Impressive Warranty

Hyundai is Kia's corporate parent, so the Optima gets Hyundai's impressive warranty; it includes 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain protection and 5-year/60,000-mile roadside assistance.

Kia is putting more marketing muscle behind the new Optima. Its predecessor received little marketing support, and most folks wanting a Kia sedan brushed past it in showrooms and headed for the automaker's Spectra model.

The front-wheel-drive Optima has quick steering and a decent ride, but the softness of an older Buick and thus just average handling. The brake pedal has a linear action to help provide smooth stops.

    See also:

    Powerful braking for rapid stopping
    The Kia cee'd has a power-assisted all-disc braking system which delivers excellent stopping power that is highly competitive in the C-segment. The large diameter 280 mm ventilated front discs and ...

    Interior Features
    Test drivers say the Rio and Rio5 have easy-to-read gauges and generally like the layout of the dash, but the praise ends there. The Rio’s barebones interior comes with a four-speaker audio syst ...

    Fuel requirements
    Gasoline engine (unleaded) Your new Kia vehicle is designed to use only unleaded fuel with a minimum Octane Rating of 87 Anti- Knock Index (AKI). NOTICE NEVER USE LEADED FUEL. The use of leaded ...