Professional Reviews

• “The Optima Hybrid delivered unimpressive fuel mileage when we drove it with no babying.” — New Car Test Drive
• “We found the Optima Hybrid transmission awful. It would not respond to on-off throttle, for example on the freeway shooting for holes. When it's changing gears, sometimes it feels like it's slipping, other times like it's snatching. It felt like we were towing a big bag of boulders. ” — New Car Test Drive
• “Wintry conditions do not suit the Optima. When we drove the Hybrid in snow we found little traction. We'll remember this Optima as the one-wheel-drive car. On our sloping driveway with a couple inches of snow, left front tire on asphalt and right front on ice, the power went to the tire on the ice, which just spun, as the car went nowhere. If you live in the Snow Belt look elsewhere. ” — New Car Test Drive
• “[The Kia Optima Hybrid] doesn't deliver top mileage, but if you're shopping for a hybrid sedan, it's as competent a player as you'll find on the market. ” — Cars.com
• “The Optima Hybrid earned a five-star overall crash test score from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. It also earned a Top Safety Pick designation from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, that agency's highest honor.” — Cars.com
• “With its creased sheet metal and low-slung shape, there's luxury-car sophistication to the Optima's exterior that you don't see in a lot of family sedans.” — Cars.com
• “...the Optima lags a little behind its peers. Its seats are hard and unsupportive, road noise is abundant over rough surfaces, and some of the lower trim plastics are hard and scratchy. ” — Automobile
• “The Optima lags well behind the Fusion's powertrain refinement, although its design makes the Ford - and everything else in the segment save the Hyundai - look frumpy and old.” — Car and Driver