I had a 2013 Optima SX and I completely agree with your comments on the traction control. There were a couple of times where I needed to quickly make a left turn on a busy road, only to have the traction control almost bring the car to a complete stop. This can definitely create dangerous situations, and I ended up just manually putting the car in 2nd if I knew I had to make a quick left turn like that. Great video as always!
I also had a '13 Optima SX! Sold it after 8 months because I couldn't stand how it drove. It was also incredibly loud inside. They put all the money into styling and features and none into the mechanicals or refinement. I sold it to my FIL who loves it! With AWD + the 2.5T and proper stability control calibration this could have been a contendah.
You should ask us Genesis coupe owners what we call the traction control, the "neck breaker", it stops the car incredibly violent especially when you are expecting it to accelerate but it does the opposite.
Sometimes even when you disable the traction control the stability control is still on and when you hit the apex of a corner and the body rolls... it will cut your throttle input to the engine. So if you're making a quick maneuver to save your life for someone else's and you caused the little level to hit its maximum range the ECU cuts throttle. In a lot of new cars you can turn off the traction but you can't turn off the stability or the yaw control all the way.
*The pathetic attempt to cram Bible Class, illegal waxing and Anal Sphincter in the same line!* :) Leave the comedy to the Brits, guys. Just stick to the review. Comedy's not your cup of tea! :)))))))))))
but the Brits are funny. just have a gallon of water ready for drinking as their humor's a bit dry. i guess if you get on all 4's in that back seat, you can have your back and scrotum waxed in a short period of time.
Well, I do that with my regular charger from the lighter port. I have a mount for a phone attached on one of the ventilator ports, and when my phone is there it is cooled. Interesting thing is it charges faster, because the battery doesn't get hot. Win, win ,win :D
i was convinced when he got to the trunk part that it did that. I was like "oh shit its like the stinger in the back" and then it opened and i lost my boner
Savagegeese please don’t change anything on this channel. It is perfect! Your reviews are perfect, your editing is perfect! You have a wonderful consistency that I can expect from every video, And I thank you for that. Looking forward to many more vids!
Unlike GM as well. You would have to be mad to get a Malibu over this. They're right in line in price. (that said, nobody buys a Malibu at MSRP, they're all heavily discounted)
Thank you for mentioning the terrible traction control. I have owned a Kia Optima and now an Elentra GT and the issue is the same. I will pull in to oncoming traffic and need to be aggressive and at times it will just kill the engine and I swear I am going to get killed because even after you are straight the engine is still severally restricted. Now I have gotten to the point of turning off traction control in these situations.
Can it accelerate hard if you roll into the throttle rather than floor it? I.E., avoid the wheelspin then nail it once revs are past where it can break the tires loose? Truly curious to know the answer.
@@jsfbay1 It will sometimes kick in before you have wheel spin. the engine literally just dies and the peddle basically becomes non responsive no matter how you push it down. It's insane and incredibly unsafe and I have never experienced this with another car. My Optima was a 2011 and had this issue and my Elentra GT is a 2018 and is exactly the same. It is totally random and when it happens you go "oh shit" as you know you are screwed for the next 3-5 seconds before you have access to the full power.
It's not a terrible traction control, just not built for sporty driving. There is only so much traction you get on a mainstream, economy, car with skinny tires.
I have a 16 optima sxl and as long as I don’t floor it and turn the wheel from a stop this isn’t issue. It’s never been an issue in what I would call normal driving.
One of the issues with Kia is there is zero cohesion across their lineup. The grille is loosely similar but it seems like they experiment heavily on each model.
@@air-headedaviator1805 Plus the Kia Forte GT with the manual is frigging' good. Zero rev-hang, and really nice and punchy. Only thing is, I had just gotten out of a GTI so it wasn't worth it to me to trade it in...
Always concise and to the point reviews and I really appreciate the high quality jazz music. Iam looking forward to the K5 2.5 turbo review! Jazz music is the only way to roll!
Its way better than all the other channels on YT. The details are crisp, video part 10/10 and never boring. A huge effort results in this kind of content.
My 16 sonata has a similar air box setup and filter changes are so easy. Loving the content as always, this is the only channel that actually puts a car on the lift.
