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Consumer Reports ranks the Kia Sorento third among small, midsize SUVs

The 2011 Kia Sorento EX V6 now ranks third in the Consumer Reports ratings for small and midsize SUVs. Having earned an “excellent” overall score of 82 in recent tests, the Sorento trails only the Subaru Forester 2.5XT and the Toyota RAV4 V6. The magazine notes that the Sorento has a very firm ride and that the six-speed automatic transmission shifts smoothly.

From Hooniverse: Spintires is a Soviet trucker video game

If you’ve ever spent an entire workday watching YouTube clips of Soviet-era logging trucks traversing the wilds of Siberia (who hasn’t?), then you’ve no doubt spent even more time cruising Russian classifieds for vehicles with three-letter names ending in AZ. Now, you may not have to import an eight-wheeled Russian monster truck to get an idea of what it might be like to run roughshod over some pristine forest. As our friends at Hooniverse report -- in great detail -- there’s a Kickstarter on and it’s aimed at bringing Spintires into reality.

Hot seats: from design to delivery [sponsored]

As the user demands on car interiors are increasingly influenced by their growing design consciousness, so suppliers like Lear strive to bring better-engineered seating to satisfy. 2013 was another big year for Lear, as Jeanette Puig-Pey, its global fabric & leather design manager, enthuses: "At our ‘Design2Perform' event we celebrated the unveiling of our brand new collection, with special emphasis on color and texture and our TeXstyle Enhance product, perfect for customization. Laser etching is part of this offering, it is exclusive to Lear Corporation and can be used to add refined design elements to cloth and leather." A mix of fabric and leather in seating is not new but is often seen by the consumer as a cheaper alternative to full leather.