Re: Here is the new 2021 Kia Optima

On Wednesday, November 13, 2019 at 8:26:51 PM UTC-5, MummyChunk wrote:
> Can we say that the Kia optima has come along way since the original?
> See the last picture in this post. This new 2021 Kia optima is a real
> looker and I m sure a lot of people will be signing up to buy one
> right away
> 
> From JL
> <>
> 
> In general, the Kia Optima (K5 in Korea) isn t one of those cars you
> generally think about too much unless you re looking down at the
> rental car keychain to remember what they gave you. But that s not
> really a fair assessment: the Optima has been steadily and stealthily
> getting better and better looking over the years since its
> introduction in 2000. The latest 2021 version actually seems like a
> car you can t ignore anymore. Kia just released the first official
> images of the South Korean-market K5, and it looks great.
> 
> While these images are technically the K5, the Optima version is
> almost certainly going to be effectively the same car.
> 
> It s worth remembering how far the Optima has come, design-wise. It
> started out as a quite anonymous mid-size sensible car back in 2000,
> with the only really notable design elements being, well, puzzling.
> The extra round headlamps were at least an interesting visual
> differentiator from many other almost identical cars of the time, but
> what was going on with this grille made of chrome fangs?
> 
> The new look is a development of the look established in the 2015
> model under ex-Audi designer Peter Schreyer and takes the key
> established design elements the distinctive wide grille shape, slim
> headlamps, a more purposeful, aggressive stance and pushes them to
> greater extremes.
> 
> The rear is particularly striking, I think, with some novel design
> happening in the way the roofline is treated. The main brightwork
> element along the sides of the car follows the roofline instead of the
> more traditional lower beltline, forming a graceful arc from the
> A-pillars, swooping up to the roof rails, then encircling the lower
> edge of the rear window, which is visually unbroken from the roof
> panels, around the car to return to the A-pillar on the other side.
> 
> It s a look we haven t really seen on many mainstream cars before, and
> while it doesn t shout its presence, it s eye-catching. While the
> K5/Optima looks, excitingly, like it might be a big hatchback, it
> seems it s got a traditional trunk lid.
> 
> This is a disappointment, since Kia has already started down the big,
> five-door hatch path with the Stinger, and I would have hoped the
> Optima would have continued this very practical and under-appreciated
> design. Oh well.
> 
> The lighting design is interesting, too. At the rear, there s a long,
> full-width taillight assembly, with a curious zig-zag lighting
> signature at the corners.
> 
> That same graffiti-like streak is at the front as well, forming the
> DRLs. This is the one element I m not completely sold on, but
> distinctive lighting I think is always good, so I m not against it,
> either. I ll have to see it in person.
> 
> The Kia family identity grille has been freed of its chrome bezel
> here, its outer shape defined by the hood from above, which continues
> the contours back to the windshield, and from below by the bumper.
> This lets the grille mesh simply fill the volume between hood and
> bumper, which I think is a strong look.
> 
> This new Optima looks as sophisticated and refined as any BMW or Audi
> or Lexus, I d think, and based on the recent quality of Hyundai/Kia in
> the past few years, should be a pretty damn good car. With this new
> Optima, the only thing brand snobbery is going to get most potential
> buyers who would turn up their noses at the Kia badge is many, many
> more months in car payment debt.
> 
> Drivetrain-wise, nothing official has been announced, but it s likely
> to offer Kia s 2.5-liter four or their 1.6-liter turbo-four, and it s
> likely a hybrid will be available.
> 
> Good job, Kia. I look forward to having one of these as a rental car I
> won t immediately forget.
>  
> View the attachments for this post at:
> http://www.jlaforums.com/viewtopic.php?p=514007102#514007102