The All-New Kia Optima and Restyled

Billed as the first midsize sedan Kia Optima first generation could not promise refinement, documented reliability and resale value guarantee its main Japanese rivals. The Optima is produced for the Chinese market by the Dongfeng Yueda Kia Automobile Company, a joint venture with Kia. Available in models with four and six cylinders, the Kia Optima first generation midsize sedan debuted for model year 2000. The current Kia Optima is available in two trim levels: LX base and premium EX. Although the motor base four-cylinder provides sufficient acceleration, Optima V6 is disappointing.

Recently introduced the second generation Kia Optima is following the same playbook. Kia Optima cabin is spacious, and the interior materials as a whole have a print quality. Due to its mechanical similarity, the Kia Optima has comparable reliability to Hyundai Sonata the same model year. Kia Optima cabin is spacious, and the interior materials as a whole have a print quality.

The biggest breakthrough of the new Kia Optima is its external appearance. Unlike the previous generation of Optima, this vehicle is actually based on the Hyundai Elantra HD (2007-) platform. As Sonata, Optima is longer and taller than the previous model and has a greater distance between axes. The differences between the Optima and Sonata are mostly in the style details, although the Kia is $ 500 less.

Kia Optima has focused on the safety features, saying it is standard with many security features and received a crash test rating of five-star NHTSA [1] and 4 star Euro NCAP [2] . Surprisingly, while other cars are adding power with model changes, Optima V6 option only 185 hp (138 kW), which is very poor compared to many other models. Although not known to be a competitor in every road racing events, the Optima has proven to be an acceptable rally racing machine.

Kia Optima (Magentis) participated in several amateur rally events (2003-2004) and, although never claimed a victory, proved to be a close competitor to rally machines in its class. Since its wheels using moderate chrome for your plain Jane, the Optima is deeply, madly harmless. Measured against the '07 Accord EX V6, the Optima LX comes short in acceleration, mileage and toys. But the Kia Optima is a good car for the price. The Kia Optima has a lower price than competing models and generally represent good value when taking into account its high feature content.