Kia: Optima primed to take on big boys

The Optima may be one of the best-looking cars to come out of South Korea. Photo / Supplied

We've seen a radically different side to Kia over the last few years, and with the recent launch of its ground-up redesigned Optima, the Korean brand has proven that it's more than capable of footing it with the big boys.

The Optima is the first in the new-look range, underlined by its unique "tiger nose" grille created by former VW/Audi design chief Peter Schreyer. Sure, his unmistakable touch has been seen in a number of recent Kia models - the Corolla-sized Cerato hatch and the excellent Sportage soft roader - but this is the total package.

A mid-sized sedan with enough bells and whistles to have a solid crack at this competitive market segment, the Optima showed its worthiness to attack New Zealand's challenging (read: of dubious quality) roads at its recent launch around the backblocks of Manawatu. Its performance is thanks, in part, to a specially tuned suspension set-up - conceived by a group of experts in Australia - that uses Sachs shocks and springs with the tried-and-true MacPherson strut approach at the front, and a well-sorted multilink rear end.

It shares the willing 2.4-litre four pot with its stablemate Hyundai i45, making a more than respectable 148kW nearing its redline at 6300rpm - this is the same as the stylish Honda Accord Euro, although its 250Nm torque delivery from 4250rpm gives it a slight edge in the grunt department. That said, the 2030kg bulk of the Optima is relatively porky for this market segment, although once the right foot is down and the six-speed auto is doing its thing, the Kia doesn't feel as heavy as it actually is.

This is thanks in part to the fly-by-wire steering system, again with electronics tuned for local conditions, although at higher speeds there is a slight disconnected feel between wheel and bitumen.

Turn in is sharp and responsive and while the big 18-inch rims don't impact too badly on straight-line driving; when it's being pushed out of a rutted country corner, it can track fairly wildly. In these tighter provincial roads the Kia shows the contrasts in its personality, favouring long and open touring over twistier terrain.

Braking isn't class-winning but is adequate, although when used in conjunction with the six-speed's semi-sequential shifting - provided you're not so fast as to confuse the box, a la Cerato - it pulls up fairly easily.

The exterior look is sporty and aggressive, a wide stance with full skirts and monster rims adding up to a tidy modern appearance. This combines with some of Shreyer's favoured design tricks, like shorter glass on the sides and a sweeping chrome line, which make the Optima arguably among the best-looking cars to come out of South Korea.

The interior that will impress the market the most - gone are hard plastics that make a cockpit seem cheap, and a subtle 9.6-degree angle on the centre part of the dash gives a sense of engagement without the claustrophobia that can result when this slight tweak is overdone.

Driving position was easy to get right with a range of adjustments on the leather seats, putting all controls within easy reach, although the higher window line didn't gel well with the Kiwi summer driving stance of one elbow stuck out the window. Or maybe I'm just too short.

So is the Optima up to the task of taking down the likes of Toyota's market-leading Camry, the Mazda 6, Mondeo or even its i45 brethren? At $46,990 Kia has definitely priced it right - a shade below everyone else in the segment - and with the feature list and quality it would be a mistake to not at least take a look at what Kia has achieved here.