Kia got us all worked up earlier this
year when it displayed the Sportspace concept at the Geneva auto show: we car
folks tend to like wagons an awful lot, and this was just the right kind of
wagon, with rakish lines and looks that suggested the mechanicals underneath
meant business.
That
the car was revealed in Geneva, however, pretty much laid to rest our hopes
that Kia would add it to its
North American lineup; a New York auto show reveal of the production version of
the 2016 Optima sedan more or less confirmed that there would be no Kia station
wagon for those of us on this continent.
The
2016 model indicates that Kia
is unwilling to take much of a risk in updating a car that’s aged well since
its 2011 redesign, one that turned the Optima into one of the most
handsome family cars going. With that revised 2016 version on its way, 2015
brings little of note to the Optima
line; it carries on with an all-four-cylinder trio of powertrains that includes
a 2.4L, a turbocharged 2.0L, and the gas-electric hybrid under the hood of my
tester.
Kia is
one of four automakers selling mid-priced hybrid family sedans, which pits the
Optima against formidable competition in gas-electric versions of the Toyota
Camry, Honda Accord and Ford Fusion. Part of what makes those cars as good as
they are is the seamlessness with which they blend power produced with valves
versus volts, so the key to Kia’s success in the hybrid arena lies under its
hood.
As it
happens, that’s where you’ll find the most significant difference between the Optima Hybrid and
its competitors: where those other three blend power sources with a
continuously variable transmission (CVT), Kia sticks with the six-speed
automatic used in gas-only Optimas. Perhaps that’s a nod to Porsche’s refusal
to use un-sporty CVT tech in its performance-oriented hybrids, or maybe it was
a simple cost-saving measure; either way, that six-speed is the weak link in
the Optima
Hybrid’s mechanical make-up.
It’s a
fine transmission in gas-powered Optimas, but in the Hybrid’s electric-only
mode, it’s an eerie thing to feel the gearbox moving from one ratio to the next
in the absence of the gas engine’s vibration. Frankly, it weirds me out in
Porsche’s hybrids too (the Cayenne and Panamera); from a seat-of-the-pants
perspective, there’s a good reason why most hybrids use CVTs, and all-electric
cars take advantage of their motors’ inexhaustible torque band by eliminating
multiple gear ratios altogether.
The Optima Hybrid’s relative lack
of sophistication shows up again in its lack of a driver-selectable EV mode. As
it is, the Optima’s engine reliably shuts down when the car is stopped, but
once it’s time to go again, will only stay silent if you’re particularly gentle
with your right foot. After a day or two of light-footing to take advantage of
whatever electric-only motion I could get, I discovered my favourite thing
about this drivetrain: where CVT-based hybrids tend to let the gas engine wail
in quick acceleration, the Optima relies more on electric torque for a nice
kick-in-the-pants feel that mimics a light-pressure turbo engine. The downside,
once more, is that transmission, which is painfully lazy about downshifting for
passing power.
The Optima Hybrid’s official fuel
consumption ratings are 6.1/6.7 L/100 km (city/highway), numbers that look
pretty weak next to the Accord’s 4.7/5.3, Camry’s 5.5/6.0 and Fusion’s 5.4/5.8;
you’d think the mechanically-similar Hyundai Sonata Hybrid’s ratings would be
the same as Kia’s, but that car is rated 6.6/5.9 L/100 km. In my Optima tester,
I saw a city-driving average of 7.0 L/100 km.
In the
past, I’ve complained about the Optima’s mushy brake pedal feel. Hybrids
themselves are often criticized for grabby brake performance caused by their
regenerative braking setups, but here it actually made things better, with more
bite on initial brake application, and decent modulation in harder braking.
This
Hybrid’s ride was softer than I remember in a 2.4L Optima I tested in 2011,
though a direct comparison is tough after four years and nearly 200 other
vehicles driven. Handling is competent, but the lack of steering feel
discouraged explorations of the car’s cornering envelope.
Park a
pair of butts in front seats that not everyone finds entirely comfortable (my
wife liked the Optima’s chairs better than I) and you’ll face what is, to me,
the nicest dashboard in the family sedan category. The quality look and feel
found in this car and some of its others has done a lot to elevate Kia’s status
in recent years.
Eventually,
an automaker will get around the packaging compromises that come with putting a
hybrid drive system in a sedan, but it wasn’t Kia’s turn to find that solution.
Just like everyone else, they put the battery pack behind the rear seat, where
it eats about a third of the trunk’s volume and eliminates a folding seatback.
Our EX
Premium test car included nice stuff like navigation, blind spot warning,
intelligent keyless entry, and rear parking sensors, but left out advanced
safety kit like adaptive cruise, frontal collision warning/avoidance and lane
departure warning. We could excuse that if the Optima Hybrid was less expensive
than all its competitors, but it isn’t: an Accord Hybrid with lane departure
and forward collision warning systems is a grand cheaper than the Kia, giving
up only ventilated front seats in the process.
It’s
not often a Kia
doesn’t sit atop the value-for-money column in any comparison, but that’s the
case here. We could excuse that if the Optima Hybrid included more
features or drove better than its competitors, but neither is true, which
leaves us cool on a car that we’ve otherwise come to like very much since Kia
showed us that affordable pricing and upscale looks didn’t have to be mutually
exclusive.
That’s
in contrast to the well-sorted Kia Soul EV, an impressively-packaged and
smooth-driving all-electric that proves this company could be a serious player
in the alt-fuel segment. Unfortunately, Kia’s strong EV effort leaves its
hybrid sedan looking, well, sub-optimal.
Pricing: 2015 Kia Optima Hybrid EX
Base Price: $33,695
Options: $3,200 (EX Premium package, $3,000;
Ultra Silver paint, $200)
A/C Tax: $100
Freight and PDI: $1,535
Price as Tested: $38,530
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