2.0T
That’ll be an Audi with the ubiquitous two-litre TFSI engine, then. “Not so fast”, says Kia, a subsidiary of South Korean monolith Hyundai. “It’s a Kia”, they continue, in much the same way that every Optima owner will, on a daily basis, no less. Had Kia actually slapped a “2.0T” badge on the back, instead of the GDI-T (denoting Gas Direct Injection – Turbocharged), Audi would, believe it or not, blush at the comparison.
Even though Audi’s new EA888 has upped its game to 211hp and 258lb-ft, the GDI-T utterly trumps that with 274hp and 269lb-ft thanks to direct injection, a sizeable intercooler, and a twin-scroll turbocharger. That Kia badge is suddenly less funny. But where the Audi is all-wheel drive, the Optima is resolutely a front driver. This important difference ensures that the Optima will be rightly compared to the likes of Honda’s Accord and Ford’s Fusion, rather than the more premium nameplates its sultry lines suggest.
Power is routed to those character-defining front wheels through the standard 6-speed automatic, developed in-house, which handles the boosty power delivery assuredly. Paddle shifters behind the steering wheel casually target ratios with all the self-important indifference of snooty British Royalty, which is to say that they can’t be bothered to work. This is probably for the best, because the Optima doesn’t ask its driver to grab it by the scruff of its neck and give it a good shagging, it asks the driver to feel good because he looks good, but more on the looks in a minute. The steering is partly to blame for the lack of enthusiasm; it has some heft to it, but its inaccuracy means that it doesn’t mask the size of the vehicle as well as the small-diameter rim might suggest.