First Drive: 2011 Kia Optima

Rivalries are a fact of life. When they are in the family, they can be troublesome. On the other hand, they can help to raise the level of game for both family members.

That’s the case Kia finds itself in with the 2011 Kia Optima.

First seen at the New York International Auto Show back in April, the Optima looked a stunning, almost Teutonic counterpart to the stylized and swoopy Hyundai Sonata. This wouldn’t much matter if the two cars came from separate automakers, but the Optima and Sonata are direct rivals offered by the same parent company.

At that point, the gauntlet was thrown, and all bets were off. It looks like Kia is not content to just play second fiddle anymore.

See also:

Door locks
Operating door locks from outside the vehicle • Turn the key toward rear of vehicle to unlock and toward front of vehicle to lock. • Turn the key toward front of vehicle to lock all doors. ...

Wiper blades
Wiper blade maintenance Commercial hot waxes applied by automatic car washes have been known to make the windshield difficult to clean. Contamination of either the windshield or the wiper blad ...

Parking brake
Checking the parking brake Check the stroke of the parking brake by counting the number of “clicks’’ heard while fully applying it from the released position. Also, the parking brake alone ...