Geek Girl Vlog: October in the 2017 Kia Niro Touring

This fall has been incredibly special to me. My little family of two became a family of 3, and Doug and I brought home our little goldendoodle puppy, Fozzie (named after Fozzie Bear from the Muppets). From early morning meetings to Walker Stalker Con Atlanta, from running errands to Doug’s Box Heroes group marching in the local Halloween parade – everything in October lead up to the moment of bringing home our little girl and embarking (pun intended) on the road trip to North Georgia to pick her up. Thanks to Kia, we had a special ride to do all of these things in. Over the course of October and November, Kia loaned me a 2017 Kia Niro Touring, and it was the perfect car for the journey – and the beginning of a new era of our lives!

We hope you enjoy our adventure as much as we did!

Geek Girl Vlog: October in the 2017 Kia Niro Touring

2017 Kia Niro Touring

Sitting at the top of the quality charts and earning a J.D. Power Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) award and J.D. Power’s 2017 Initial Quality Study accolade in the Small SUV category, the Niro is not only a good looking car – it’s also a safe and efficient car. It provides you plenty of room to carry what you need to carry without being a SUV – and it will keep you comfortable while doing so. With a heated steering wheel and heated and cooled seats – not to mention the driver and the passenger side being able to customize the air temperature – the 2017 Kia Niro Touring sets the bar high when it comes to comfort.

While comfort is important, what’s more important (to me) is the gas mileage. When you’re constantly on the go, it’s extremely helpful to be able to see in realtime how eco-friendly my driving is (and exactly how much gas I have left before I need to swing by the gas station). From the gym, to meetings, to screenings, to running errands – I’m always on the go. So much so that I actually forgot that this car needed gas. That’s how good the gas mileage was. Had the Niro not alerted me my 4th week of having it, I probably wouldn’t have realized that I needed to fill it up. I was incredibly impressed by how efficient this car was.

Gas Mileage

I already briefly spoke about how impressive the gas mileage was, but I wanted to share a story that really illustrates this. On my 4th week of having the Niro, we were picking up our puppy to bring her home. We needed to be there at 1pm sharp, and due to traffic – we were running behind. To add to the stress, the car alerted me that it did in fact need gas (I’m not kidding when I say I honestly forgot – I drove over 450 miles on a single tank of gas). If we stopped to get gas, we were going to be late. Thankfully, the Niro told us exactly how many miles we had left before we’d be sitting on empty. We were able to make our appointment, pick up our little girl, and then make it to the gas station with 23 miles to spare!

This car will get you 46 miles per gallon in the city and 40 on the highway. It’s simply amazing, especially coming from a car that got around 22mpg.

Heated Steering Wheel

This was the first time I’ve experienced a heated steering wheel. I never even knew it was an option. As someone that is always cold, even in the summer, the combination of heated seats and a heating steering wheel is magical. Especially during the winter months. It’s a feeling of luxury at a completely reasonable price.

Heated/Cooled Seats
As someone who likes to try out all the options, I have to say driving with the seat coolers on with the heat running is one of my favorite ways to drive. It may sound like an odd combination, but I really enjoy it.

Being able to control your environment regardless of whether your’e in the the passenger seat or the driver’s seat is one of the huge pluses about this car. If your driver likes it warm, she can turn on the seat heaters and the steerling wheel heater – and customize the air temperature coming from the vents on her side of the car. Is your passenger burning up? He can customize his seat temperature as well as control the temperature of air coming from the vents on his side of the car. I can’t tell you what a huge deal this is for me (who constantly runs cold) and my boyfriend (who likes to live the apartment temp at 62).

Wireless Charging
I wish I could wirelessly charge everything in my life. Not having to keep up with cords or detangle cords makes life so much easier. Wireless charging is available on this model, so you can simply sit your phone in this area of your console – and it will charge while you drive.

If your phone doesn’t support it – there’s a little card that you can get to plug into to your phone that will still allow you to charge this way. Or you can upgrade the geek with something a little sleeker and test out a a phone case from Dar Tech Wireless – it will allow you to charge your phone wirelessly by just being in the case – and will allow you to do the same in your home if you have a wireless charger as well. Dar Tech actually sent me one of these to review, but I received it after my time with the Prius Prime. I can’t wait to test this out in car that has Qi-Compatible Wireless Charging as a feature – but until then I’m loving charging my phone wirelessly in my home.

All in all, the 2017 Kia Niro Touring got a 5 out of 5 “Geek Out” factor from me. It holds a special place in my heart – along with the Kia brand as it’s the car that we brought our family home in.

Let us know in the comment section if you have a Niro and what your experience has been. Share with us your thoughts and the adventures you’ve taken! And stay tuned for more Geek Girl adventures – including our trip to LA next week to preview the 2018 Kia Stinger! You can follow along with the adventure on my Twitter at @EmmaLoggins and Instagram at @EmmaLoggins and at #StingerIsHere across all of social media!