Kia Is Coming for Us Once Again Jmharenchar

TechRadar Verdict

Kia has a winner on its hands, with plenty of useful engineering science and amenities matched with good route feel, steering response, suspension tuning and abrupt looks.

Pros

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  First-class infotainment system with Android Auto

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  Useful driver help technologies

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  Driving dynamics

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  Harman Kardon sound system

Cons

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  Apple CarPlay support not ready

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  Cheap plastics used in the lower eye console

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  Excessive chrome utilize

Mid-size sedans are the bread and butter of the American automotive industry, falling just backside pickup trucks in terms of overall sales. This highly competitive segment is where every manufacturer brings its A-game to grab a clamper of the combined yearly sales that reach nearly two.four million vehicles.

If you asked what I idea about Kia vehicles a decade ago, the reply would have included not-so-kind remarks and plenty of sarcasm. That was always the instance when it came to Korean vehicles, which earned a reputation for terrible quality vehicles in the '80s and '90s.

Armed with a ten-yr powertrain warranty and apace learning to build better cars, Kia kicked off the new millennium with its first generation Optima, which was as obviously equally vanilla ice cream. It wasn't until 2010, when Kia unveiled the Peter Schreyer-designed Optima, that I finally was able to combine the words "Kia" and "stunning" into a single judgement. Prior to joining Kia in 2006, Schreyer contributed to Audi'southward and Volkswagens, including the TT, fourth generation Golf and new Beetle. He is at present the chief designer for all Hyundai and Kia vehicles.

V years later, and my stance stays the same: the 2010-2015 Optima is one of the best looking midsize sedans available, and Peter Schreyer's styling has anile gracefully. Regardless, information technology's time for a alter, and the new 2016 Kia Optima debuted at the New York Machine Show earlier this twelvemonth with subtle visual updates while presenting a completely different machine.

Styling-wise, the 2016 Optima doesn't look very distinguishable from its striking predecessor. Some may say the new model is more bourgeois, which I agree with. However, the 2016 redesign is the equivalent of putting on a tailored adapt and tie. The new Optima keeps the same basic shape and form of the previous generation but subtly evolves visual details past smoothing out the the sharp edges and lines to add a bear upon more than elegance while maintaining a recognizable face.

I like the new design, specially from backside. But unfortunately, as with other cars in the mid-size segment, there's excessive use of chrome details.

Interior

Inside is where yous spend most of your time in a car, and Kia crafted an bonny, driver-focused motel. Step into the Optima SX – Kia loaned techradar for review – and you're treated with leather heated seats that go very toasty. (Ventilated seats are optional on the SX and standard on the SX Limited.)

Grab the steering wheel, and yous're treated to a leather-wrapped, flat-bottom bicycle with thumb grips that give the car a performance-oriented expect and feel. The wheel is heated and gets very warm for those cold forenoon drives to work in the wintertime.

The seats are very comfortable for long drives without any shoulder or cervix hurting. Lumbar adjustments eliminate lower back pain by providing support that suits the curvature of your dorsum. At that place's the right amount of width and side bolster to back up my 5-foot, 7-inch and 195-pound frame as well. The Optima SX and SX Limited feature 12-manner adjustable power seats for the driver with 4-way lumbar adjustments – a 10-way ability rider seat with ii-way lumbar is optional on the SX and standard on the SX Limited.

I'm a fan of the new headrest blueprint, a soft plush cushion with a pillow-like feel. Opt for the SX Limited trim, and the seats are wrapped in fine Nappa leather with a diamond quilt pattern – for that extra touch of class.

Look forward, and y'all're treated to a pair of analog gauges for the speedometer and tachometer with an LCD display sandwiched in betwixt. The judge cluster LCD display provides admission to vehicle settings, such equally light-off delay time, automated door locks, driver assists and more than.

This way, you lot can brand quick changes to lucifer your personal preferences without having to bring the car into the dealership. The brandish as well ties into the navigation software to bear witness turn-by-turn directions and basic vehicle data including fuel economy, tire pressure level and trip meters.

Interior materials are adept with tight fit and end suitable for a luxury sedan in the price range. Kia employs high-quality soft touch on materials on the upper half of the dashboard while the lower parts consist of cheaper difficult plastics, but this is adequately normal for other mid-size cars too.

The door panels are wrapped generously in vinyl, with plenty of soft impact materials, too. Overall, the interior layout, materials and level of comfort in the new Optima are good and it's a great place to be for your daily commute and roadtrips. The driver-focused interior puts you in control of the car with easy to reach buttons and knobs and the most frequently touched surfaces, such as the armrest and steering wheel is wrapped in leather.

At that place is ane annoyance I take with the interior, one that affects most of the Optima vehicles, and that's the human foot-operated parking brake. While vehicles with adaptive cruise command get an electronic parking brake, most of the Optima models will ship with the foot-operated restriction that looks more like it belongs in an '80s pickup truck than a modern car. It's a small-scale nitpick that however bugs me since manufacturers began moving abroad from the paw-brake.

Infotainment system

Kia employs its AVN 4.0 infotainment platform in the 2016 Optima, powered by a Freescale i.MX53 System on a Fleck (SoC) and a Linux-based operating system. The single-core ARM Cortex-A9 SoC is ancient by modern smartphone standards but perfectly adequate for in-automobile navigation.

Mounted high and middle on the Optima dashboard is an 8-inch touch screen with a resolution of 800 x 480. The display isn't every bit crisp as the latest Apple Retina displays or WQHD displays on Android flagships, but you're not looking at fine details from your driving position, so I have no problems with it.

The Visuals used for the interface are easy on the eyes and easily legible from the driver'southward seat. Touch response is first-class without lag, despite employing a resistive (plastic, no multi-touch) touch display rather than capacitive (drinking glass, supports multi-touch), which dominates the mobile tech world.

Kia opts for physical buttons and knobs placed lower on the center stack that are like shooting fish in a barrel to reach. The physical buttons complement the touch on screen interface for direct access to music sources, maps, UVO (Kia's own phone-connected data services), book, seek functions and binder navigation.

At that place are radio controls on the left-side of the steering wheel for similar functions, too. I appreciate the physical controls, as they provide quicker and direct feedback when turning up the volume or irresolute the music source while focusing on the road. Placing the steering wheel controls on the left-hand side is perfect for those that bulldoze primarily with their left manus on the bicycle.

The user interface is very intuitive, with quick admission to your audio sources, UVO apps, navigation and settings – the functions aren't buried beneath layers of sub-menus. Pairing your phone is an easy process that's triggered when you press the phone button without a device paired to the car.

Navigating SiriusXM, Hard disk radio or USB storage devices bring no surprises with a straightforward user interface. The SiriusXM 2.0 tuner features time-shifting capabilities for the first half dozen presets.

When a SiriusXM station is gear up to one of the first six presets, music is constantly recorded, and then y'all can aqueduct surf and restart a song that's already playing. Navigation maps are plain and flat but exercise the task. Kia's maps aren't as detailed equally the 3D maps used past Ford and luxury auto makers merely acceptable for getting y'all around town.

SiriusXM NavTraffic support is integrated in the infotainment system, only I find the characteristic quite useless. Unless you lot're entering an accost into the navigation everywhere you go, SiriusXM NavTraffic does not know where you're going and will not recommend culling routes if there's a jam or congestion.

At that place'southward also the problem in which I tin see a jam in forepart of me, simply NavTraffic doesn't show any congested traffic. A subscription costs $3.99 a calendar month after the initial iii-month trial menses expires, but yous're amend off saving the coin and using Google Maps or Waze for commuting.

Those that heavily rely on a smartphone everyday will be happy to hear that the 2016 Optima supports Android Auto, which lets your smartphone have over the in-vehicle brandish with a Google Now-esque interface. The Kia Optima user interface lets drivers mind to music via the motorcar's sources while letting Android Auto take over the screen for Google At present cards or Google Maps navigation.

I played with Android Machine in the car and plant no operation issues with my Motorola Nexus 6.

There is one downside, though, and it's the power output from the USB port: I measured ability output at 0.8-amps using a Drok USB Volt Amp Meter. This is plenty to charge the telephone while using navigation, just it doesn't accuse very fast.

Sound quality from Android Auto is disappointing, but that's Google's fault and not Kia's. Android Machine sends music via Bluetooth instead of the USB connection already in utilise, unfortunately.

Newfangled iPhone 6S users are left out at launch with the new Optima. Kia promises Apple CarPlay support with the Optima and other vehicles side by side year via a software update. I've played with development units (a box with the infotainment organisation, not in a motorcar) and oasis't encountered any issues. The feature mirrors iOS functions to the vehicle display so you accept the standard home push that's at present on-screen and the iOS grid layout for CarPlay compatible apps.

The infotainment system does feature apps, such as Pandora, Yelp and the UVO features. Pandora integration uses Bluetooth for Android and a wired connection for iOS. Audio quality is obviously better through iOS, thanks to the wired connectedness. I didn't get a hazard to exam out the other UVO features, as the user logins were not provided with Kia's sample car for review, unfortunately.

Bluetooth phone connectivity is straightforward, with proficient call quality on iOS and Android that was costless of hisses, pops or the person on the other cease of the line complaining about not hearing me. There'south aught out of the ordinary in terms of functionality. The infotainment system can connect to phones via Bluetooth and download the contact listing and telephone call history.

Kia'south phone system does non support text messages. However, y'all're better off using Android Auto or the upcoming CarPlay functions, equally Apple tree and Google will allow yous dictate messages using cloud-based services.

Current page: Design, interior and infotainment

Side by side Page Audio, commuter assists and more than

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Source: https://www.techradar.com/uk/reviews/car-tech/kia-optima-1310298/review

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