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Yet another Kia Compact Crossover Concept heading for Frankfurt 2013

Yet another Kia Compact Crossover Concept (pictured) heading for Frankfurt We do seem to have had something of a run of concepts from Kia lately – particularly Compact SUV/Crossover Concepts – but none seem to be heading for production. Already in 2013 we’ve had the Kia Provo Concept, which looked like a suitably funky urban warrior to take on the market the Nissan Juke made its own, even if the ‘Provo’ name caused publicity-seeking politicians to spit and stomp. Following close on the heels of the Provo came the Kia CUB for the Seoul Motor Show (note the cuddly name – Kia didn’t want to shoot themselves in the foot again) which, although entirely convincing, just looked like yet another urban warrior compact crossover/SUV.

Watch the 2,000-horsepower Banks Freightliner jump five cars

Mike Ryan does amazing things with the Banks Freightliner. And with Pikes Peak still half a year away, Ryan settles for practice in the Long Beach docks in "Size Matters 2." He weaves the semi in and out of boxes, does donuts in the same tight radius as a matte-black 240SX (driven by stuntman Daniel Leavitt, who ironically shares his name with a reckless driving attorney in Virgina), and dodges even larger trucks. (No Dodges, though there's the Freightliner connection.) All the elements of Ken Block's Gymkhana videos are here: the screeching electronic music, the moody industrial setting, the gratuitous slow-motion.

Volvo S80 gets new diesel engine

Most of the talk in the last few months about Volvo has revolved around Ford’s efforts to ditch the last of its prestige marques in its fight for survival. Poor old Volvo appears to have been hawked around the world’s car makers in the hope of finding a fit for the pride of Sweden. But there have been no takers so far, not even Volvo trucks or the Swedish Government.