From the 2010 New York Auto Show, Cars.com's Patrick Olsen takes a look at the 2011 Kia Optima.
Transcript
<v Announcer>Cars.com auto review. <v Patrick Olsen>Hi, Patrick Olsen here at the New York auto show looking at the all new Kia Optima. The Optima has basically the same drive trains as its corporate cousin, the Hyundai Sonata.
It gets 200 horsepower and it's paired with either a 6-speed manual or 6-speed automatic. It's got a great new look though. It's much more aggressive, lower to the ground, and we're very impressed with it. It's definitely a couple of steps up from where it was before. Let's check out the inside. The Optima's new interior is a big step over the last generation. In fact, generation's kind of a small word. This is leaps and bounds ahead of the previous one. The surfaces are very nice to the touch. The way that the controls for the dash are laid out are great. They're turned slightly towards the driver to make it easier and the ergonomics are pretty cool. All in all, it's very impressive. One of the things that gets overlooked a lot when you're making a midsize sedan is make sure there's room in the backseat for adults. I'm six foot one, and there's pretty decent knee room, as well as headroom. You could definitely take two couples out to dinner in this car. Now we're not sure yet what the mileage is going to be for the Optima. It's not been rated. But because it uses the same drive train as the Sonata, we think it should be somewhere in the 35 miles per gallon on the highway. Look for this to arrive at dealers sometime this fall. <v Announcer>For more car related news, go to cars.com or our blog, kickingtires.net.
