting trying to compare the features of the C-Max to the Niro, and I find some features on the Niro that I miss on my C-Max and others that I'd miss if I owned the Niro. The Niro is missing, as has been mentioned, rain sensing wipers; I'm not sure why Hyundai/Kia don't add it to their US cars as they do apparently offer it in other countries; active park assist; auto up/down windows for the back windows; and it does not have a powered lift gate in back. There are several features that do not match up exactly but where both have a similar, but different, feature: The Niro does not have color adjustable ambient lighting, they do have a red colored "mood lighting" -- I suppose I'll need to drive the Niro at night to see exactly what that is (and maybe someone can tell us). Factory Navigation is only available on the Touring trim, though all trim levels have at least a 7" touch screen and Android Auto/Apple CarPlay. The Niro does not offer a Panoramic sunroof, though it does have a smaller sunroof that opens. The Niro has a physical button that allows you to toggle the touchscreen on and off (I used to like that feature on a previous car at night), the C-Max only does it from a settings menu in the touchscreen. The Niro has a Harman/Kardon sound system instead of the Sony in the C-Max. And for items the Niro has that the C-Max does not: Integrated Memory Driver's Seat, HID headlights, LED tail lights, LED daytime running lights, heated and cooled driver and passenger seats, heated steering wheel, Qi Wireless charging for a smartphone, Adaptive Cruise Control, Forward Collision warning and autonomous braking, and Lane Keep Warning. I'll mention the Privacy glass, though that is easily added to the C-Max. One other "feature" I'll mention, though you'd have to buy it separately; Kia dealers can sell a spare tire kit (which includes the jack) that you can install without reducing the cargo capacity, the kit fits under the cargo load floor. If you find something else that is different between the two cars (beyond the drivetrain and tires), please let me know and I'll update this. Above I mentioned that I believe the Niro EX with Tech package is the closest to compare to the C-Max Titanium. The Niro obviously has a smaller engine and this trim level has only 16" wheels, but it does have an EPA 49 mpg combined rating (it will be interesting to see how it does when people start testing it). It has a combination of Leather and Cloth rather than "leather trimmed" C-Max seats; comfort of the seats is a personal preference and both have heated front seats. The Niro does not have factory navigation, but with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay on a 7" touchscreen, that doesn't seem (to me, at least) like much of a difference to the 8": factory Nav on the C-Max (which also has Android Auto/Apple CarPlay). The Niro only has a base 6 speaker audio system, not the Harman/Kardon; your tastes likely determine how big a difference that is to the Sony (which most find lackluster). As I mention above, no Niro has the powered lift gate, active park assist, rear seat auto up/down windows, or rain sensing wipers. You also lose the parking sensors on the EX trim and the 110v inverter. The items on the Niro EX with Tech package that the C-Max doesn't have include LED daytime running lights, positioning lights and tail lights, Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane Keep Warning, Forward Collision Warning and Autonomous braking. I also feel it is worth adding the Niro has space for a spare tire without reducing the cargo capacity. My opinion is that the EX with Tech is closest to the C-Max Titanium because, while it is missing the parking sensors, 110v inverter and upgraded stereo of the Touring, it still has most of the C-Max Titanium features, plus several features you can't get on any C-Max. The Touring with Tech package adds HID headlights, Qi Wireless charging pad, cooled and heated front seats, and integrated driver seat memory settings. Of course, ultimately which models you feel compare, as well as how important the various options are, is personal preference.

