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Comments
My driving mostly consists of my weekly commute from the California high-desert to the coast, about 150 miles each direction. The Optima is comfortable and handles well along the curvy Sierra Highway - still a joy to drive. I am typically getting 29 mpg at the pump with my driving being primarily highway miles - and I am talking about maintaining fairly quick speeds and using a lot of the upper end of the tach for passing.
It is fair to say the Optima drives more like an Italian than a Japanese car. That is to say, the power curve is way up high on the tach. It is typical that at around 55-60 mph as I am getting ready to pass I drop to 3rd gear while awaiting the opportunity. But around town at lower revs it is quite sluggish accelerating without down-shifting - not a lot of pop from 1500 to 2500 RPMs.
The Pearblossom Highway, about an hour leg of my commute, is a two-lane desert road with a fair amount of traffic. One must be quick to pass safely, and the Optima 4-cyl accelerates very quickly in the upper range. In third gear I may be doing well over 80 as I slip back into my own lane after passing - and this still leaves a few RPM's to go before redline. As you can imagine, I drive my Optima hard, though not brutal, and it will still deliver just over 30 MPG for the highway portion of the drive.
In all, my KIA likes to be driven. It is cushy and tame when ferrying passengers about and gets a number of compliments for its roominess and comfort. It also has its wild-side, accelerating like a banshee and cornering like it is glued to the road (my other car is a Nissan 300ZX Turbo).
The Optima may not be the car for everybody, though I don't see why not. After 9K miles I am still quite satisfied with my choice. SK
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
giving them rebates on units sold during the period 1-4 500 5-9 1000
10-14 1500 16 plus 2000 plus 1000 from factory.
And if the XG 300 gets a 3.5l next year, can't they give the Sonata, Optima, and the Santa Fe the 3.0l 192 horsepower V6?
The 2.7l 181 horsepower is enough power for the Sonata and Optima, but the Santa Fe definitely needs a bigger engine, because the Santa Fe is very heavy..
Well that's pretty interesting, because I heard that Tuscani's new engine will churn 170~180 horses with 6 speed ZF tranny.
Actually, I've heard from an organization that is directly involved with Hyundai USA that the Tiburon/Tuscani will indeed have a 2.7l 214 horsepower rating. The 2.7l is supposed to be supercharged.
Bluewind, can you recall the Hyundai-roadster that was introduced in the, urm, 1999 Detriot Autoshow? Well, that roadster, according to EdmundsCOM, has 214 horsepower.. and I possibly heard that the Tiburon will have the same horsepower.
If I am mistaken about the Tiburon, I will be very disapointed.
Today in Korea, there was a launching event of Tuscani. According to catalog, it puts out 175 horses. The 2.7 engine doesn't have supercharger.
However, it may be possible that U.S version Tuscani will get a supercharged engine, because Hyundai always put upsize engines on U.S version Sonatas and Elantras.
Thanks...
Tuscani website
http://www.hyundai-motor.com/cybermall/showroom/passenger/tuscani/index.html
I admire you.. I have been looking at these message boards a long time, and I really like how you can speak both Korean and English affectively.
Thank you for giving us tips and etc. to these message boards about Korean cars!
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
It is great that we can share what we know and what we think through the World by internet.
Thanks...
Bluewinds.
Okies, well, let's talk about the Optima! Optima!
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
If you are accessing to fast internet service, you may watch commercial. (3.2 Megabyte...)
The man who drive an Optima on the commercial is Mr. Lee - CEO of Daum Communication which owns World's 4th largest portal site.
http://www.kia.co.kr/entertainment/ad/movie/images/optima-lee.mpg
damn, i wish i had dsl. cant see the commercial!!
oh well.. and thank you, bluewind and fellow koreans, for the obvious support you have given us americans because of the tragedy on tuesday.
on the news, they showed korean kids praying and crying for americans, which is very touchy. *sobs*..
-Chris
(98 GS300)
P.S.
I think the KIA is a very nice car for the money. I thought it looked at first like a Cadilac Catera (Opel)
I wouldn't be surprised if all car makes are affected to a certain extent
Sit back and enjoy the car
You've got a car better than most
They put the car on a treadmill, ran it a mile with the computer hooked up and told me that the odometer and speedometer measures right on. I subsequently went out on the road and checked it again against mile markers and I still get 10% difference. My new Hyundai Accent and Dodge Caravan matches the mile markers. Guess I'll try to take it to another dealer.
Otherwise, I love the Optima. I went Korean-crazy and bought the Accent and I really like it as a commuter car (120+ miles per day).
P.S.-Drove a 2002 Sonata with 2.7 V6, believe me, a huge improvement!
We bought the 2001 4 cyl automatic (nice silver). Steers well and rides much smoother than our 98 Sephia. The car shifts well in traffic and the little 4 cyl automatic engine has more power than I expected. The fuel mileage isnt much different from my Sephia but I like having a bigger gas tank.
I don't know why KIA has gotten such a bad rap, we had no problems with our Sephia other than it having cheap interior materials that were hard to clean. But the price of the car made up for it.
Everyone likes to make jokes about us buying KIA but I get the last laugh when I show them my payment book! Before we bought KIA we had a Bonneville and the new Optima really isn't that far away from our old Pontiac as far as handling or ride goes.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick