Kia Optima GDI 2012 review

Chrome trim has been out of fashion for too long in our opinion and it’s good to see Kia is returning to the glory days of automotive bright metal. Aimed at people who want to buy a European car, but can’t afford it, the chromed Kia Optima certainly makes a styling statement. 

The company’s mid-size four-door sedan uses chrome aplenty. The radiator grille has traditionally been the foremost factor in car style and on the Optima it carries a shiny chrome border. Standout chrome strips run from the back of the bonnet, up the windscreen pillars, then over the door tops and down to the boot hinges.

The door handles are chromium plated and there’s a slash of chrome across a garnish on the front flanks. Finally there are the twin chrome tipped exhausts. 

Designed at Kia’s studios in Frankfurt, Germany and Irvine, California, the latest Kia Optima is longer, wider and lower (by 45, 25 and 25 millimetres, respectively), than the vehicle it supersedes. 

The undoubted sleek styling has also improved aerodynamics, the drag co-efficient of Cd 0.29 is down from the 0.32 of the previous Optima, adding performance and fuel economy to the standout appearance.

Technology

Kia’s new 2.4-litre GDI (gasoline direct injection) engine replaces the previous multi-point injection motor and gives the Optima more power – increased by 11.6 per cent, and torque, up by 8.2 per cent.

At the same time fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions are down. The maker says on regular unleaded in the combined urban/highway cycle it’s 7.9 L/100km with CO2 emissions at 189g/km.

On mainly motorway action we got the consumption figure down as far as the high sixes, which is pretty impressive for a petrol engined car of this size. The new engine delivers 148 kW of power at 6300 rpm and 250Nm of torque at 4250 rpm. Mated with a six-speed fully automatic transmission, it runs the Optima from zero to 100km/h in nine seconds. 

The driver can choose to switch to Sport mode which allows for sequential gear changes, either using the centre console selector lever or new steering wheel-mounted paddles. Using the paddles was far from a sporty experience, the shifts being soft and far from instantaneous, while under sharp acceleration, engine noise intruded markedly into the cabin. 

Ride and handling have been designed to make the best of the all-new body structure and the new model’s extended wheelbase. There are high performance dampers, big disc brakes with black callipers and machine finished 18-inch alloy wheels.

Safety

Active safety technology includes Electronic Stability Control, Traction Control, Brake Assist, Hillstart Assist, the last preventing roll-back on inclines by maintaining brake pressure for two seconds while the driver moves a foot from the brake to accelerator pedal.

Though it seems to us that left-foot braking achieves exactly the same thing, and does so without the complication of the so-called assist system. Optima’s brakes system include an ABS anti-lock system, with Electronic Brake force Distribution and Brake Assist.  

A reverse parking alarm system is fitted, along with a rear-view camera which projects a 130 degree image onto an LCD display within the interior rear-view mirror.

Equipment

All new Optimas come in Kia’s Platinum specification level, which includes a rear boot-mounted spoiler, LED daytime running lights positioned above fog lamps in the front bumper, LED rear lamps, aerodynamic windscreen wipers, plus larger disc brakes with black callipers and machine finished 18 x 7.5-inch, 10-spoke alloy wheels. 

A deep boot, with its cave-like dark surroundings, has the capacity to swallow 505 litres of luggage. A neat feature is a lever that enables the rear seat backs to be freed to drop, opening up the passenger cabin to take even more stuff. Xenon high intensity discharge lamps come with headlamp washers, plus a new static cornering lamp which provides more illumination of the nearside kerb during cornering. 

A three-piece, full-width panoramic glass sunroof is standard, the front section tilting, centre sliding and the rear fixed. An internal roller blind blocks out unwanted sunlight and heat.