Kia Optima: Sporting in Style At The Atlanta Jazz Festival

Kia Optima: Sporting in Style At The Atlanta Jazz Festival

Recently I took a vacation/girls trip to Atlanta for the Jazz Festival and spent time with friends.

While there, the good folks at KIA, USA gave me the brand new 2014  Kia Optima LX Limited to drive around.

Verdict?

Awesome sauce!

Let me say this, the team at Kia sure knows how to take care of a lady who had taken a haphazard flight from Detroit to #Hotlanta and turned my frown upside and achieved for me a day with a very happy ending.

haphazard flight= my early morning 7 am flight was delayed until 1130 am. All because a flight attendant called in sick.

I got off the airplane, gathered my luggage and was met by the representative with keys in hand. As I was shown to my new ride for the week I was very impressed indeed. Nothing like being on vacay and riding in a stunning luxury sports sedan.

Now.. I’m a Mom. Anytime I can take a girl’s weekend a.k.a Mom away week without the boys is always a perk.

The brand new 2014 Kia Optima with it’s low profile design is sleek and elegant and this one was fully loaded. A girl could get used to this kind of treatment. After putting my luggage inside the spacious trunk I opened the door and slipped inside of a dream.

Now, a thing about me, I am in love with sports cars. I always have been a fast and furious kind of’ girl at heart.  But being a mom of three boys, we’re a family of five, practicality takes precedence over just about all aspects of my life.

But this week was the exception the rule. The Kia Optima LX Limited is a lot things rolled into one amazing mode of transportation. From ventilated front seats, the UVO infotainment and telematics system with voice-recognition technology, and the all important Back-Up Warning System this car stands out from similar cars in it’s class.

Once I got accumulated to the all features, I opened up the sun roof (love that it is the full length of the car), punched in my destination to the navigation system, turned up the volume of my music and took off to explore Atlanta.

{I always like testing out sound systems with this song. If you’ve never listened to Hypontize, go here to check it out. Then you’ll see why!}

Especially with features like:

• AM/FM/CD/MP3/SiriusXM audio system
• Six speakers w/door-mounted tweeters
• USB/auxiliary input jacks
• Bluetooth® wireless technology

Just to name a few. But for me the must impressive features were the ones under the hood, with a 2.0 Turbo GDi this baby has a bit of get up and go. And believe me that is just what I did. When driving to Columbus, I did let her rip for a bit ;)With the Kia Optima LX Limited I got in touch with my inner Danica Patrick and luckily no speeding tickets. Back in the day I used to like to race my little ole’ hoopty of a car down a busy street against some monster trucks.

Relax.. I didn’t do any racing in this baby, but Oh I wanted to!!

Gas Mileage. I know you’re wondering about that. As you should. If you live in a big city or just familiar with Atlanta, then you know that everything is a drive. I was there from a Wednesday to a Wednesday. I didn’t put gas in the car until Monday night. I put in $40 bucks. I averaged 23.6 MPG. I went all over Atlanta from the West End, to the city for the Jazz Festival and fun, and back to the country (about 20 miles from the city).

I even took a quick day trip down to Columbus, GA to visit a childhood friend and her family.

I think it’s very important that I mention the trunk space of the Kia Optima. It’s HUGE! We went to the Jazz Festival and stuffed in the trunk:

• a wagon
• Blankets
• Cameras and equipment
• Big Cooler
• bags of food and drinks
• bags with an extra change of clothes
• 4-5 lawn chairs
• 2 small umbrellas and 1 big one

And it all fit. Nicely!

Once we had everything in the trunk, we were off to the Jazz Festival. But first… we had to take a Selfie!

Check out some additional features:

Kia Optima LX Limited Standard Exterior Features

• 18-inch tires w/alloy wheels
• Dual exhaust w/ chrome tip
• Outside heated mirrors w/ turn-signal indicators
• Solar glass
• Body-color side molding
• Chrome/Body-color exterior door handles
• Projection-style headlights
• HID headlights
• LED rear combination lamps
• LED positioning lights
• LED front fog lights
• Tinted glass w/windshield sunshade band

And you get all this and Kia’s award winning 10-year 100,ooo warranty starting at the low low of $21,500 this a car not only to consider but make a part of your driving life.

Two features I noticed that were different in this Kia Optima vs the other vehicles:

The Glove Compartment has a little back compartment where you can keep small bottles of  water cold. Yes a little freezer. That was totally unexpected, but cool.

The other feature was the logo that would light up when you opened the doors (#fancy)

Sadly, I had to give her back. However,  my top “likes” on the Optima were:

• 2.0 Turbo
• Big Trunk
• the look and the feel of a luxury sports car (I was asked several times if this was a Tesla. )
• For a car- there is a ton of room for people with long legs
• Warranty, warranty, warranty!

On the way to my gate at the Atlanta Airport, I saw something interesting:

The Kia Optima was made right there in Georgia.  When I add up the numerous times the Kia Optima commercials played during the Jazz Festival and  for every 10th car I passed on the highway was a Kia Optima (I’m not exaggerating!), this all makes sense. Definitely something to be proud of Georgia. This car is beautiful inside and out.

I have mentioned numerous times of all of the great features you can get with the newer Kia Vehicles, included the Sorento SUV, the car with “Soul” and the Forte. I remember when I first drove the Forte and thought how luxury became affordable.  I also remember talking about how the Forte feel like a sports car. Think of the Forte as the little brother to the  Optima.

And I swear, I do not work for Kia! However, over the past few years I have been impressed with all of the wonderful upgrades they have made to their vehicles. Stop by your local Kia Dealership and test drive this baby. It’s definitely worth taking it out for a spin and let the car speak for itself.

The Kia Optima starts at $21,500 which makes this car still affordable. When you add in the doable gas mileage and the 10,000 mile or 10 year warranty you’re getting a good combination.And of course, if you have awesome bargaining skills, use those to your advantage to get this Kia Optima in a price range you can afford.

What’s your thoughts on the 2014 Kia Optima? Would this be a car you would consider buying in the near future? I would love to hear what you have to say!