2016 Kia Optima Si road test review
It's tempting to think, what with Australia's ever-growing fascination with SUVs, that nobody buys boring old mid-sized sedans anymore.
But the medium segment, while overshadowed by SUVs and its light/small-sized passenger-car siblings, isn't dead yet. Last year nearly 80,000 buyers parked their money there; all-new entrants from Ford and Hyundai, plus various updated contenders, showed manufacturers are still willing to fight hard for a slice of the pie.
Now there's more action in the shape of an all-new Optima from Kia, which – based on the South Korean brand's continually improving form – promises to be a much better mid-sized mousetrap than before.
Kia obviously thinks so. Where the old Optima played to the sub-$30k crowd, the new one has moved upmarket and now kicks off from $34,490 plus on-road costs. Ford's Mondeo ($33,190), Mazda's 6 ($32,490), Hyundai's Sonata ($29,990) and Toyota's Camry ($26,490) can all be had for fewer dollars, so it needs to be good.
What do you get?
The base Optima, the Si, might not subscribe to the bargain-basement philosophy – and the range in general still has nothing to offer buyers who crave the superior functionality of a hatch or wagon body – but it is a generously equipped package.
Standard appointments include dual-zone climate control, auto headlights/wipers, leather-shod multi-function steering wheel, 17-inch alloy wheels and a touch-screen infotainment system with sat-nav and Bluetooth. The safety fitout includes not just the now-mandatory airbags (six), stability control and reversing camera but driver aids like autonomous emergency braking, active cruise control, lane-departure warnings and high-beam assist – features that are either optional at this level, offered higher up the range or simply not available in its mid-sized alternatives.
Kia's market-leading seven-year warranty/roadside assist/fixed-price-servicing combo – the latter costing $1912 for the first three years/60,000km – rounds out a robust showroom-floor message.
It's a hefty $9500 step up to the only other Optima, the $43,990 GT. Its badge marks its sporting intentions and it delivers on the performance side of that with a 180kW 2.0-litre turbocharged engine (the Si has a 138kW 2.4-litre non-turbo).
The GT also gets its own, more sporting suspension tune and 18-inch alloys that fill out the wheelarches of the new Optima's more mature shape nicely. Inside, a bigger touchscreen infotainment system, leather, power heated/cooled seats, heated steering wheel, wireless phone charging, rear/side sunshades, smart key and panoramic endow it with a significantly more upmarket air. Blind spot warnings, lane-change assist and rear cross traffic detection beef up the already impressive safety artillery.
Downsides? You need to service the GT every six months/7500km rather than yearly/15,000km with the Si, which adds to the cost. Projected resale values are mediocre (44 per cent in three years/60,000km for the Si).
What's inside?
The new Optima is a little bigger in all directions than its predecessor, and that car wasn't small. Indeed, the Kia's 4855mm length, 1860mm width and 2805mm wheelbase peg it as almost Commodore/Falcon-sized.
That's the way it feels inside. The back seat caters effortlessly to the long-legged with its sprawling space and it also has the breadth for three-across ambitions. Air vents, a centre armrest and big door pockets add to its amenity.
The front-seat environment also gets a big functional tick. It's roomy and has sufficient seating and steering adjustment to cope with a wide range of different sizes. There's plenty of storage – from the multiple covered bins on the centre to console to the big door pockets and sunglasses holder – and nothing in the instruments or switchgear to confuse the natives. All we'd ask for is seats with a little more under-thigh support.
The Optima's 510-litre boot has nothing to answer for in the mid-sized context, and wins more points by including a full-size spare tyre underneath. A 60/40 split-fold back seat and ski port are there for life's longer and bulkier objects.
The Kia does a pretty good job of making you feel like you got your money's worth. The design is hardly exciting – Audi and Mazda cues abound, as well as themes from other current-gen Kias – and the Si isn't big on razzle dazzle with its dark tones, base-level touchscreen system (7-inch versus 8-inch on the GT) and monotone trip computer readout (versus colour in the GT).
Everything, though, is tastefully and professionally executed, and the materials – many of them soft-touch – have a quality feel. So while the atmosphere is sober almost to a fault, it doesn't feel cheap or nasty.
Under the bonnet
The Si's 138kW 2.4-litre four-cylinder engine cranks out a respectable supply of low-rev power and its mandatory six-speed auto harnesses its reserves effectively and unobtrusively. In typical urban and highway driving the Kia is a relaxed, no-fuss performer.
While the 2.4 isn't an engine to pin your ears back, it's far from listless when asked to give its all. But full-throttle acceleration is accompanied by more noise and coarseness than you get with the best engines today. The auto's tendency to hunt between fifth and sixth gears in some open-road scenarios is more evidence there's room for just a little more drivetrain polish.
Kia claims an 8.3-litres per 100km economy average for the Si, which isn't a benchmark result in the mid-sized domain, and there's no auto stop/start system to eke out the savings. Our test average of 9.9L/100km fell into the same mediocre basket, and isn't massively better than what we've achieved in some six-cylinder large cars.
On the road
The Optima brakes confidently, steers faithfully and stays reasonably flat when cornered enthusiastically. On a sweeping road there's little to get upset about.
But it's not quite so happy dealing with tighter, bumpier tarmac. Then the steering's less than pin-sharp response, muted feel and occasional kickback are noticed, along with a balance that is secure and predictable but not quite athletic – this isn't a car that seems to shrinks around you like some do when put under the pump. As with the engine, it feels happier on a relaxed canter than being asked to explore its limits.
There are no such issues with the ride, which soaks up most lumps and bumps with impressive flair, from sharp urban joins to craggy rural ruts and undulations. Road noise on coarse-chip, however, was surprisingly pervasive on our test car.
Verdict
Kia has been doing great things of late and the Optima is yet another step forward for the brand. It's a mid-sizer with a strong handle on most of the fundamentals, a benchmark safety fitout and very enticing ownership package.
Some buyers in the mid-size class, though, might want a little polish and sophistication, maybe even some fun, and the Si's slightly underwhelming drivetrain, so-so economy, less-than-sporting handling and lack of open-road quiet are crosses to bear.
The higher than average price, meanwhile, looms as an issue for the meat-and-potato crowd, and the lack of hatch/wagon variants for those with out-of-the-ordinary practical concerns. So Kia's new mid-sizer, while an advancement and eminently worthy, is in some ways stuck in the middle of nowhere.
2016 Kia Optima Si pricing and specifications
Price: From $34,490 plus on-road costs
Engine: 2.4-litre four-cylinder petrol
Power: 138kW
Torque: 241Nm
Transmission: Six-speed automatic, front-wheel drive
Fuel use: 8.3L/100km