Optima Hybrid Test Driving (Get a sense of the future of automobiles with the Optima Hybrid)

[Kiaclub Nieuwsrobot]

Last time, I test-drove the all-new Picanto and the all-new Sportage. Today, I’d like to introduce Kia Buzz’s third test-drive featuring the all-new Optima Hybrid. (All-new Picanto test drive: http://kia-buzz.com/?p=6650, All-new Sportage Turbo GDI test drive: http://kia-buzz.com/?p=7355)

The all-new Optima is one of the models that best reflects Kia’s design and product identity, which includes simple lines and the spirit of “fun to drive.” In addition to these great aspects, Kia has introduced the Optima Hybrid to satisfy our customers who care about fuel efficiency and environment.

Let’s take a look at the Optima Hybrid.

To test this hybrid both in downtown and on highway, I drove from Bundang to Gwangju. (About 800km round trip)

Let’s first take a look at the exterior.

Exterior
The basic design is similar to the non-hybrid model. The Optima model reveals Kia’s design identity and its future direction. Rather than featuring complicated curves, the Optima has strong and straight lines throughout its design.

From the grille and headlamps to each design of the front bumper, the car has been created with bold lines, excluding as many fancy curves as possible. In addition, the automobile has special hybrid-only features such as the decoration of matte-finished chrome around the fog lamp and in the headlamp shown in the image below. The two images below clearly show how the design has been changed.

 

In addition, the front grille includes the black high gloss and chrome that is seen in the signature design grille of the Optima SX trim.

 

You may notice that the Optima has a very confident stance from the front. The secret is a bulging wheel arch (side fender) that makes the automobile look sporty and dignified.

The Optima’s side view also looks very simple and contains chic features which make the whole design sporty and stable.

The strong lines flowing across the whole vehicle is particularly the key aspect of the side view of this sporty and dynamic car. Do you see the strong lines across the front headlamp, bonnet, rear lamp and spoiler on the trunk?

The chrome garnish creates a look of a fancy coupe-like sedan. Unlike regular sedans that have the garnish under the window line, the Optima continues it to the trunk beyond the roofline.

Aside from that, the fender garnish (air vent) on the side wheel arch makes delude people that this is a real sports sedan.

The biggest difference of the hybrid’s side view is its 17” aluminum wheel, which is smaller than the non-hybrid’s 18” wheel. Its design also prevents more air resistance than the non-hybrid. The LRR (Low Rolling Resistance) tire also improves fuel efficiency.

The rear view is also nicely organized like the front view. The bright LED on the rear lamp creates a wonderful night mood as you can see in the below photo. A spoiler is on the trunk lid and it also looks sporty. Of course, the hybrid is equipped with a spoiler to restrain drag force.

If you want to know the hybrid’s rear side characteristics, you should check the muffler hidden beneath the bumper for drag force reduction. It would be ill-fitting for a hybrid to prominently show a pollution-emitting muffler.

From my personal point of view, the Optima is like the ideal guy with a muscular body in a fine suit. It is easier to imagine a driver coming out of the Optima in a nice suit rather than in casual clothes. Apparently my opinion is shared by others. The Optima was actually picked as the car that women want their boyfriends to drive in a survey by Korean media. (http://news.mk.co.kr/newsRead.php?year=2011&no=413535) The Optima’s charismatic design seems to work nicely for women, too. Maybe I should change my car to get a girlfriend…

*Editor’s note: During the time I was writing this post, the Optima Hybrid and Sportage won as the Exterior Winner at The Automotive Brand Contest in Germany and Kia won the Best of Best Brand.

Interior & Convenience

The interior is also very similar to the non-hybrid model. It clearly features a driver-oriented design.

As you can see in the above picture, all the components of center console are turned towards the driver. This verifies that the Optima is a perfect driver’s sedan. The driver-oriented center console was actually even more angled towards the driver’s side in the early development stages.

Moreover, the mood lighting, the red of Kia’s signature color creates a sporty mood even at night.

When you start your vehicle by pushing the “keyless button engine start” on your seat, a special welcome ceremony by the gauge greets the driver.

Here is the trip computer screen of the gauge.

The grip and touch of the 4-spoke steering wheel are satisfying, too. The synthetic covers give the perfect feeling to the steering wheel. Since there were many buttons on the steering wheel, it took me awhile to adapt to all of these various options. But all buttons are located in the right place.

The Eco, trip computer button and reset button are located on the steering wheel. I had first searched near the dashboard to reset the trip computer. The Eco button plays a similar role with the active eco system and has been recently applied to Kia cars. The active Eco function automatically controls your vehicle when you turn it on to have the best fuel efficiency. It maximizes fuel efficiency by restraining the engine’s RPM and by keeping the transmission gear at the highest level. It sometimes gets slower, but accelerates as much as the Eco-off condition when you kick down the accelerator.

UVO (Voice recognition system) and the Bluetooth calling on/off are operated by buttons on the right-hand side. The UVO system activates your audio and phone hands-free while driving your car. It is similar to Ford’s Sync technology. It felt very convenient even though I hadn’t used this function before.

Check out the below video.

Next are the functions located on the left side of the driver’s seat. On the left side, there is a button that adjusts the lighting of the gauge, a VDC on/off button and a LKAS (Lane Keeping Assistance System). I tried the LKAS for the first time, and it was very effective for the night driving in preventing accidents due to sleepiness. The way it works is very simple. The camera next to the rear mirror recognizes car lines and controls the wheel through the Motor Driver Power Steering wheel (MDPS) with an alarm when you drive your car too close to those lines. In other words, the MDPS prevents your car from getting out of the lines by turning the wheel to the left or right. At first, I didn’t know about this but could see the wheel automatically move when taking my hands off. If you take your hands off for too long, the system sets off an alarm with a warning sign that says, ”Hands on.”

