Tag Archives: Car Review

The Boston Globe recently came out with a list of the Top Drives for 2012. The roster included a wide variety of ten cars, trucks, wagons and SUVs (and one “Dreamer’s Bonus”) spanning from the Range Rover Evoque to the BMW X3 and the Acura TSX Sport Wagon. Among the honorees included the 2012 Kia Optima. Here’s what The Boston Globe’s reviewers said about the newly re-designed mid-size sedan:

Kia Optima
Price: $21,750
200-hp I-4/206-hp hybrid/274-hp turbo I-4, 6-speed auto, FWD, EPA 24/35 (standard trim)

During the NBA Slam Dunk Contest in February, Los Angeles Clippers star rookie Blake Griffin jumped over the Kia Optima to complete a dunk. For the rest of the year, it was the Optima doing the jumping over its competition. Sales increased three-fold through the first 11 months of 2011 compared to the same period in 2010.

The Optima has achieved a metamorphosis from “unremarkable” to a first-class, five-passenger, mid-sized sedan. In this total redesign Kia has given the Optima, like all its vehicles, a sportier image than its Korean cousin and corporate sibling Hyundai. Even though the Optima shares a platform and engines with the critically acclaimed Hyundai Sonata, the exterior design, suspension tuning, and interior treatment are significantly different.  The interior is surprisingly spacious. In addition, our test car got a gold star for having a heated steering wheel as an unexpected accoutrement.

We thought the midlevel Optima was just fine though we liked the turbo version as well. It’s also available as a hybrid.

The list of the best cars of 2012 (accompanied with their price) according to the Boston Globe is (in no particular order):

1. Audi A7 ($60,125)
2. Range Rover Evoque ($43,995)
3. Acura TSX Sport Wagon ($32,045)
4. Jeep Wrangler ($22,845)
5. Ford Focus ($17,295)
6. Kia Optima ($21,750)
7. Ford F-150 EcoBoost ($26,185)
8. Subaru Impreza ($18,580)
9. Fiat 500 ($15,500)
10. BMW X3 ($38,775)
11. Jaguar XKR-S ($132,000)

For your viewing pleasure…
here’s the video of Blake Griffin dunking over the all-new Kia Optima:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41EFwuBqEUA