2021 Optima Press event

[Waynerm002]

Watching a live stream of the press event, the car looks really nice!

KIA Korean site have more photos and info.

KIA 3세대 K5 탄생 | 강렬한 인상과 독보적 존재감

1080p stream

 

[MerlintheMad]

Wheels are a non starter. Bleh. "Wood" interior accents. Really, that is a surprise. Never liked that either, because it starts to look like scratched crap after a while. Like the lights and the body styling: other than the trunk line across the rear window. Over all it is a sharp looking car.

 

[namja]

I like the wheels. Not the best, but they're fairly attractive.

Dont a lot of the trims for Tellurride have wooden trim interior?

 

[Nuthadey]

I like the wheels. Not the best, but they're fairly attractive.

Dont a lot of the trims for Tellurride have wooden trim interior?

Yes. It's a fairly common material to use with upscale interiors across a wide range of vehicles. And it's probably more durable than the aluminum trim we have in our car.

I'm sure it's some form of synthetic wood so it should resist wear and tear.

 

[Waynerm002]

Never expected the wood look in the Optima to be similar to the K900. KIA has been doing more in their home market and other places that view the brand highly, to make them look premum. Keep in mind though, these are Korean market vehicles. KIA has been using Krell Audio systems in some of their vehicles since 2016 if I remember correctly. I've seen it on the Niro, Cadenza and I believe the Sorento on their Korean website. Matter of fact, the display Niro in US dealers, prior to launch was sporting Krell Audio. The IP is all digital on the display cars, with a large infotainment screen, but of course those are the highest level vehicles in each category. The white hybrid one looks nice and now they have a rotary dial for gear selection on all the cars displayed.

I really like the coffee (light coffee) looking seats color and the way they did the wood, similar to the K900, it breaks up all the black in the car if you get the black interior. Would have looked good with a frame less review mirror. Not really a fan of the dial on the screen, but with the current design, there is no place else to put it. I like this redesign, it now gives the car that 4 door coupe look, plus the interior has a "family" look to match the K900. I do hope those 2 Grey and Titanium exterior colors make it stateside, they look really good.

 

[robz32]

Wow it look great. A much needed refresh, can't wait to see it in person, and I hope Kia USA don't screw it up like it did with the Stinger.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Wow it look great. A much needed refresh, can't wait to see it in person, and I hope Kia USA don't screw it up like it did with the Stinger.

What, does that mean?

 

[Waynerm002]

What they order and set the price at, is a good start. Stinger was announced to be no more than $45K loaded, then it came at $52K (w/AWD) and had less equipment than other markets and the jackass dealers want to add $8k on top of it.

 

[Aarvix]

Recessed Kia oval badge in the hood, good luck re-badging!

I like it, the interior looks way nicer than its price point, these mass-market vehicles keep getting better and better, especially the Korean offerings (GM, please fire all your interior designers). The fully digital cluster is great (a la K900), but I think the fake woodgrain looks cheesy.

 

[Bigjohnb20]

What I wouldn't do for that climate control module to replace the one in my Stinger. Besides looking pretty cheap (essentially the exact same unit out of my wifes 25K Sportage) I hate that the only way to see the climate info is on the main screen. And no way to quickly glance at the settings without pulling up the climate page and leaving the page you were on or making an actual adjustment to the temp.

 

[Waynerm002]

I think it is about time they got it out of the infotainment system. I like the European way of doing interiors and I am happy that KIA is making some changes in that direction over time. The K900's dash has been updated and placed in the Optima and it looks good! The entire car looks good as is! I hope they do not design a new bumper to add LED marker lights or fog lights for the US market, this car looks great to me. The only thing I would do differently is make the entire rear cluster LED and not have any incandescent bulbs back there. On the interior, I hope they have some additional colors, some shades of brown, red and charcoal (grey) instead of the current grey they have.

 

[BlueByYouGT]

The interior looks more Palisade than K900 to me, specifically the way the infotainment screen is integrated into the cluster area instead of just popping up from the dash and standing isolated like on the K900.

 

[SKStinger]

Love it! I’d take that front end on my Stinger. Looks aggressive! And those two tone seats are nice!

 

[GenesisG70]

Legit! These Koreans are in a roll with awesome new cars such as Teluride, new Azera, Pallisade now this Optima!

 

[Alex Barsanti]

Sorry, but am I the only one that thinks the front end looks like someone with a massive underbite? I don’t like that the hood appears recessed in a bit compared to the bumper.

 

[GRStinger]

Love it! I’d take that front end on my Stinger. Looks aggressive! And those two tone seats are nice!

Agreed. From the A-pillar back - lots of Stinger-like lines. The Koreans are putting out some serious cars. From what I see (on the herky-jerky video), it looks fantastic.

 

[Nuthadey]

Legit! These Koreans are in a roll with awesome new cars such as Teluride, new Azera, Pallisade now this Optima!

There is no new Azera. The old Azera hasn't been shipped to the U.S. for almost 3 years. The current generation, which is called Hyundai Grandeur has been produced for over 3 years now and isn't for sale in North America.

 

[Waynerm002]

The 2020 Korean Grandeur has its press debut last Tuesday, the Grandeur name has been trademarked in the US so it might be making a come back to the States. Here is an English review from Korea:

Another

 

[Waynerm002]

Here is an English review from the Optima Launch Event:

 

[BlueByYouGT]

The 2020 Korean Grandeur has its press debut last Tuesday, the Grandeur name has been trademarked in the US so it might be making a come back to the States. Here is an English review from Korea:

Another

That is not an attractive car. The last gen of Azera sold in the U.S. was a pretty big failure for Hyundai. Now they have various Genesis models that would be sold alongside it (if it was brought back to the U.S.). I doubt Hyundai is going to bring a previous failed car back onto the U.S. market and put it in competition with G80s.