2017 Kia Niro
We passed through the toll booth together, neck and neck, me in lustrous jolly red, you in a dashing silver that glittered in the midday summer sun. We were a sexy pair.
Lazily acquiescing to your forward momentum, I fell in line as we approached the bend in the on-ramp heading east but your lack of desire to accelerate further was harshing the thrill I find in this particular rounded right angle.
I pressed down on the gas, simultaneously tucking the gear shift over toward the cuffed blue jeans on my right leg.
This simple action kicked my Kia Niro Touring Edition into Sport Mode and from there, the Niro and I were off.
I flipped on my left blinker, changed lanes and hugged the dotted inside yellow paint that, for a brief moment, separated us. The Niro’s Michelin tires griped the ashpalt, holding me close, delivering centripetal force and the physical sensation of an outward acceleration.
This is my adult version of 7 seconds in heaven.
And then you became a memory.
Powering through the bend, I revved up into the straight away but didn’t stay in the 3rd lane long enough to call it home. My heart pumped faster, the curvature of my smile belaying the pure joy Sport Mode brings out of me.
It’s the moving of the gear shift versus the pressing of a button that performs this trick. That motion makes me feel like a race car driver on a road course, not an on-ramp to a 3-lane highway heading toward New Jersey, asking for more performance from my car and receiving it immediately.
Where’s the carafe of milk and flowery necklace?
I love it every time I push the Niro into Sport Mode, but use it judiciously, only when I need a power boost like I’m Toad in Mario Kart. Toad is the cutest.
Anyway, where was I, oh yeah, miles ahead of you, settled into an eco-friendly groove in the center lane, eagerly awaiting my next Kia Niro Sport Mode moment.
Kia has provided OWTK a Niro on a long term loan. All opinions expressed above honest and unbiased, as always. I freaking LOVE the Niro and its Sport Mode.
