It’s a bit of a strange move on Kia’s part to offer only a single diesel engine in the Optima Estate. The 1.7 turbo-diesel offers decent flexibility but it loses steam quickly once you roam outside of the sweet spot in the rpm band. The torque is high, but you constantly have to change gears to keep that momentum going. We’ve driven diesel engines with similar outputs from Volkswagen and Mazda and they all seem to feel more flexible, but are also quieter and easier to live with. You can option for the seven-speed auto gearbox but low speed refinement is nothing to brag about either, but once you get it going it evens itself out well.
On the road the diesel engine feels a tad unrefined, especially from a cold start up. It’s slightly too clattery for our tastes, and never feels relaxed even at cruising speeds. The engine tends to vibrate a fair bit too which translates into the controls. Steering feedback isn’t all that great like we thought it would be and the handling is good but the ride comfort is slightly too firm and uncomfortable on anything but the smoothest of surfaces. We strongly suggest staying away from the large alloy wheels if ride comfort is top priority on your list. Wind noise isn’t pronounced but there can be some road noise with the larger alloy wheel option and the engine gets loud when revved.
The interior layout is pretty straight forward. The infotainment screen can get a little distracting while on the go, but it’s interface isn’t as confusing as some of its keen rivals. What we love the most about the Optima is the luxury features that you get standard. The driver’s seat moves back slightly to allow easy exiting and the wing mirrors fold in when you lock the vehicle; also there’s LED headlights and ventilated leather seats that really do come handy on those hot summer days. The rear seat offers ample space for two, three will be pushing it slightly due to the large transmission tunnel and the boot space is much more generous on the estate than the sedan counterpart that we get here in the US.
Our rental car came fitted with 18-inch alloy wheels, hands-free boot opening, LED headlights and a panoramic sunroof. The trim level that we had was the top of the range GT-Line S which has a very steep price tag but many standard features to back up the price. We certainly wouldn’t choose it, but instead the more reasonable 2 or 3 trim seem more feasible for those that do need a large estate such as the Optima but care more about value for money factors.
The Kia Optima has a few shortcomings but they can be ignored if you care about value for money, however the diesel engine is the torn that prevents the Optima from being the exceptional offering it can be.
Likes: The boot space is as generous as the standard kit list, running costs are reasonable and the styling is sleeker than the sedan counterpart.
Dislikes: The diesel engine runs out of puff quickly and is not very refined.
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