#if i had to buy any hybrid it'd probably be this

[gnusnoteunuchs]

2018 Kia Niro Plug-In

It kinda looks like a hatchback...but those are some big wheels.

What is it?

The Kia Niro is a hatchback for 21st century America, with all of the connotations that come with that. It's billed as a small, efficient, city driver crossover with all the bells and whistles expected of mid-market crossovers in the modern US market. The Niro is a mature, sophisticated car with none of the youthful energy of smaller, cheaper Kia models; it's very clearly a car that you graduate

to

rather than

from

.

The Niro shares the Hyundai Ioniq's powertrain, featuring a 1.6L Atkinson-cycle engine, parallel electric motor, and six-speed dual clutch transmission, but rather than being a Prius-esque fastback family car, it takes the shape of a low-riding crossover.

What is it like? The best crossovers are truly the weird ones; normal crossovers fall into the forgettable intersection of okay fuel economy, okay internal space, and an okay balance between performance and comfort that fails to impress much in either regard. Examples of "weird" crossovers that are hard to forget might be the Pontiak Aztek with...everything about it really, the Cadillac SRX with its fins and strangely ornate interior with glowing crystal-like turn signal indicators, and the Subaru Outback, that was more like a lifted station wagon than anything else. Does the Niro fall here? Sort of. The Kia Niro is really a crossover in name only. It's much shorter than other crossovers, and has a sedan-like wheelbase and turning circle, but it has a somewhat cramped interior that results from its higher floor. The cramped feeling is exacerbated by the thick C and D pillars, made necessary by rollover protection strengthening, itself inflated by the heavy curb weight of the car. The Niro, though a midsize vehicle with a compact wheelbase, weighs 3000 pounds, well above most compact-midsize sedans like my 8th gen Civic. That weight is one of the main things that keeps the Niro from purely feeling like a taller hatchback. Fortunately, the Niro is still somewhat lighter than its competitors, and sits lower, too; it features a fairing under the engine compartment, variable radiator intake area, and a sloped rear roofline that reduce drag and improve highway fuel economy and noise. The Niro is very good on noise; its engine is quiet except when it's in sport mode, and it nearly always shuts off at stops except for when HVAC or electric demands mandate otherwise. Wind noise is not really a concern, the brakes are inaudible, and the suspension damps out most nasty bumps. The interior is very advanced and sophisticated, and has many features I don't fully understand, coming from an outdated car like my Civic. The Niro has adaptive cruise control, lane following, phone connectivity, built in satnav, multiple menus that are controllable through steering wheel buttons, a versatile stereo, and heated steering wheel and seats that, in cold weather, prevent the driver from having to activate the gas engine in order to stay warm, though these heaters obviously cut into electric range. The Niro is quite contemporary technologically, and offers all the strange and confusing connectivity and assistance options that modern cars are expected to. Curiously, though it features keyless start, retracting side mirrors, and one-touch locking, the rear gate is manually actuated, and seems to have no internal release. One of the only complaints I hold about the interior features is that it’s difficult to actually shut off the multimedia display; the owners of this car used the special configurable button on the entertainment console to just turn that screen off; I think Kia should have made it easier to just disable that distracting display straight out of the factory.

I’ve seen flight simulators with fewer buttons than this steering wheel. I was afraid to touch nearly all of these options.

Mechanically, the Niro is a very crowded car; perhaps its most impressive aspect is the fact that Kia was able to squeeze everything they needed into such a compact vehicle. It has a remarkably compact rear suspension setup, squeezed in between the gas tank, batteries, and muffler, and it uses a tire sealant and reinflation kit in place of a spare because the space a donut would take is used instead by part of the extensive battery system. The 12 volt starter battery is placed in the trunk, as all available space under the hood is used by the sophisticated propulsion system. The air cleaner doubles as the decorative cowling over the engine, as the normal location for an air cleaner is occupied by a switching or coolant system casing for the electric motor, as is any space that a battery might occupy under the hood. I'm willing to guess that the main reason the Niro is naturally aspirated is the fact that there simply isn't space for a turbocharger and intercooler.

The Niro’s amazingly crowded engine compartment.

