2007 Kia Optima LX 2.4 from North America
Summary:
Still preaching - get them now while they are still cheap!
Faults:
Nothing.
General Comments:
Wow! What a steal! Just traded in my 2006 Optima (2.4, 5-speed) for a 2007 LX with the Appearance Package (17's, leather steering wheel with radio/cruise, aluminum interior, fogs) and am thoroughly impressed with the car.
For a 4 cylinder, this thing really kicks the dust up. The 5-speed manu-matic is very responsive, and the car handles and feels like it is 500 pounds lighter.
I just took 2 long trips in flat and mountainous locales, and easily clipped along at 80 mph. The car didn't even sweat it, and was just starting to get in its power band. All this and it returned an honest 33 mpg.
I have had numerous compliments on the vehicles performance, including a guy that has a supercharged 350Z. He couldn't believe how loaded it was for so little money. I have the identical car in a 2007 Sonata, but something about the Kia's transmission management software has this little 4 cylinder jumping hard when you put your foot in it.
Excellent build quality, killer warranty, and inexpensive prices make this one car to watch.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 14th January, 2008
27th Jul 2008, 18:23
The 2007 Sonata does not have a 4 speed automatic, not with the 3.3 v-6 at least. I have one and it has a 5 speed automatic.
24th Feb 2009, 13:13
I own a 2007 Hyundai Sonata, and it also has the 5 speed shiftronic transmission, not the 4 speed auto that was mentioned.
21st Mar 2009, 23:29
OK let me clarify. The '06 to '08 Sonata 4cyl. has a 4-speed auto. The V6 version has the 5-speed auto. However, the Kia Optima 4cyl. and V6 have the 5-speed auto. Why they did this, I have no clue. They have two different V6 engines also. The Sonata has a 3.3L and the Optima a 2.7L. Trust me, I've done the research.
5th Apr 2008, 12:07
The difference in transmission performance between your '07 Optima and '07 Sonata are that they have 2 completely different automatic transmissions. The '07 Optima has a 5-speed automatic, while the '07 Sonata has a 4-speed automatic. Kia and Hyundai are joint companies and the 2 cars are basically the same, so not sure why they felt the need to put two different automatic transmissions in them. I test drove an '07 Optima and was surprised that it even had a 5-speed automatic over a more commonplace 4-speed unit considering it's a bargain priced midsize sedan. I was very impressed with the driving character of the car overall, BUT I felt the 4cyl was coarse and rough sounding when pushed hard and the 5-speed automatic was too shift happy on the highway. Probably less of an issue with the V6. I thought Hyundai was trying to seperate itself from Kia by moving Hyundai more upscale luxury-oriented and moving Kia to be more sport-oriented. They don't quite have this figured out yet by offering an outdated 4-speed auto in the Sonata with a 3.3L V6 and the Optima with a 5-speed auto and 2.7L V6. I'm not sure why they kept a 4-speed auto and the old 2.7L V6 at all.