It has taken nearly 18 months for Kia to start shipping its Optima saloon to the UK and Europe and the bosses of the Korean operation on this side of the Atlantic are hoping that it will prove the sales success that it has done on your side.
Worldwide sales are running at 150,000 annually, with the ‘States alone taking 12,000 of the 16,500 built each month. Supply is going to be constrained over here, but that’s the way Kia wants it as that will maintain demand and keep up residuals of the used cars.
We get a choice of two engines: 1.7-liter, 134 bhp, 240 lb.-ft. of torque, diesel and from May next year the all-new two-liter, 168 bhp gasoline-powered, both come with a choice of six-speed manual or Kia’s own six-speed auto.
It’s not difficult to see why the Optima has been a runaway success considering that it comes with all bells and whistles you’d normally associate with a more prestigious brand. Not only that, but it’s a good looking car, too, with faintly Jaguar XF lines to the rear window and boot line to give it a four-door coupe profile.
What I didn’t like in the interior were some of the shiny plastic fillets on the steering wheel and door cappings, that reminded me of 1990’s style Ford Ghia trim. Kia could have earned a few brownie points by making the interior more European in that respect.
On the roads around Nice and Monte Carlo, sunny location but bottleneck traffic, it was difficult to fully assess how the car deals with European roads. On first acquaintance the ride is good, but lacks the compliant fluidity of the class-leading Mondeo – then again not many cars match it, either in its class or above. A little more time spent fine-tuning the suspension would have rid it of those annoying jarring inputs I occasionally experienced. What did surprise was the steering which was well weighted, with plenty of good feedback and response. This was particularly evident on tightening radius bends where extra lock had to be applied to prevent the front from washing out.
It was refined, too, with low levels of wind and road noise and once underway the diesel engine’s characteristic beat was well contained.
Currently there’s just the one body style as a business case can’t be made for a station wagon at the moment but, I was told one would come eventually. What we will get next year is a hybrid based round the two-liter CVVT gasoline engine coupled with the same electric motor used in the U.S. cars.
Related posts:
- Quick Take: 2011 Kia Optima Turbo
- Kia Ships 10 Millionth Vehicle from Korea
- Kia Optima Hybrid Pricing Revealed
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