The 2011 Optima.
It's Kia's answer to a big question.
Can you take Accord, Camry, Fusion and more?
This version doesn't just take them on but also takes on V6 engines with a turbo of 4. Let's see how it handles it more on 2 fronts.
And check the tech.
You can get an Optima 3 ways, 4 cylinder, hybrid or Turbo 4. That's what we have here in the Top Line SX Trim.
Now by now, you know this car is the sister to Hyundai Sonata with its great blinds and handsome interior.
Now if you see any of our previous videos on the current KIA Optima.
You know this cab, it's one of my favorites, great quality materials.
And it's got a very mature design, kind of you know, Audi meets Saab in some strange way.
Here is your main head unit.
It is optional though than navigation, even SX High Trim car.
You have got to add that with the package.
I love this nav system for the basics.
It's clear in almost every mode.
As you zoom on things, all the various icons and streets remain pretty readable.
A lot of cars still can't pull that in his DNH.
Noticed how fast things work.
These are one of my favorite things about it.
I'll go to the destination screen here.
Hit address, street, start punching in a number.
You can't lose this thing.
It's really quick in responding.
That is not just satisfying as at least the technology, that's also safe
The more you have to sit there and repunched a letter and get frustrated, the more you're not looking at the road.
This is the way all the cars should operate.
On the other hand, this system has a very basic layout.
It is not the prettiest thing.
It is not a wide screen.
It does not have a bunch of fly overs and satellite rendering and 3D buildings.
So it gets the job done but it does that while your friends.
That is okay with me.
We have also got the optional infinity sound system for the output on this guy.
You can tell by the logo and you can see some of our sources are right here.
AM and FM but no HD Radio.
Satellite radio is Sirius on this car.
Under the media button, you can roll 3 of either Bluetooth streaming, although all you are going to see is I am Playing Music, you don't meta data pulled up on this guy.
CD is a single slot right here.
No DVD playback.
Not even in park.
And here is my iPad in her face which brings me to my iPad Harness which is standard on Optimus.
You have got this special cable, you have got to use it as the Apple connector one end and this little dual pigtail on the other,
USB and Ox, audio through the Ox charged and logic control through the USB connector.
You have got to have that.
Oh, by the way, in addition to that Bluetooth streaming, we of course, have Bluetooth handsfree calling on this car.
We have got the premium package on this guy which bring us some cab and niceties of this heated and cooled front seats.
Heated rear seats and we also get this dual Panorama roof.
It is not a full piece of glass but one piece over front and second row.
Unfortunately, you can't, as far as I know, open just one of the other.
You got to open them both with this kind of curtain that draws to the center bar.
A little bit of a frustration when someone in the backs all SPF-crazy and you want to get some summer sun.
Getting on a little bit fight but that is okay.
In terms of transmission, one choice only on this turbo Optima, it is a 6 speed manual.
You have a gate over here pretty garden variety stuff.
You also have shifters up here on the wheel, downshift on the left, upshift on the right.
I mean, this car also has an echo mode bottom here on the wheel.
Even though it is not a hybrid, but it does put the car into a green mode it will deep to in the engine.
It will have the transmission run in a less aggressive manner.
And it is also going to manage the HVAC for a less load on the engine, all of that to eat out a couple more MPG.
Now a lot of folks hate these wheels.
If you check the forums and the blogs.
I do not know what it is, it don't appeal to me either.
They are just a little too much, you know, like off of a show car.
And here is the worse part, they are very flat.
They are very finally finished and they are right out there on the outside face of the wheel tire combo.
So what happens?
This and this and a bunch of other ugly mars.
I did not do them.
Now Kia is putting a lot of hot technology behind this engine right now.
It is very similar to what Ford does with an eco-boost motor.
They combine modest displacement with turbo charging and direct injection, two of the darlings right now in making gas engines go further on a gallon of gas without being slogs.
SO the number is 274 horsepower, 269 foot pounds of torque.
It gets this car to 60 in about 6.4, 6.5 seconds while delivering 22, 34 MPG.
The question is though, is it really a 4 that feel like a 6?
That is what we are going to go find out.
-The Optima Turbo promises to scoop like it is a V6 rivals with 4 cylinder fuel economy.
Let us check that out.
This car does have more horsepower than the 3 and a half liter V6 challenges.
It delivers a midpack 0 to 60 run against them as well.
It also has good MPG numbers but not dramatically better than Camry and Accord.
So in some, yes, it is a 4 that feels like a 6 but a little more so in the performance than in the economy.
All in all nice numbers.
-Now it did a very clever thing, pretty smart thing with the collaboration of the throttle on this car.
It got it set up so it feels that from us which is one of the 6 normally communicates to the drivers, you're not flogging the car to get performance.
And they have got this guy collaborated the same way because could set it up or you got to really lean into it
to get the turbo this cool to get the intake to open up but it's not that way.
So it's very much tipped in and off you go.
Now one thing you notice is there is not much turbo leg as much as there is turbo elasticity.
You don't need to get in to it and get this big jumper power then drops off, that is typical turbo stuff when it is not done right.
On this car, there is just a little bit of a rubberbandiness about the way the power comes on but not much.
It is really among the best turbos out there right now for real world driving with a lot of back and forth and back and forth as the power keeps coming on and off.
Ride off the line of the stop light like that, there is none of that falling on its face which a lot of turbos do, that is nice also.
And in general, I would say this, you learn to drive this car in the first, you know, 20 to 30 minutes that you have been with it and realized that less is more.
If you get in to the throttle just moderately the car rewards that better with more power delivery I find.
If you really jam on it, it seems to get confused or something which is fine.
It means that everyday driving does not need to require a lot of effort.
Okay.
So that is around town.
Let us see how the pickup works on the freeway.
I am now going up, on the way up, unto the freeway with a curve, a little tip in, that is it.
It has come out with a nice surge, real nice.
Okay.
Placing an an SX Turbo Optima which is top of the stock starts at 27,000 delivered.
Now, there are two major option packages you should look at to go see that style.
First one is the premium package.
That's going to get you this power dual panaromaic roof, and the heating and cooled seats in the front and the heater in the rear.
It is 2150.
And then there is a $2,000 tech add-on on top of that.
It's going to give you a GPS Knob, Siris Traffic, the rear camera and the Infinity Audio.
Honestly, I would be incline to go all in all both of those.
