Snate

Ok so I wasn't even aware there was a new Optima coming out....and I can't see anything saying it has been released already...so how have people driven it? It's not even listed as being at any of the big auto shows.

Slighty different but mostly the same: Whereas the previous car was a restyled, bug-eyed version of the Hyundai Sonata, Kia claims that the Optima is significantly different from its Hyundai brother, although powertrains are still shared. Engine choices are include a 185-hp 2.7-liter V-6 and a 161-hp 2.4-liter four. http://www.automobilemag.com/auto_shows/na...602_kia_optima/

That is the 2006.5 Optima: http://www.automobilemag.com/auto_shows/na...602_kia_optima/ I just saw a link on Kia's website for it. Six airbags are standard but ESP is not standard. ABS and TC are still options. Engine is still the 2.7L V6 yet gets 185 hp...and the 4 cyl requires premium for some reason. Overall...still not impressed. I'm curious though...as it says it is not yet available...how anyone has driven it.

Really? I mean according to Kia's website..the 2.7L V6 is the best engine available...not the 3.3L. That engine has 170 hp and is rated at 20/27 versus the Malibu's 200 hp and 22/32. You couldn't have possibly not checked your facts now could you? I don't even think ESP is an option on the Optima...let alone standard. Curtain bags are though yes. ABS and TC are both extra options no matter what trim level. Take a look at the top of the line Malibu and Optima...less than $1000 more for the Malibu yet look at home much more standard features there are....probably 3-4K worth. http://www.chevrolet.com/comparator/chevy/...Id=&subModelId= Compare the Malibu directly to the Optima...you'll see the Malibu compares quite favorably.

I wonder if this will prompt another useless round of government questioning and windfall taxes. I mean one or two companies in an industry of 10 companies doing really good...fine no big deal. But every company in an industry having record profits...something is fishy there.

No definitely not...but to say Kia is equal to Chevy let alone better than Chevy is laughable.

Thanks...you just saved me a whole lot of trouble. Koreans may have improved quite a bit over the last decade...but there is a reason they still offer a long warranty.

Fair trade would work...it requires other countries to purchase US produced goods...which doesn't happen that much.

Even still...the TL and Accord share alot less than the ES and Camry do. At least Acura gives the TL its own distinctive engine.

That may be so...but it really isn't the advertised point of hybrids. I bet alot of people would reconsider the several grand premium of a hybrid if they knew the mileage was overrated.

Pretty much anything does

Panoz is an american company based out of Georgia I believe B)

Sure lets go with that if it makes you feel better.

God thats awful. Is Toyota capable of designing an attractive car or an interior that doesn't overuse fake wood and that plastic aluminum stuff.

I think his original logic was that by giving tax cuts to the wealthy (who he assumed ran the businesses of the world) that they would suddenly use they extra money to hire a bunch of new people. Last time I checked...the real world doesn't work that way.

I'm starting to wonder if it would even matter if CAFE went up. I wouldn't be half surprised to suddenly see a "rise" in gas prices after that happened.

Bush's tax cuts are an example of a sound idea implemented horribly. The biggest tax cuts should go to the lowest income brackets and on up. He was giving massive tax breaks to the already wealthy who didn't need it.

I forgot about the tv thing...yet another example of the japanese whining and getting their way.

Oh I agree completely. Problem is neither you nor I are running the government. No doubt about it foreign companies would start whining about it and our government has already shown in the past that it is more than willing to bend to foreign companies...yet not domestic companies...if that makes any sense. I wouldn't be surprised if it had something to do with unions...but I won't make any assumptions. America is the biggest financial "muscle" in the world right now. Japanese car companies make most of their profits from America and we should be able to tell them what they can and cannot do here. Start threatening penalties for non-compliance (and actually follow through) and you better believe the import companies will fall right in line. I don't really like the government interfering with the market...but I'm much more concerned about the overall future health of the country.

Makes sense...but you would have the Foreign companies whining about it until it got taken away. Especially the ones that produce vehicles in North America. Our government seems to have no problem filling the needs of Foreign companies...tax breaks...CAFE exemptions...you name it.

I don't agree with GM and/or Ford getting a financial bailout from the taxpayers. I don't want to pay for them. What I do want to see is the government grow some nuts and start enforcing fair trade. Examples like this Nissan exemption should never be allowed. Sure some people may have lost their job...but within the past couple of months, both GM and Ford have announced big layoffs...yet the government does nothing at all.

This is also the same guy that had a 100K tax deduction on SUV's or Trucks for business uses....not cars...just trucks and SUV's. It's really no shock coming from someone with strong ties to the oil industry...why would he want american's to consume less oil?

It was supposed to be hypothetical B) The 02 Altima was successful because people believe that japanese cars are always better than domestic cars. The were willing to live with the atrocious build quality, subpar interior and tractor like 4 cyl all because it was japanese. Other than the nice V6...it doesn't have a whole lot going for it.

It's Japanese...thats why. I bet GM could do the same exact thing yet not sell half as many.