Driving a Kia Optima Turbo is…

In one word – WHOA.

Yesterday we had to let go of our the 2011 Kia Optima SX Turbo that we drove for a week. When the gorgeous Spicy Red Optima showed up, my impression was of a great looking car but something that didn’t exactly jumped out at me.

Then, I got in the car and I completely changed my mind!
With the Kia Optima Turbo, you are thrown into luxury without the cost of let’s say a $90,000 car.

If you want to talk mechanically, the Optima Turbo has a 6-speed Sportmatic transmission with a sport-tuned suspension! What exactly does that mean? It means it’s fast and has an amazing pick up when you step on the gas to let’s say, pass slow tourists.
The steering wheel comes equipped with everything you need so you can keep your eyes on the road when you’re driving. Want to change the radio station or the volume, there are buttons for that. Want to call your husband or hang up the call, there are buttons for that too. Of course, the standard cruise control and trip meters are on the steering wheel too so everything is in one convenient place.

One of our favorite features is the Smart Key & push button start. You never have to take the key out of your purse/pocket. Walk up to the car and it unlocks the driver side door and turns on the interior lights for you! If you want to unlock the other doors you hold down a button on both the driver and/or passenger door handle. So so easy especially when I was holding the diaper bag, purse, baby, and making sure my oldest was safely by my side.

The Optima Turbo comes standard with all the features you need like manual tilt and telescopic sheering wheel (good for short people like me), driver’s seat memory – a push of a button will remember your exact seat settings for you and your husband so it’s easy to switch drivers, a panoramic sunroof (the sun roof goes into the back seat as well), heated and cooled front seats, heated rear seats, and so much more.

If you have your Bluetooth turned when you get in the car then the Kia will read all of your data and upload it into the car for you! You will instantly see all of your phone contacts on the huge touch screen. You can wirelessly listen to the music on your phone through seamless streaming so you don’t have to take up one of the input jacks. If you do want to plug your phone into the input jack then the Kia will then upload all your music to the system and on the touch screen you will see all your music so you won’t need to pick up your phone at that point, plus your phone will charge at the same time.

Curious about other Kia vehicles? Check out my other reviews:

• 2013 Kia Sorento
• 2013 Kia Soul
• 2012 Kia Optima Hybrid
• 2012 Kia Optima Turbo

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 Turbo for 8 days thanks to Kia and DriveSTI. I was also compensated in the form of a gift card. All opinions of this amazing car are my very own and my family’s.