Really good points about traction control tuning. I had a Kia Stinger GT2 and moved to a 2020 M340i, mostly because of Kia's lack of powertrain polish. Even with stability control completely deactivated it would still intervene and upset chassis balance. Some manufacturers just get it right out of the box, but for the moment I don't think Hyundai\Kia are among them. They make excellent products for the typical driver, continue to improve and perfect aspects of the user experience that no one else is even thinking about, and I don't hesitate to recommend them to friends & family. But as a driving enthusiast I find their sheer driving enjoyment and powertrain engineering to be really lacking.
True, but Kia (under Biermann) wants buyers to actually give a crap about its drivability, since they're target-demographic is younger, and their cars are sportier than Hyundai.
But it sounds like it may be a little bit too crappy of a driving experience, normies like boring but they aren't gonna like those acceleration issues with the traction control going wild. There's a difference between fun to drive, boring to drive, and crappy to drive. The K5 is somewhere between boring and crappy, not a good place. The fact that you have to spend well north of $30,000 to get decent power or AWD option puts KIA solidly out of the budget car segment too. At least the exterior and interior looks a lot better I guess?
Ridiculous statement, of course people want a car that drives well. Do think a person after a test drive would buy if it drove badly? No. There are degrees in how cars drive, of course. Based on what kind of car you want. A BULLET Mustang is a high performance car, and will drive accordingly. Not to be compared to a family sedan. Doesn't mean that the sedan shouldn't handle decently, but no one expects it to handle like a Porsche. And lots of car ENTHUSIASTS, buy regular, sedans all the time.
I have a 16 optima sxl and have test driven this. There is only one time when this issue comes up - when you turn the wheel and floor it from a dead stop. What to do? Don’t floor it when turning the wheel from a dead stop. Otherwise it drives really, really nice for the average person. Meaning it’s smooth cruiser that can punch past a slow poke in the highway.
Kia has come a long way. Their early cars were low-end but you could tell they were trying to make the most of the kit. The new models are pretty darn good.
I have owned my K5 GT LINE with premium package now for 7 months. Have never spun the tires taking off from a stop. Just don't slam on the gas and it takes off just fine. I like it very much. Its a very nice car.
I love the really fast hashtags you put in these videos! I like when they're so fast that you have to go back and pause it. It's a fun little easter egg. Tatianna agrees.
Nice car, but the trunk opening is a joke. Fastback sedans like this one should be 5-door hatchbacks. Makes more sense. Like my old 07 Mazda 6i 5-door was.
This design trend is what ruins it for sedan fans. Looks like a liftback but without the practical advantage of it. I either want a hatchback or if I want a sedan then I want a proper surface I can put things on. (Another reason why I love the S2000. Proper trunk lid and so small and handy so that it never feels clunky.)
I am a big fan of your work, But i have a small complain to your final impression section. If this K5 is not a great driver's car in this category please suggests few names too. So that it would be easy to the viewers. Keep doing your best work. You are one of the best unbiased car reviewer.
Fair and balanced review as usual, Mark. A few points... () The midsize sedan market continues to shrink as it has for about six years. The decline is especially harsh in the COVID challenged 2020 calendar year and especially in the SUV crazy US marketplace. Nevertheless, as Mark Twain said about the appearance of his obituary in various newspapers, "The reports of my death are highly exaggerated." Even with the impact of COVID-19 and massive economic pain and uncertainty In the first half of 2020 KIA and Hyundai have managed to sell a total of over 69,000 Optimas (38.8K) and Sonatas (30.2K) in the US before their new models were available. The combined sales ranked third behind the Camry and Accord among mainstream midsize sedans, virtually tied with the Nissan Altima. Considering that Mazda was able to sell only 8000 Mazda6's and Subaru sold only 11,000 Legacy sedans in the first half of the year, the Korean manufacturers are in relatively good shape. Furthermore, despite the worldwide popularity of SUVs, sedans remain more popular in international markets and both Hyundai and KIA depend to a great extent on their home market in Korea (and other Asian markets) where the K5 and Sonata sell well. So it's not surprising to see the brands double down on midsize sedans. () The Optima's name change to K5 follows a trend that manufacturers routinely employ to reinforce their improved prestige as major international brands and unique national monikers are replaced by universal model designations. (An extreme example was