How does it drive? The Niro's driving characteristics point to the fact that it wants to be many different things. It has a fully electric mode that, if you opt for the more expensive plug-in version, gives you about 20 miles of electric range, provided you drive with a light foot and prevent the engine from kicking in. If the engine does kick in, it's no great impact to efficiency; it's a small 1.6L I4 that developes a cute 103hp due to its highly efficient Atkinson cycle; I'm pretty sure I could drive the Niro in sport mode all the time, taking my time on the upshifts, and I would still get comparable or better fuel economy than my 2006 Civic. The electric motor, attached to the crankshaft, develops about 45 hp on the conventional hybrid, and about 60 on the plug-in hybrid, and while this makes for sedate all-electric acceleration, it bolsters the engine's power quite nicely when the driver demands grunt. Sport mode makes the Niro angry; however, it's a heavy car that makes hatchback power and as such, it's pretty easy to manage. Putting your foot down can lead to some entertaining wheelspin, but the Niro isn't powerful enough to scare you. Sport mode also makes the engine much more lively, and its excited exhaust note and faster throttle response are very obvious in sport mode. The dual clutch transmission's manual mode is part of sport mode, and the driver is free to let the transmission do its own shifts or tell it what they want. Either way, the DCT shifts fast and gets power on the road well, but it sometimes makes questionable shift decisions in normal driving. One strange caveat to sport mode is the surprisingly low redline of the engine, at 5500 rpm. For better or for worse, the ECU protects this redline quite aggressively, and is not afraid to upshift or reduce throttle settings to ensure the engine doesn't exceed its normal operating parameters. My guess for this low redline is that it results from the engine's Atkinson cycle operation, and the need to reduce the risk of knock.

Get a load of those taillights and the fake rear diffuser and spoiler. I’m sporty, I promise!

The Niro's brakes are also a little strange; it uses regenerative braking very heavily, which I welcome, but it seems reluctant to begin to apply its mechanical brakes until the pedal is firmly depressed; using sport mode does not fix this. If you have the Niro in sport mode and you're pushing it hard, get used to shoving the brake pedal to get real mechanical braking in addition to the...perhaps unenthusiastic electric-only braking performance. In my opinion, sport mode should bias heavily towards mechanical braking, in order to get more linear and predictable braking force relative to pedal pressure. Additionally, it would be nice if the Niro had a second Drive shifter detent that biased towards regenerative braking very heavily, in order to make mechanical braking in normal Drive more predictable and easier to access; something like the Prius' B transmission mode would be nice. The Niro also doesn't manage the balance between electric and gas power smoothly all the time; fortunately for the driver, there is a "power indicator" needle in place of a normal tachometer, that tells the driver whether they are using regenerative braking, using electric power, or are demanding more power of the vehicle than is optimally efficient. This is similar to the efficiency meter of the Prius, but it mimics a tachometer in appearance. In sport mode, an actual tachometer appears, and lists the revs both numerically and with an unlabeled needle. 

Note the sport mode tachometer that appears between the physical speedometer and power use gauges. It actually helps a lot when shifting manually, even though it’s a little small.

The Niro has decent handling, surprisingly good for a crossover. The suspension is well-damped but responsive, and keeps the car flat and the driver confident in harder turns. There is no jittery feeling at higher speeds, and the suspension seems to manage the considerable weight of the car quite well. When parking, the Niro does not feel large at all, and the electric power steering enables effortless palm-movement of the steering wheel without making the car over-sensitive on the highway. The Niro is no hot hatch, but its well-balanced suspension makes corners fun rather than intimidating, though it obviously shouldn't be your first pick for autocross. Sport mode's fast throttle response, the heavy maximum braking capacity, and good handling make the Niro an enthusiastic car to drive. The huge mirrors reduce blind spots substantially, and for a less flexible driver, blind spot warning sensors and a backup camera make merging and parking much easier. The easygoing nature of the car's normal driving characteristics as well as its many parking and highway driving assistance features all make the Niro a very good runabout for both in-town and intercity trips, though there are many cars I would pick over it for long highway cruises. The Kia Niro finds a medium between the heavy, quiet comfort of well-made crossovers and the light handling and outstanding efficiency of hatchbacks and hypermiling hybrids respectively. Does it do any of these things perfectly? No, of course not. However, it's a car that manages to do okay at nearly everything it sets out to do, and that's more than I can say of most cars.

