Note: What follows are my thoughts on cars that I have driven in my search for a new vehicle. I'm hoping to focus on how cars would react in real, Houston conditions. Not whether they have "tech" or how sporty they are or what their 0-60 time may be (although I will discuss those things). I hope that you come away from this with a better idea how a car would be in everyday conditions, not around a test track. What follows is my opinion, and my opinion only. I have not received any compensation or influence in writing this other than my own impressions on each vehicle. Your mileage may (and will) vary. Finally, the following should not be considered either an offer, or advice, on whether YOU should buy a particular car or not. Go out and make your own decisions.
There is a book that is currently being advertised on the splash page of my Kindle. It's authoritatively titled "Climate Change: The Facts" which is odd considering that the debate over climate change is devoid of them. Even the so-called "scientific consensus" is based almost wholly on computer models programmed to assume that so-called "greenhouse gases" are changing the Earth's climate drastically.
I've found that it's much the same in automobile journalism. Between junkets and pre-conceived notions about what a car "should" be, we're given an endless litany of test drives performed on a baby-smooth racing circuit where 0-60 times are paramount and where, in the curious case of
Car and Driver no car can be rated as excellent if it doesn't come with an option for a manual transmission.
For most of us, in Houston traffic, manual transmissions are hateful things. I know, the car I've been driving for the last 11 years is equipped with one. On the Devil's Backbone in Texas Hill Country this is outstanding. My 2004 Mazda3 is a joy to drive on the open road. During rush hour, on my commute, I arrive at either work or home with a noticeable limp that takes about 10 minutes to walk out from my left leg being at constant tension depressing the clutch.
Of all the car testing sites I think that
Consumer Reports, especially in their long-term tests, get closest to the mark, but they seem to get too distracted at times by baubles, hence they gave the Tesla S their highest car rating ever.
The Kia Optima then....
First off, it's not an ugly car. At least, not from certain angles. When I first started looking at the car I was impressed. The model that I test drove was the EX version with a 2.4 liter 4 cylinder engine. This gives the car 192 horsepower which provided plenty of acceleration on a feeder road and I got up to speed just fine without having to worry about oncoming traffic running up my tailpipe.
Unfortunately, that's about where the good stopped.
Upon first acceleration I was startled by the amount of torque steer that I was fighting. It was as if the engineers forgot that, in addition to powering the car, the front wheels would also have to do the job of steering. Honestly I thought that the car might handle just a bit better, and get more gas mileage than the rather week 23mpg rated in the city, with around 40 less horses under the hood.
It was also surprisingly loud. I'm not sure if it was the tires or the lack of noise dampening but the road noise was noticeable. The air-noise from the windows was quiet, but I had to talk in full voice so my wife could hear me. At highway speed the engine whine was noticeable.
The interior was decidedly not my cup of tea. The car I drove had 'quilted' seats. Which I find to be a bad selling point since the depressions in the quilts are almost impossible to get clean should something spill on them. I also didn't like the look of light-gray seats in a charcoal gray car. It felt like they were trying to go for a sporty, racing look in a family sedan. Back to the drawing board on this one.
Most importantly, the suspension on this car trends toward hard. When changing lanes and running over cats-eyes I could count them and really feel it every time we hit one. I intentionally drove over a small pot-hole and it felt as if the car jumped. All-in-all sitting in the driver's seat was not a comfortable place to be.
The main selling point of the Optima is the price (MRSP for the EX starts at $24,190 but you can purchase one for much less if you negotiate smartly) and the abundance of features that KIA has decided to pour into the car. The car I was in had an easy to read LED screen interface for the audio, back-up camera, MP3 dock, and
host of features that are standard for this car. The car that I drove had the optional fold-in mirrors (which initially did not deploy when I started the car), back-up camera (which worked well, had a clear picture and was easy to use) and the back-up warning system installed. The car also is equipped with Bluetooth for your phone, and a jack for your MP3 player. It has push-button start which is handy if you don't like fishing your keys out of your pocket (or have to dig around in your purse) to find the fob while dropping change everywhere. I like this feature very much.
Unfortunately, it also had a flat bottomed steering wheel, which I'm not a fan of. While it may make it slightly easier to get into the car I find that the two kinks at the bottom make it feel odd when you're turning a corner. The steering itself was OK, but nothing great. I thought the turn radius was a little below average compared to other cars that I drove and I didn't get the feeling that the car was always ready to go where I wanted it to go. It almost felt as if I need to give it a little advanced warning. "In 200 feet Optima, we're going to be making a hard right."
Now for the big problem. Every car, no matter the brand, is at least good today when it's brand new. The real test of a car is how it's going to look two-to-three years after purchase when miles and vibrations start to accumulate and Houston's weather starts to have it's way with the paint. Consumer Reports says that the Optima's reliability is below average, and you see a lot of fairly new KIA's on the road that certainly don't look showroom new. To counter this KIA offers an excellent warranty (5 years/60,000 basic and 10 years/100,000 miles on the power train) That's a good thing because, I think, there's a very solid chance you'll have to take them up on it. I have serious doubts that the Optima will feel anything close to what it feels like new after 20K miles.
I've gotten this far into the review without mentioning the very large elephant in the room. In all areas that really matter, the Optima is
basically a year-old Sonata. It's almost as if Hyundai gave Kia all the spare parts from the old Sonata and said "Have fun". Sure, the Optima is a little bit cheaper but you can't help feeling that you're driving old technology when you're inside it.
Bottom Line: You might be interested in buying an Optima if you would like to have a ton of features at a price. Kia has loaded the car with baubles and has managed to keep the price-point low. If you don't mind doors that feel flimsy and a car that might vibrate loose over time and like the idea of a car that has things only previously seen in luxury sedans then the Optima is right for you. However, you will have to live with a firm, borderline hard, ride and a rather loud driving environment. There's also the fact that the sight-lines on the Optima, especially looking out the rear half of the car, are challenging at best. Make sure you get the back-up camera as an option. Avoid the electronic nanny.
Rating: 4.6 out of 10 - The Optima gets points for it's options but loses big points for ride quality, dodgy steering, a loud driving environment and reliability concerns.
(My rating scale is based on a ten point system with 5.0 being what I consider to be an average car in it's class)
