Tofino, British Columbia – One supposes that the natural splendour of Vancouver Island’s lush, green environment was seen as an obvious complement to the Kia Optima Hybrid’s eco-credentials, hence our presence in this magnificent and memorable place for the car’s introduction. Well, why not make the connection? The natural world is our home; we want to protect it, and hybrids arguably contribute to that worthy goal. But when it comes to personal transportation, most consumers are okay with protecting the environment as long as they don’t have to compromise on price, power, appearance and utility. Full Article
The Kia Optima and Hyndai Sonata are really good looking cars (arguably better than anything Toyota's got going right now), but the interiors are kind of disappointing.
I'm really glad to see the KIA product as well as the Hyundai. It looks great. I'm a little disappointed that they didn't develop a CVT transmission, even small efficiency gains I think are worth it. I'm more disappointed in the contention that most driving happens on highways and thus designing their Hybrid system to be most efficient in highway performance. IMO all vehicles typically get better highway performance by default. A huge drawing point to me about Toyota and HSD is the gains in "City" mileage. I think as populations continue to grow, even on highways and freeways you get more and more stop and go driving. I live in the suburbs, around a big city, and even when I utilize the "freeway" I often find myself stuck in a traffic jam, which then becomes "city" like stop and go... But overall, more products, more competition...good for everybody. But it's been years and I still see nobody developing a product that competes directly with Toyota Prius. Considering all that Toyota obviously got right with Prius, I still find that strange.
Could it be that it's too complex and that they couldn't duplicate it without excessive development costs? I mean Toyota took the hit but it paid off now. Others may not have the same deep pockets that Toyota has or that because of the current state of the world economy, may not want to risk spending that much on R&D. I'm curious to see what Porsche came up with. They're an engineering company and if anyone was to take on the HSD, it would be Porsche.
CVTs simply aren't popular with public. Honda, and others, have reasons for making their CVTs behave like regular automatics.
CVTs will become popular once more people experience EVs (again, no shift points, seamless acceleration, minus the engine noise of course)
it is purely money and patent issue. PSD's are patented and harder to produce. Porsche is not developing their own system, they use VAGs system developed by suppliers.
Too bad Mini Coopers had so many early CVT failures and stopped offering them. I guess Honda got their CVT right, (and of course the Prius' eCVT is awesome). If I were looking at Kia's first model-year CVT, I'd hesitate until they prove reliability on a par with Honda and Toyota.
Right now, Nissan is leading the way. All their vehicles except their pickup trucks have CVTs as automatics (except the base Versa and I think base Sentra which have 4-spds as well as the Sentra SE-R Spec V which has a 6-spd manual only). Subaru's catching up with optional CVTs (Lineartronic) on Legacy and 2012 Imprezas. Their FE improved dramatically (the 2012 Impreza will also have a smaller 2.0 litre engine). They're now on par with Toyota for FE even with fuel-sucking AWD. That's impressive.
Insideline proper review confirms our fears about these AT based hybrids: they suck. 2011 Kia Optima Hybrid Full Test - real world 29 MPG (mirroring what hyundai drivers are reporting) - crude operation
Insideline proper review confirms our fears about these AT based hybrids: they suck. 2011 Kia Optima Hybrid Full Test - real world 29 MPG (mirroring what hyundai drivers are reporting) - crude operation
That really is um, Imprez-ive. I remember being excited over the first production CVT when the Justy came out. Subaru has come a long way and I had no idea Nissan has been so innovative recently apart from the Leaf. Guess I had a set-in-my-ways view of the car makers, but we're in a period of such rapid industry-wide change (50+mpg CAFE standards? finally!). Fogeys like me are gonna have to update our impressions of these companies if they really deliver better products.
Crap. I forgot about the Z! Yeah I remember the Justy. But the Justy is not an Impreza. No cloth/vinyl seats or a engine size about the same as a smart. I'm pretty sure the Impreza is a damn sight heavier too.
As Spywolf has said, disappointing. They're gas guzzlers. Oh well, it was exciting for a while. Just buy the regular models and you'll get almost the same mileage without the unnecessary complexity and added cost. Why is it that so many manufacturers (marketing departments) keep saying "we're bringing out a hybrid" only to fall flat on their face when they try to deliver. Could it be they are typical car companies, dishonest and in it only to sell sell sell baby!?
Rather disappointing yet it is predictable given the fact the hybrid is based off of an existing platform instead of a dedicated design like the Prius.
they are now riding a Prius wave, where their customers see "40 MPG!!!" and instantly believe it as well as not question its smoothness and reliability, since Prius is so well regarded. So when they average 30 mpg and get 3-4 recalls in the month of production, i wonder if they will change their opinion only on Korean hybrids or on all? Hopefully sucky ones dont ruin hybrid image.
to me, inviting the public to test drive a Prius, then any other hybrid, and the real deal becomes easily apparent. My friends and family and even complete stragers have done exactly this. Most are now in a Prius! There really is no compare to the Prius, not even a "close to equal". Only a lower price seems to sell. See I can sound smug without trying...
The time taken being ... The general complaint seems to be that the transmission's clunky. It's basically a clutched IMA and it doesn't seem to be smooth as Honda's even though the Hyundai/Kia hybrid system is delivering an efficient highway mid-size.
