Whoever said beauty is only skin deep never drove a car. The skin of most cars is only the beginning of the beauty and with the advancements we have in technology and engineering vehicles offer much more beauty from the engine, from the control aspects, from the computers used and from everything you as a driver can admire about them. The new 2016 Kia Optima is a great example of a car that hasn’t changed its looks much, but certainly took a deeper dive and changed things up under the skin to give you a car that is better than before.
The changes you will enjoy for the Optima include an upgraded interior, better technology and more features, a new turbocharged engine with better low end power, a new steering system on the SX and SX-L and an improved suspension all make the new Optima a car that can certainly lead the class once again. The Optima is the perfect car if you are looking for a great midsized sedan with lots of great features an attractive style and a roomy interior. We already knew the Optima to be a very nice sedan, but to gain all of those accolades makes it even better overall.
Something to certainly love about the Optima is the price that it comes in at. For the base LX model the price starts out around $22,700. the Eco model will call for a price of $24,800 with the EX starting around $25,700 and the SX showing up at $30,500. Going to the fully loaded SX-L the price will begin at $36,600 which makes for an easy to enjoy price range for you to ensure you have a great car to drive at the right price for you, making the Optima very affordable for just about everyone.
When you take a look at the Kia Optima you may notice the car looks a lot like the one from last year. Kia chose to continue with a style that has worked and change more of what is underneath. This gives us a chance to enjoy, at least for another year, the great looks and sharp style of this amazing vehicle . The forward leaning stance and aggressive lines give the Optima a feel that resembles more of a sports sedan than that of a basic family hauler, which gives you a stylish choice when you want a sedan that will be the car you plan to drive for quite a while.
On the inside the Optima greets you in a friendly manner with a new dashboard that has been bisected by a piece of attractive trim to give it a great look. This now separates some of the screens from the controls in a way that seems to put things where they need to be. The car is plenty spacious with comfortable seats and soft touches throughout in order to give you a smooth and enjoyable feel from every spot in the car. If you opt for the SX-L you will feel as if you entered a luxury car and possibly that is what the L stands for in that model name.
Looking to the power of the car you can easily see there are three great engines to choose from. The base engine found on the LX and EX is a 2.4-liter inline four-cylinder version that gives you 185 horsepower and 178 lb.-ft. of torque. This engine is attached to a six-speed automatic transmission to bring in the fuel mileage you need of 25 city/37 hwy mpg on the LX and 24 city/35 hwy mpg on the EX.
The next engine is the new addition for the Eco model that shows itself as a 1.6-liter turbocharged inline four-cylinder engine with 178 horsepower and 195 lb.-ft. of torque. This engine is attached to a seven-speed dual clutch automatic transmission and gives you the best fuel mileage in the lineup at 28 city/39 hwy mpg. At the top of the power range for the Optima we find a 2.0-liter turbocharged inline four-cylinder engine that offers up 245 horsepower and 260 lb.-ft. of torque. This engine receives the six-speed automatic transmission and offers a fuel number of 22 city/32 hwy mpg to make the drive more powerfully engaged.
When you look to the standard equipment of the Kia Optima you will see there is a Driver Mode Select system which you might not expect on a base version of a sedan. The other features include air condition, a five-inch LCD screen with a rearview camera, steering wheel audio and cruise controls, a tilt/telescoping steering wheel, SiriusXM, Bluetooth, an auxiliary port and a USB port. The front seats are both power operated for six way adjustments and have height adjusters to get you situated in the right position for driving and for riding.
The optional equipment for this car includes blind spot detection, rear cross traffic alerts, rear parking sensor, active cruise controls, automatic emergency braking, lane departure warning, a surround view monitor, dual zone climate control, a dual panel panoramic sunroof, a fully opaque power sunshade and a Harman/Kardon audio system to upgrade the joy of listening to your favorite music. Of course the different features come with different trim levels and certainly bring you the variety of engines to have the Optima that is right for you and for your driving pleasure.
Driving a midsized sedan sometimes takes away some of the sportiness a sedan can have, but not in the Optima. This new version gives you a huge improvement in the electrical power steering assistance on the SX and SX-L models. The suspension certainly has been upgraded a bit as well to offer you a smooth and enjoyable ride on any road and if you want the power to go with the dynamic driving you can select the largest engine and get what you need. Instead of feeling locked into a boring midsized sedan, check out the new Optima and everything it has to offer, which is certainly beauty that is well beyond the skin deep.
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