My New 2012 Kia Optima EX Luxury (Part 1)

 
So I’ve traded my 2005 Audi All-Road for a brand new 2012 Kia Optima! First of all, I have a really bad back so I needed to find something that was comfortable to drive.  I generally drive about 140km a day so while comfort was my main concern, fuel economy was also important.
 
After considering many different vehicles, I decided to go with the Kia Optima EX Luxury and let me tell you what a car!  It has just about every single option you could think of including Navigation and back up camera.
 
I added the extended warranty up to 200,000 km, tinted the windows and got the electronic rust control module.  It is black on black and looks absolutely amazing.
 
Driving.  While it is not the fastest vehicle, it is very responsive with the eco mode turned off, but for fuel economy reasons I generally leave it on.  It is tight and is a pleasure to drive.  Most of my driving is through 80 km/h zones with some running around town dropping kids off and driving between locations at work in busier traffic areas.  I filled up the gas tank and reset the trip odometer for the first time.  Through my first half a tank of gas I’m averaging 8.2L/100km and the trip odometer reads 433.8km.

Considering I picked this up during one of the hottest summers in Toronto’s history, with the air conditioning running constantly I am very happy with the mileage thus far.
 
The air conditioned seats are also a treat considering how hot it has been so far.
 
I set up my iPhone 4 via the Bluetooth with ease (see how below).  Just about every time I get in the car my iPhone automatically hooks itself up, my address book was downloaded and with the voice activated commands it is easy to make calls while keeping your eyes on the road.  I was also really pleasantly surprised to press the media button and have a saved playlist on my phone start streaming through the stereo via the Bluetooth.  I have not yet tried the supplied iPod cable that comes with vehicle, but will soon.
 
There has been a couple of times where I had manually select the Bluetooth option again from my phone, but i’m not sure if it is an iPhone issue or a kia issue yet.  Will report back soon… read Part 2 here.
 
Anthony Gilpin – new owner of a 2012 Kia Optima EX Luxury
*** See Part 2 of my Kia Optima blog here…
 
How to Sync your Kia vehicle with your iPhone:
How to Sync your Kia vehicle with your Blackberry smartphone: