In November I drove the 2011 Kia Optima Turbo and it was great. My husband loved it’s “kick” when you stepped on the gas. Well a few weeks ago I had the pleasure of reviewing the 2012 Kid Optima Hybrid and it was equally amazing.
The Turbo and Hybrid share some similar features like the push button start, heated and cooled front seats, panoramic roof, and spacious interior.
What the Hybrid has over the Turbo is nothing short of amazing in my book.
Hybrids are of course known for their amazing gas mileage and when I tell you I was blown away, I’m serious. I was given the car on a full tank of gas, when I clicked the trip screen a couple of screens over I saw that it said 570 miles until empty! 570 miles people! If my husband drove the Optima Hybrid to and from work (only) I think we’d only have to fill up once a month!
I drove a lot in the week I had this Satin Metal beauty. I drove pretty much every where I could and made every excuse in the book to leave the house, and even with all that driving we barely saw the electronic gas gauge move down.
This eco-friendly car gets 40 miles highway and 35 miles per gallon driving in the city. You could possibly get more miles or even less by the way you drive of course but that’s why they have lots of tools in the car to help you understand how to use the car to get the most out of the hybrid engine.
The more flowers you see (bottom left – trip screen) growing the better your ECO level, the more leaves you see (bottom center – center screen) blowing back the better your ECO level. Honestly, I never changed the trip screen to any other than the flowers because I thought it was so cool.
Looks wise, this looks like it costs a million bucks. I had people staring at the car at stop lights and even had a couple of people as about the rims (they come standard by the way!). So yes, this is a hot car to drive and to look at.
The interior is more than spacious with lots of elbow room for a growing family. I’m not quite sure you could fit 3 car seats in here unless you get 3 Diono Radian car seats but I do know that 2 car seats on either side of the doors still made for a comfy space for passenger to sit in between. As for the trunk it’s a nice size. The Hybrid part of the engine is back (see below picture) there so that takes some space away but it’s still a good size and can fit a full size stroller (see picture above).
Other great features include:
- panoramic sun roof
- hands-free calling from the steering wheel
- available back up camera
- push button start
- full-length side curtain airbags
- 2.4L 4-cly Hybrid engine
- 6-Speed Sportmatic Transmission
- power folding side mirrors
- heated steering wheel
- 2 Driver seat memory buttons
- and lastly the amazing GAS MILEAGE!
We absolutely loved our week in the 2012 Kia Optima Hybrid. I highly recommend anyone looking for a car with great performance, great gas mileage and will last – get the Optima Hybrid.
Curious about other Kia vehicles? Check out my other reviews:
If you’d like to shop local deals and get competing quotes without having to go into a dealership.
Disclosure: I test drove the Kia Optima Hybrid for 7 days thanks to Kia and DriveSTI. All opinions of this amazing car are my very own and my family’s.
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super classy looking!
That looks awesome, the gas mileage alone… We drive a beast, a big Toyota SUV but here in Canada the 4X4 is a must have. I dream of a little car that doesn’t eat gas though:)
Looks nice and roomy, I’d love to test drive one.
Love that trunk space and you certainly can’t go wrong with an eco-friendly hybrid. Kia’s have come a really long way!
The Kia Optima is such a nice car. I love the design
Nice!
Now that looks like a sporty and eco-friendly vehicle!
This car really has it all! We loved it when we got to test drive it!
Looks pretty!
Very cool! I”ve never really looked into Kias. Might have to check them out!
This car was so fun to ride in and it has amazing features!
Oh, nice! I neeeeed a push-to-start car. LOL
I’ve been wanting to test drive one of these. I need to head on down since I’m looking to get a new car at the end of the year.