Winter drivers, take note: The Optima’s standard tires - all-season Classe Premieres from Korean brand Nexen - are poor allies in cold conditions. EX turbo and all SX models have upgraded brakes, with front discs that measure a healthy 12.6 inches across. The brakes are marvelous, too, with a strong, linear pedal sensation and little suspension dive on hard stops. The Optima corners pretty flat for what it is, though it refuses to pitch off-kilter into hard corners and throw its nose wide, tires squealing, like the Sonata and Camry do. The nose pushes a bit, and on curvy roads the steering reveals a degree of slop that doesn’t plague the Mazda6 or Suzuki Kizashi. I’m fine with that, but the wheel doesn’t firm up enough at higher speeds: Cruising down the highway at 80 mph, it still felt loose.įind some back roads, and the car holds its own. As in the base Sonata, steering the Optima around parking lots is a picnic. The SX also dials back the steering wheel’s power assist, which some will find too generous in LX and EX models.
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Product planner Ralph Tjoa said the EX shares suspension tuning with the LX, while the SX has firmer shock absorbers, plus 18-inch wheels and lower-profile tires. Noise levels, too, are competitive - the Optima quells highway wind sounds better than road ones, but overall noise won’t drown out conversations or music. On highways, our test car picked up the general rhythm of surfaces underneath it, but it didn’t play them back staccato. The car rides a bit stiffer than its Hyundai counterpart, but not by much, and it’s better than the brittle Altima. Kia officials characterized the Optima’s suspension tuning as decidedly firmer than the Sonata’s - closer to a Mazda6 or Nissan Altima than a Toyota Camry or Chevy Malibu. Not bad, given both drivetrains run fine on regular gas. Stick-shift models get a slightly better 24/35 mpg, while the turbo gets an impressive 22/34 mpg. It’s no V-6 impersonator, but it represents a sort of halfway compromise that most owners should be able to live with - and appreciate, given the drivetrain’s impressive 24/34 mpg city/highway EPA rating. On the highway, the car moves competently: Squeeze the accelerator two-thirds of the way down, give the automatic a beat to fetch 4th gear, and the Optima turns 60 mph into 80 mph with surprising vigor. It’s a capable pairing: The engine lacks the low-end oomph to come out of a corner in a high gear and accelerate uphill, but the transmission kicks down soon enough to get you back up to speed. Kia offers LX and EX trims with a 200-horsepower, direct-injection four-cylinder, which works with a six-speed automatic. That description may sound gaudy, but the SX is tastefully done. The Optima SX gets a range of exterior appointments: xenon headlights, LED taillights, a small rear spoiler, various ground effects and 18-inch wheels. One upscale touch: All models have body-colored side mirrors with integrated turn signals. Stick-shift LX models have 16-inch steel wheels with plastic covers other cars get alloy wheels - 16-inchers on LX automatics and 17s on all EX models. Kia has found a corporate face worth sticking to, and it doesn’t matter so much that it’s derivative - almost everything is these days. Its belt line rises simply, with no swooping curves or sudden kinks the furrowed expression recalls many mid-decade Acuras. What an improvement: The new Optima sports a clean, assertive profile. Designed by Kia’s studios in Germany and California, it’s longer and wider than before, losing more than an inch of front and rear overhang versus its predecessor - a car that, in its final years, looked interesting up front but utterly forgettable everywhere else. The Optima and its platform sibling, the Hyundai Sonata, are both sharp-looking cars, but the Optima looks better to my eye. We later evaluated an Optima SX at ’s Chicago offices. Last fall, Kia had a collection of EX models on hand for the media to preview. Click here to compare them or here to stack up the 20 Optima. Trim levels for the car include the LX, uplevel EX and sport-tuned SX, with normally aspirated and turbocharged four-cylinder engines. Honda and Toyota should pay close attention to the Optima’s success, which seems all but inevitable. (Optimal? Altima? Optimus Prime?) Today, the redesigned 2011 Kia Optima boasts sharp styling, competent driving dynamics and a cabin that leapfrogs other family sedans - and could stay in the lead for years to come. Kia’s midsize sedan used to be a forgettable car with an obscure name.
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