2015 Kia Optima Hybrid EX Premium – Review

How Does It Look?               

• Although it shares it’s platform with the Hyundai Sonata – they both look completely different
• People described it to me as gorgeous, pretty and plenty of people including myself say that it’s one of the best looking cars on the road today
• I prefer the rims on the hybrid to the SE we pulled up beside at the lights

What’s It Like Inside?       

• The centre dash has a high-resolution 8-inch multimedia interface with voice-activated navigation
• I like that Kia in its wisdom chose to keep the climate controls separate from the multimedia controls with their own dedicated buttons and knobs – I hate when manufacturers put everything on the screen and it takes forever to scroll through the menus just to change the temperature
• I liked that you could have fresh air come into the cabin without having to turn the A/C on – saving the battery and gas. However, every time my wife adjusted her side, mine changed to – even though it was set at a much lower temperature, and it supposedly had dual climate control.
• The driver and front passenger get standard (in the EX) power-adjustable leather heated and cooled seats with the driver also getting power lumbar.
• The driver’s seat is height-adjustable, but the passenger has to sit very low, close to the floor
• The cooled front seats were virtually non-existent and only worked when the A/C was on. Switch off the A/C to run it with fresh air – as noted above – and the seat coolers switched off too. I didn’t read the manual to check on this one, but perhaps that’s just how they work.
• Rear passengers also get heated seats – nice touch!
• Rear entry and exit for two older people was ‘excellent’ and the seats ‘very comfortable.’ My mother-in-law said she’d happily buy (or have me buy) an Optima because she thought it was beautiful and the rear seats were perfect.
• The driver’s seat was… how can I say this nicely…uncomfortable after 30 minutes. I just couldn’t get comfortable for trips that were more than 30 minutes, and after a long-time sitting they made my bum numb and my back ache – even with the lumbar adjustment all the way out. HOWEVER, after driving the car for a week, I got the seat just perfect – on the trip back to Kia to return the car. Fortunately the driver’s side has a 2-person memory, so once you get comfortable you can lock it in place.
• Switching on the bum warmers helped a little, but they weren’t hot enough, especially if they had to heat you through a winter coat.
• VERY quiet at all speeds, even with the roof open
• Storage space inside the cabin is acceptable, but not outstanding. An average glove-box that is taken up with the manual kinda defeats the purpose when there’s no room for something like – gloves (one of my biggest pet peeves).
• The door pockets are usable but not huge and the centre console is pretty useful – square and quite deep.
• The trunk is larger than I was expecting considering the hybrid equipment and battery reside there – you don’t get folding seats but there is a pass-through for skis etc.
• Killer audio system. Loads of bass and nice clear highs. You can dial the volume all the way up to  just below ear-bleeding levels and it’s still amazing