*Editor’s note: The LKAS option will be applied to the EU spec of the non-hybrid Optima. The spec is under consideration to be applied to the Optima Hybrid in North America after evaluation of customer needs.

The buttons on the center fascia are also well organized. All of the buttons are settled beneath the display, which shows navigation and hybrid-related information. It might take a while to adapt to all of these buttons, but they are nicely positioned.

There is storage space in front of the gear lever. The buttons for seat ventilation and the seat warming function is located on the right side. The seat ventilation is especially useful in this hot summer to cool off your back and hips. Remember to use it at the proper level!

Many music fans love listening to music inside the car. I totally agree that it is the best place to enjoy music because a vehicle is designed to provide the perfect setting for a good sound. The Optima Hybrid uses the Infinity Sound system! I was quite satisfied with the iPhone earphone bundle, but I can’t stand its sound anymore after listening to music with the Infinity Sound system.

The Optima Hybrid also provides a panoramic sunroof as an option. While drivers usually suffer from a lower roofline with coupe-like sedan, the Optima provides more spacious headroom feel with this sunroof.

These are the back seats. This picture shows the driver’s seat positioned as far back as possible and passenger seat positioned as far front as possible. As you can see, there is very spacious legroom available.

The trunk is relatively smaller than non-hybrid Optima because of its battery, but not so much to make you worry.

Performance

Now we arrive at the last chapter of the Optima Hybrid test drive – the performance! I honestly wasn’t a fan of the hybrid system at first. Because a highly efficient diesel engine can provide similar levels of fuel efficiency with more power/torque. The other reasons were the battery and motor weight. The curb weights of the car are increased even though a hybrid reuses wasted energy as a power source. So what was my final verdict?

First, let’s analyze the balance of the hybrid. In this aspect, the hybrid was more excellent than the non-hybrid model. As you may know, the center of gravity of a FF (Front Engine Front Wheel) vehicle is leaned on the front part of the car. For fun and stable driving, you should balance your car’s weight with a 49 (a front wheel): 51(a rear wheel) ratio. Most FF cars set a balance with at least 55:45 or 60:40, but the Optima Hybrid has a more reliable weight balance by putting the battery beneath the trunk and the back seats. This ideal weight balance made my driving more comfortable. The handling is also very satisfying. . Similar to the non-hybrid Optima, the car drove smoothly on the road and the cornering was satisfying as well. The steering wheel was so properly weighted that I felt more satisfied than with the lighter steering wheel setting. When considering the car as a family sedan, I think it provides good settings for comfortable and fun driving.

The accelerating ability was also beyond my expectations. It is less dynamic than the non-hybrid, but is capable of reaching 60 mph within 9 seconds as the 0-60 mph (about 100km/hr) test video proves.

However, the key point of the hybrid is its fuel efficiency.
As I explained at the beginning of this piece, this test was executed separately on the highway and downtown.

The official EPA label for fuel efficiency on the Kia Motors America website is 35:40 (city:hwy). When driving on the highway with the Eco dynamics turned on, the MPG was 42.3 MPG. I got this result when I drove the car in my normal driving style from Gwhangju to Bundang. It is about the same as the estimated MPG.

It was enough to check just the fuel gauge to know that hybrid has excellent fuel efficiency. It is usual for me to spend half a tank of gas when driving from Gwangju to Bundang, but the hybrid only used a quarter!

In case of the congested downtown driving, the result was 30MPG. It is below the estimated fuel efficiency, because the car was driven in a lower battery charge and inconsistent driving conditions. But the result is still good when considering that fuel efficiency usually drops in a congested area.

You can also drive the Optima Hybrid up to 60km/hr in EV mode. This is only available when you have enough battery charge and avoid abrupt accelerating. The fuel efficiency tends to get lower to recharge the battery if you often drive in EV mode. The below video features the hybrid’s gauge and you can learn more about how the vehicle actually operates. The car is driven in an EV mode in the beginning and delivers engine power for accelerating when the engine is operated. If you slow down the speed or brake, the battery recharges by utilizing the rotation of your drive axle.

You can see the MPG result below when the Optima Hybrid run in a relatively less congested downtown road. This time, the result was better than the estimated fuel economy rating.

This result clearly shows that the fuel efficiency is highly affected by driving conditions. And the driver’s driving style can change the fuel efficiency as well.

Now we reach the conclusion of our test drive. I was persuaded that the hybrid has a great advantage in terms of its excellent fuel efficiency. The driving performance was also quite impressive. I personally prefer hearing the engine and exhaust sounds like the sound from woofer speaker, but I also feel good when listening to K-pop with the best Infinity Sound system and the silent driving system of the Optima Hybrid. In addition, I felt less tired after driving long distance. I will miss the Optima Hybrid for awhile! Like I mentioned before, a well-made diesel engine has great fuel efficiency, but it is far from being on par with a silent hybrid gasoline engine.

And drivers will be satisfied with the Optima Hybrid’s excellent exterior and driver-oriented interior design.

Lastly, I would like to tell you that the degree of completion of the hybrid system was beyond my expectations. The test drive has made me think that driving an electric car will become true in the near future. What about the dynamic engine sounds? I think I should come to enjoy the silent motor sounds.

I would like to recommend the Optima Hybrid to buyers who have kids, commute with their cars and/or are looking for excellent fuel efficiency with a quiet engine and a slick design. Thanks!

Lees hele artikel