- Doors and Seats
4 doors, 5 seats
- Engine
2.0T, 4 cyl.
- Engine Power
180kW, 350Nm
- Fuel
Petrol (91) 8.5L/100KM
- Manufacturer
FWD
- Transmission
Auto
- Warranty
7 Yr, Unltd KMs
- Ancap Safety
5/5 star (2015)
2017 Kia Optima GT Nav: owner review
I wrote a review of my Kia Optima GT shortly after I bought it, so I thought I would give an update on progress now that I've had it for about 12 months.
- Ride handling balance
- Fuel economy
- Equipment level
- Fabulous long distance cruiser
- Warranty
- Service intervals
- Anonymity
- No Android Auto
- Seat cooling bit ordinary
It's still only done about 10,000km which has consisted mostly of about six or so long trips. I absolutely love this car and am extremely happy with it. No problems with it whatsoever, no squeaks or rattles, everything working perfectly.
The Optima handles long trips with ease, it eats up the miles and dispatches all manner of road surfaces with aplomb. I've done four trips of around 1000km in a day and have pulled up nice and fresh each time.
The air conditioning is simply superb, the sound system is great, the Bluetooth works okay and the seats are pretty comfy.
As for performance the car has plenty of oomph. I run it on 98 octane fuel which costs more, I suppose, but I find the fuel economy outstanding, contrary to most reviews you read on these cars.
One example was a trip of 440km from northern NSW to Roma in southern Queensland at an average speed around 120km/h (shhh, don't tell anyone). It used 23 litres which I consider more than satisfactory.
One problem I had at first was getting used to the steering feel. I found it very different to my previous car (an XR6 Falcon) which i really liked. But, I've now gotten used to it and find it quite satisfactory especially when in sports mode which makes it firmer and gets rid of some of that lightness that I find off-putting.
The steering wheel itself is beautiful to use. I love its thickness and smallish diameter along with the convenience of all the controls for the audio, computer readouts and cruise control.
Speaking of the cruise control, I'd never owned a car with adaptive cruise before and boy, what a marvellous invention it is. It works effortlessly and very accurately and I will certainly never buy another car without it.
As for other safety gear, I've found the blind-spot warning system very handy but I do feel the warning buzzer could activate a smidge earlier.
So, if you've read this far you would know that I am happy with this car. It was purchased to do long trips from outback Australia to civilisation in comfort and reliability; all good so far.
So what don't I like about this car? Not much, I must say. The biggest beef I have is the service intervals of 7500km. It's ridiculously short and a real pain in the arse when you have to travel 700km round trip to get it serviced.
The air conditioned seats are a bit of a gimmick; they do work but I find them pretty ordinary. Also, no Android Auto is a glaring omission as I miss not being able to use Google maps .
The only other thing is the complete anonymity of owning one of these. I've never seen another one on the road and no one knows what it is I'm driving.
So would I buy another one? Yes, but with one reservation: I noticed in the MY19 update a few equipment changes, namely no sunroof and no ventilated seats, which I can live without no problems. But Android Auto is included which is good but they've discarded my favourite gadget, the tyre pressure monitor which I find incredibly convenient.
To me tyres are the most important part of a car and I'd be willing to bet one of the most neglected items on most people's cars. I simply can't understand why they would delete this fabulously useful gizmo.
But I still like the rest of the package enough to definitely buy another one. Having said that next time round I will certainly be testing the Kia Stinger GT and the Genesis G70 as well.