Nissan renamed the entire "Datsun" brand to match the corporate name.) The Optima has been long been called the K5 in Korea and other international markets and the K# designation applies to their entire lineup of sedans. The Forte is known as the K3. The Cadenza is the K7 in Korea and their top model sedan, the K900, is known as the K9. (Apparently KIA decided that having a model that sounded like a dog (i.e. Canine) wasn't a good look in the US.) Regardless, the "K#" designation lends some consistency to the entire KIA sedan line-up. () The comment that the K5 feels "sportier" than the near identical Sonata (2:44) is right on (imo). Despite using identical components for the most part the KIA and Hyundai design teams are completely separate and the two brands do an awesome job of designing closely related models that appeal to slightly different market sub-segments (e.g. Telluride vs Palisade; Sorento vs Santa Fe, Forte vs Elantra, etc.) Personally, I find the KIA design language simpler, more elegant, and more appealing than Hyundai's "fussier" image. (Lookin' at you, Palisade) but YMMV. In any event, the K5 projects a more "conventional" look without the Sonata's "Big Mouth Billy Bass" grill. () It will be interesting to see more detailed reviews of the new 2.5L turbo engine that will be available as a performance option in both the Sonata and the K5. In fact, it's an engine (in distinct states of tune) that appears in other Korean brands' vehicles, as well. The 2021 KIA Sorento replaces its V6 with the turbo 4 as its "performance" option and Genesis offers it as the base engine in their GV80 SUV. I'm not aware of whether it will be offered in the 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe but I wouldn't be surprised. It's noteworthy that the new engine employs "dual" injection (port and direct). That should eliminate the noisy (but largely unsubstantiated in the case of KIA/Hyundai) complaints that GDI engines suffer from valve carbon buildup. Frankly, I'm inclined to see it as "market engineering" but that's a personal opinion. In any event there's no question that judging solely from specs (an often risky practice) the new engine should match the performance of the Accord 2.0L turbo and the Camry NA V6. But as noted in the video the question will be how effectively the drive train can put the power down on acceleration.
I own this car It’s the GT Line And it’s a peppy car .. And is very fun to drive One of the best I’ve ever owned as far as that goes . I have enjoyed it
This is going to be the first channel to do official Air Conditioning testing. I’ve always wanted to know which cars did a better job of cooling and heating.
The K5 actually looks real nice from the outside. That grill gives it an aggressive grin. It just needs a 4 wheel drive and a hatchback trunk. And a way to tone down the traction control.
To be fair to the car, US SUVs cannot easily be sold outside the US due to them not meeting European safety regulations for hitting people outside the SUV. This car will barely sell in the US while selling well outside.
@@kevinnorwood7355 I didn't say its a better car; but the fact that its outselling 5:1, means Mazda is not a problem for kia (owned by hyundai). And I drive Mazda, just FYI
Please never stop covering sensible vehicles everyone can afford like this. These are very valuable videos, even if they're not clickbait super sports-inspired car nonsense. I noticed your Patreon just got to ~$2700 a month, and subscribers are nearing 400k. I remember when you took the plunge to drop the paying day-job and do this full-time. Hopefully it's financially comfortable these days to do this. You and Jack Oriental do great work as a team. (more ToddD outros please, they're what get me out of bed in the morning)
Hi Mark, It's great that you guys come up with all those fancy and detailed audio tests and graphs, BUT I bet no percentage of your viewers understand those when you show them in a blink. I'd suggest to explain them to make them worth your time and so the viewers time.
Im really glad you got to review the new K5! I'm actually really happy that Kia is starting to use port and direct injection on the GT 2.5T. Takes away the anxiety of direct injection only problems.
You are correct... most people do not turn and floor it or floor it from stop signs and stop lights. Most people are not doing 0-60 runs on the road. Power is needed for accelerating onto highways and passing. I understand the enthusiast aspect but cars should be judged by how they fulfill what the manufacturer has designed them for not just what us gearheads like
One major difference between the K5 and Sonata is that the latter comes with the normally aspirated 2.5L 4-cyl engine in the two least expensive trim levels (SE and SEL), whereas the K5 has the 1.6L Turbo in all but the GT model. I wonder why Kia didn't opt for the 2.5L in the LX and LX-S trim levels.
Mark, did you lose it for a bit at the beginning? Lol I love your reviews. Nice spicing it up a bit. Hilarious! My girlfriend was like, what's going on there, isn't that a car review? Excellent!