My mistake on the combined MPG, I was going off memory, and it is 43 and not 44 on the Touring. I think we can both agree that a test drive, especially when it is the first time a car is "driven" is not necessarily representative of what actual fuel economy is going to be. While we also tend to assume the worst as to the dashboard mpg readings, it is only an assumption that it will be worse than the Fuelly numbers As for replacing your SEL, it appears the Niro EX, with the Tech package, may actually be the closest to the SEL/Titanium trim of the C-Max; and it does have the 49 mpg combined EPA rating. There are some trade-offs but I think I'll save this for another post to keep this one from getting too long. I think when trying to argue "charging" and "EV mode" you are inventing excuses. You are getting into a technical area where we'd need to actually examine how much each car charges at various RPM levels and how much gasoline is being consumed, etc. The problem is, the extra power on the C-Max is not really used to charge the battery. Instead, we try to limit the RPMs the C-Max ICE runs at -- meaning we are not using the extra power -- trying to get the most efficient RPM. You're going to do the same with the Kia; the only difference being with the smaller engine might have 2200 RPM as the "sweet spot" (ideal fuel economy for propulsion and charging the battery) where it is only 2000 RPM on the C-Max -- and I'm just guessing a number on the Niro, again, we'd need to have time to play with the car. As for EV mode, a hybrid does not need to use EV mode to be efficient -- in fact, I've seen several Prius owners argue that charging the battery and then using EV at highway speeds is actually less efficient, because of the power loses of creating the electricity, storing it in the battery, and then using battery power to run the motor. I also know the Sonata/Optima hybrids run in EV up to 72 mph. That the Niro appears not to means that the engineers found it was more efficient not to run in pure EV mode. OTOH, watching the video I posted above, while he is driving at (what appears to me) to be over 60 mph the car goes into EV mode for a time while he appears to be maintaining his speed -- which would seem to indicate the car is capable of running on EV at higher speeds. I'll admit, I fully understand how Hyundai/Kia's hybrid system works on the Sonata and Optima, and the physical systems seem to be the same (just smaller) in the Ioniq and Niro, I don't know the differences in the software side -- such as what speeds it goes into EV. I do suspect that the Hyundia/Kia engineers that designed the Ioniq/Niro hybrid system do and have tuned it to get the best fuel economy they can. As for only pulse and glide working, that doesn't fit what we know, as it was reported here (by you?) that in the record setting cross country run, Wayne Gerdis used a Load under Power (keeping a constant RPM) strategy rather than a Pulse and Glide technique. We also know the Niro averages between 3 and 10 mpg better in EPA averages -- though we will likely need to wait and see the real world results. And I do need to drive a Niro and have plans to, I'm just waiting for dealers to have Niros in stock (Cars.com only shows 4 Niros in stock within 100 miles of me).

I found this YouTube video that I thought was interesting. Granted, it is 30 minutes long and most of it isn't terribly interesting, especially the first several minutes of stop and go traffic. Basically, it is just the raw video feed of a test drive of a Kia Niro from the drivers perspective (camera mounted on the drivers head). He is driving a Touring model (44 mpg EPA rating). While you don't get a feel for the car, you can get a perspective of him accelerating (and see the needle on the Eco Guage for how hard he is accelerating), the cabin noise, etc. He also talks occasionally during the video, including pointing out the BLIS, lane keep, and autonomous braking systems. It is also worth noting he finished with a 44.3 mpg average for his drive, you can form your own opinions on his driving style.

I think you are trying to draw conclusions on far too little information. We do finally have the first two US Niros being reported on Fuelly -- one is getting 44.0 and the other, in a Touring (44.0 EPA combined rating) is getting 47.6. While the person with the 47.6 combined rating is in San Diego, so doesn't have the same weather issues as some here, that is quite impressive since he has only driven about 1,000 miles, so far. In his notes he states that he did a 211 mile round trip, almost entirely at 65 mph on cruise control, and recorded 49.3 mpg. Granted, this doesn't prove anything one way or another. First, it will be interesting to see how his fuel economy changes (likely improves) as the car is broken in and he gets used to driving it. Second, it will be much more interesting as we get more people reporting, particularly people with the FE, LX, and EX models that have higher EPA ratings. I understand that the Niro is not for you. I'll agree, the lack of power is disappointing -- then again, in a car where we purposely try not to use the power, I'm not sure how critical that is. I also haven't heard of anyone here trying out the "sport" setting -- the default setting of the Niro is "Eco", which is similar to having the "Eco" on in the current C-Max. I'll be interested to see, over a longer term, how it does.

While I agree they finally added some nicer features by adding the Platinum model, it is still missing the Autonomous braking, Smart Cruise Control, etc. that would have been on the Niro he test drove.

For trim level, it sounds as if he were driving the very top model, since the wireless phone charger is part of an option package only available on the top of the line Touring.

You might also consider taking a video with your phone the next time it happens. Show that the "Drive" light is lit on the dash, that you've shifted into D, emergency brake is off, but that the car doesn't move. Then, while still recording, turn the car off, restart it, and show that you can now drive away. You'll then have it so the dealer can see what is happening, even if you can't reproduce it while you are there.

You beat me to it, I was just about to post that. I'm guessing that it was a mistake, that the difference is actually around 60 kg on the Canadian models (the US has four models, like the SX equals the Touring), that someone accidentally added a zero. Beyond the tires, the Touring also comes with a sunroof. The other advantage the Niro is going to have in fuel economy, over the C-Max, is the engine. Like the new Prius, the Niro's engine has a thermal efficiency of about 40%.

Yes, it looks to have the real proximity sensors. The 303A has the front proximity sensors, along with active park assist.

+2

Alex on Autos did his First Look review of the Kia Niro. He said the Niro does 0-60 in 9.8 seconds, so faster than a Prius, though he does mention the C-Max has more power. He also showed stopping distance at 118 ft, so shorter than the C-Max (he did mention the C-Max) but that is in the Touring trim -- the one that only has a 43 mpg EPA rating. Impressively, though, he said that in his time with the car (a couple of days, from what I recall) that he averaged between 44-50 mpg, including doing the 0-60 and other testing. He also mentions the C-Max has more power but said the Niro has a better ride. Overall, he wanted to compare it with other hybrid crossovers, such as the Rav4, but noted that the others are larger so it makes for a strange comparison. He also said that he is holding off on making too many comparisons until he can get one on loan at home for a week.

Personally. I'd look (at a minimum) for the 302 package because of the rearview camera. It will also have the power liftgate, with the foot activation option, which is a convenient feature.

From what I can tell, they are either just arriving or will arrive in the next week. Kia is having a big ad push with Melissa McCarthy during the Super Bowl, so I'm sure they want dealers to have at least some Niros in stock on Monday.

I guess you looked into the tax credits on the Energi, that you wouldn't be able to use them. If you can use the tax credits -- and particularly in your state has some type of credit or rebate program, the Energi can end up cheaper than the Hybrid.

Sounds interesting, though I'm somewhat afraid of what Ford may want to charge for it -- especially if you buy it from a stealership. Hopefully they'll show up on eBay and will be discounted similarly to the Navigation SD cards.

I believe the 5 years started with the 2015 model. Before that, it appears that you only got 6 months, the same as the Sirius All Access trial.

I've been loading groceries and shuffled my feet, and had the rear liftgate try to close on me. I can't really complain too much about it, the system thought I kicked my foot under the bumper and I'd rather have it "too sensitive" than not sensitive enough. Looking at it from a design standpoint, I'm not sure what they could really do to "fix" the issue and still have the liftgate be responsive to most kicks; and they did design it to come down relatively slowly, to prevent injuries if it does come down on a person. Though that leads to another minor complaint, again with no real fix, that it seems to take forever to open/close when you are in a hurry. ;)

The SD card is in the center console, next to the USB and 12V ports. I believe the Ford site uses the Ford part number for the SD cards. It says "A7" on the front of the SD card itself, though I believe the longer number (GM5T-19H449-AA) is the Ford part number; you can see a picture of the SD card on this eBay listing.

Not sure the logic here. Granted, the 88 mpg 30 mile run that Wayne did is likely most drivers would have a hard time replicating, or even the 80+ mpg he got on his 200 mile run from LA to Arizona; but I can't see why 60+ mpg wouldn't be easily achieved by those getting 50+ mpg with the C-Max. It is also worth noting the 45.5 mpg individual you picked out is in Finland (based on the flag in his profile); his first fill up was in November (so freezing weather) and 85% of his driving is on the highway (based on his reporting) -- so I don't see why 45.5 mpg would be representative of what most here would get.

What I think is missed here is that the Fuelly average for the C-Max is actually about the same as the EPA ratings. Unless we find that the Niro's EPA numbers are inflated, something I doubt will be true (though why I'll be interested in what testers get from it), then the experience of Wayne Gerdis' test drives would appear to show that someone driving carefully likely will be able to get 60 MPG or better -- in good conditions Wayne had no issue getting 80 MPG or better. As for crash test results, it does not appear that the results for the Niro in the US is not yet available. In Europe, however, the Niro got a 5-star safety rating.