Kia delivers in style with reborn Optima

Some time ago I got a phone call from a reader who was torn between buying a Hyundai i40 and the Kia Optima and he was quite startled when I responded to his inquiry as to which he should purchase by immediately plumping for the Hyundai, writes Declan Colley

“You didn’t have much hesitation there,” he opined — and he was right. When the two cars came out in 2011, there was much commonality between them and that is very understandable as both car makers are in common ownership and the cars are built on the same platform and share much of the same running gear.

It was immediately apparent, however, that the Hyundai was by far the better driving prospect of the two cars and was much better fettled for Irish driving conditions. The Kia was well- appointed, very competitively priced and certainly the better looking of the duo, but it was pretty grim as a driving companion.