If you squint, it’s a hatchback. Okay, take your glasses off. It looks pretty small, right?

Who is it for? The Kia Niro is for the driver who wants hybrid efficiency and hatchback size, but doesn't want to be associated with Prius and all the connotations, good and bad, that come with it. The Niro isn't all wheel drive, so it is closer to a hatchback than an SUV, and it has solid handling that makes it feel lighter under the wheel, but the driver can't forget entirely its 3000lb curb weight. The Niro is for the sensible in-town driver that likes to cut loose and have a little fun in the countryside sometimes, but without impacting the comfort of their everyday commute. The Kia Niro is a confused car that tries to be many things, but actually succeeds at being some of them. If you want a sensible hybrid hatchback, but you still want driving fun and a throaty engine that shouts proudly as you pass Prius drivers in sport mode, then the Niro is the car for you. Just remember how heavy it is when it's time to hit the brake.

[danwhobrowses]

One Piece Chapter 1013 - Initial Thoughts

And we're back a week later, this time around at least

New Chapter drops and we're here to see what happened after Nami decided to stand her ground So let's not stand around and wait shall we?

Spoilers for Chapter 1013, Support the Official Release

Careful Sanji I think that cover page Shark would give you a fight

Most times when Usopp suggests running he's wrong but here he's kinda on point. It's true what Nami says about them being relentless but with only one of them it's a lot more manageable than Ulti AND Pay-Pay AND potentially Big Mom...

Wow, it's been a while since we saw a SMILE abomination and just...wow

Ulti dodges Nami's attack, but before she can hammerhead Nami she gets struck by BM's Homie Combo

Also noting that this is the second time she's been wasted after she was about to headbutt someone after pinning them down

We get a proper look at Hera as well, she looks pretty regular

Unfortunately we have to leave the pupper, sad times

Prometheus wanted a girlfriend? Sucks to be him because Hera's not buying, then of course there's the third wheel of Zeus watching how he's been replaced

Nami giving him the cold shoulder too

BM has spotted Zeus though and intends for Hera to just eat him, draining Zeus of any power he'd have

I feel like Oda specifically made BM say 'why would I let you run off with a portion of my soul?' solely to slight us for thinking that she'd just let Nami have Zeus

Then she just plucks Tama from Usopp's arms so she can attack Nami and Usopp

Zeus though decides to go out swinging, pulling a 'Witness Me' for Nami's sake, and then get's grabbed and his soul taken by BM anyway

Nami tries to save him with some weather balls but Zeus can't grab them, and they all get eaten

Tama's suddenly alive enough to encourage the duo to run, but now BM has little qualms with killing Tama for not listening either

Fortunately, out comes the Metal head, Kid has arrived on the scene

But back with Kaido no longer in Hybrid form and he laments that Luffy got cocky, but that he also didn't take a 'trophy', because Luffy is now KO'd and falling from the island!

But another break? Come on!

Hum...

Okay so this was not a bad chapter, it just was a little deflating, it felt really short and some bits I kinda felt were hyped up only to end with 'is that it?'

Last week we set up Nami to stand her ground and get a proper fight with Ulti and then...Big Mom just did it for her... We hoped Nami would get a power upgrade from Zeus and then...Hera ate him... We hoped Luffy would last long enough to at least be there when Yamato arrives and then...he's falling off of Onigashima...

Oda's done a lot of expectation subverting this chapter, and it'd probably have worked better if there hadn't been 3 breaks within 5 chapters disrupting the pace.

As I said though, this is not bad, I still trust Oda's system, it just means we have to think differently on the outcome. I sincerely doubt that Kid can handle BM on his own but Law has teamed with him before, could the two do it? Maybe not either

Is Ulti done? Maybe for a bit but she's resilient enough to get back up after a rest. Still makes you wonder what Nami and Usopp's fight will be though or how Nami intends to get stronger now that she's lost her OP cloud - she may feel rather guilty now though since she could've saved him had she not given him the cold shoulder.

And Luffy's falling off the island. Does he make it to ground or does someone pluck him from the air? I mean we still haven't seen Caribou, Hitetsu, Onimaru or Hiyori show up yet, we don't know Yamato's beast powers and BM's remaining crew is still at base level - on the other hand there should be plenty of flying SMILEs under Tama's control now, Sanji can sky walk and Carrot hasn't been seen in a while so there are options. And how is this not the end of Act 3? This act has been going for yonks and we're still not at the tragedy? Cause for alarm.

This being said I'm not too worried about Luffy losing, he never really gets round one right, this is basically just Crocodile again only this time Kaido acknowledges that he should've confirmed the kill. We haven't really seen Luffy push his gears either so there's plenty left to see with him.

Another week break is gonna be rough, but this time I feel like Oda's getting ready to start the phase where Wano 'puts Marineford to shame'

[tiredassmage]

PARRY : What line will your character refuse to cross?

Astor could never willingly take a blade to someone that trusted him, fought with him, helped him, that he considered a friend unless the act that would bring cause for such and the evidence supporting its happening was damning. Even now, he might trust just a little too completely. He would have a very difficult time betraying someone he's fought with in any capacity, even if it was for "the greater good."

Astor doesn't leave people behind. He grits his teeth and takes whatever blows it might cost himself.

He does not let others do the same. If it's within his power, he will not. He's the war-battered "hero" with blood on his hands and the weight of the world on his shoulders. He will pay the price. Not a friend, or an ally, or anyone else. Him. Even if it's selfish.

The most damning occasion of this being the almost of Shadowbringers, in his timeline with Kiana. A tldr of their story, since it's even more vague than most of the things I have put out on this blog, is that Astor adopted Kiana all the way back in early A Realm Reborn, shortly after she came with barely just the clothes on her back and a rusted sword to Eorzea. She was barely a teenager at the time, and being a Xaela-Raen hybrid in the Oronir tribe of the Steppe had not really afforded her a childhood. Over their years and adventures together, Astor became a father figure to her, and they became practically inseparable.

She was his primary reason, always, to keep fighting. And, for the longest time, they were something of... about the same soul. Something had gone a little awry in the endless pattern of sundered souls. Destiny had quite literally decreed where one went, the other was sure to follow... If not that very moment, then surely quite soon.

In the face of the insurmountable threat of the Lightwardens, this gave Kiana a very clear, very particular possibility of saving the one person who had given up the most to give her a life. It'd... be a fair trade then, right? Without him, she wouldn't have lived much of one at all.

And, not that Astor would have been in a position to really argue or stop her had things not worked out as they had with Ardbert's intervention, but the idea of a life without her was... about enough to finally be enough.

You could do whatever you wanted to him... but he won't trade or risk her life like that. He won't.

If you know anything about Shay, you'll probably have gathered enough to know that there's few things Shay will put beyond himself. No stranger to bracing himself to play the role of villain, and certainly not unfamiliar with throwing himself in harm's way to protect Airi, there's very, very little that Shay wouldn't stoop or stretch to if it meant protecting her and seeing her to her goals. His denial is a lot more unpredictable and circumstantial than Astor's more clear-cut definitions of morals, and it'd probably take me actually coming across a particular situation before I'd really know which way he'd end up going.

But there's one thing he did refuse to do, and that was to run. To get out, save himself. Airi never asked him to stop her if the aether of the Lightwardens became too much - they both knew all to well it'd be beyond fruitless, more likely to just lead to further devastation. Instead, she asked him to run.

Shay hasn't felt as strongly about that about very many things. But his answer was firmly, unchangeably no. Hypocritical, perhaps, given that in another life, he'd asked the same of her, trying to buy her enough time to do alone that which they hadn't been able to do together - save the world. But Shay had ran enough. He'd run from Ishgard, from his past, from himself. And he knew she knew as well as he did that running wasn't going to change anything. Whatever didn't kill them on the First would only catch up to them on the Source, if they failed, and he saw no point in delaying what would have been the inevitable.

In contrast, however, had events played more to how Emet-Selch suggested... Shay would have had few qualms in carving a path through their fellow Scions, no matter how close they may have become, how illogical it may have been to think they would forsake trying to help her... But if they had... things may have ended quite differently.

Answered from the FFXIV Stat Attributes ask.