Thanks to Kia for allowing us to drive the Kia Optima Hybrid for a week. All opinions are my own.
Before Christmas, we had the fun opportunity to drive a 2013 Kia Optima Hybrid EX. My husband has been eyeing this car for a while. Every time he would see it in a parking lot he would bring it to my attention. So he was pumped to get a chance to take it for a spin for a week. He currently drives a 10 year old sedan which has seen better days so this was a real treat for him.
We love the style of the Kia Optima Hybrid. It is like an expensive luxury car that has been made affordable. The first time my husband pointed out the car to me, I was surprised to see it was a Kia. The tires and rims really impressed my husband.
Good looks aside, the biggest selling feature of this car is the fact that it is a hybrid. It is whisper quiet while you are slowly driving through a parking lot or stopped. You would swear the car wasn't even on. It has a display that lets you know your ECO level and ECO score.
This car is so eco-friendly, that it lets you know when you have accelerated too much. My husband accelerates quickly from a stop (okay, I do too) and the display will let you know that. My husband said that it really made him more aware and he now accelerates slower for better fuel efficiency.
You can also see when the car switches from the engine to the battery. We were very impressed with the gas mileage of the Kia Optima Hybrid. It gets 37 mpg and the car can travel almost 500 miles on single tank. With the cost of gas these days, that is a huge plus!
The interior of the Optima Hybrid EX features leather seats and plenty of legroom. The heated steering wheel felt great on my cold hands. And can I just say I am such a fan of the push button start and the smart key that allows you to lock and unlock the car while never removing the key from your pocket. I often have my hands full of groceries, kids and lunchboxes and this certainly saved me from putting every thing down to dig around for keys in my bag.
We had guests visiting for the holidays and they loved the roomy rear seats. We've had a few cold mornings in Northern California and the heated rear seats were a big hit with our guests. The front seats can be either heated or cooled which would be great on a day when the car has been sitting in the sun.
The panoramic sunroof was also a big hit with our guests. It lets so much light into the car and adds to the roomy feeling of the car.
While we had the car, we relied on the voice-command navigation with SiriusXM Traffic. This is a great feature that alerts your of traffic and accidents. Also on the display, is a rear view camera which I found came in handy when backing out in our kid friendly neighborhood.
The 2013 model has more trunk space that the 2012 model. We did a shopping trip and had plenty of room for all our groceries and then some. We would love to see more space in the pass through though. Because of where the battery is placed in the back, some room is lost in the pass through that limits the size of items you can slide through it.
After driving the car for a week it is certainly on my husband's short list of cars he may purchase in the future. The fuel economy, stylish body and luxury features make the 2013 Kia Optima Hybrid a contender.
0 comments:
Post a Comment