Kia Optima Hybrid

When I learned I was going to be going to the Fitbloggin Conference I quickly had to scramble to figure out a car to get me into Portland.  I was contacted by STI that they would be happy to help me find a car for my conference.

I was extremely happy to hear they found me a Kia Optima Hybrid to drive for the week. We currently own a Kia Spectra 5 and I love our car – our Spectra 5 started my love for Kia’s. I was so excited to try out one of Kia’s other cars.

Kia Optima Hybrid_4

The Economical Family Car

I would not have chosen a hybrid for myself. I have never been sure if the extra cost of getting a hybrid would really be worth it. But a few things about the hybrid made me reconsider this frame of thought.

We were given the car with a full tank and one nice feature was the car let us know we had 310 miles in the tank. I loved I wasn’t going to have to fill up the car forever!

What really helped was that the Optima has an Eco System gauge which helps you know when your driving is keeping the car at optimum fuel efficiency. I felt like the gauge would help me get the most out of the hybrid and make sure I saved even more money.
seatbelted

The Safe Family Car

One of the reasons I chose the Kia Spectra 5 for our family car is because it has side airbags. When you only have one child you place their car seat in the center of the car to protect them. But what do you do when you have two children? When I saw that Kia has side airbags I was sold. I could make sure my kids had just that little extra protection. The Optima also had side airbags which made me feel safe when placing our car seats into the car.

One other great safety feature that I loved was the rear camera display. I have this fear of backing over something or even someone and I love the feeling of security when I could see what was exactly behind the car. Anytime you put the car in reverse the camera turned on and you knew exactly what was behind you.

Sit between

The Roomy Family Car

One thing we got to do after the conference was to go to the beach. We invited one of the other ladies from the conference to join us. Which meant I got to test out just how roomy the car was and got to sit between these two cute hooligans!

I was actually comfortable between their car seats – which is pretty amazing since I could never fit between them in our Spectra 5. Three full sized people could easily sit in the back of this car comfortably.

Four Golf Bags

We also got to go on a family golf trip with the Kia Optima. This really showed me that as a four person family we could still have a sedan, have lots of room in the car, and have tons of room in the trunk. Here are all four of our golf bags in the back of the trunk and there was even room for us to stop by the store and pick up a few things on the way home. Honestly I don’t think we have that much room in the back of our 5 door. This trunk was huge!

Kia Optima Hybrid_11

The High Tech Family Car

One of my requests for the car was it to be high tech. I wanted to be able to review the car for our family blog: The Android Family. If you want to read more about the cool tech gadgets in the car I recommend you visit The Android Family and read that review coming soon!

Here is a list of just a few of the tech features:

  • Infinity Sound System
  • Sirius Satelite Radio
  • Bluetooth Wireless
  • USB and auxiliary input jacks
  • Multiple 12V powerpoints

 

Kia Optima Hybrid_13

The Smart Family Car (GPS)

One of my ultimate favorite feature of the car was the GPS. I rarely drive into Portland, I like staying in suburbia. But for the conference I had to go into the city. I have always used my phones GPS but I fumble with it on the car seat to see the map and then when I get where I’m going my battery is drained.

With the built in GPS on the dashboard it was great I could map out my destination with a couple buttons and the GPS took me right where I needed to go. I could see where I was going easily with a glance at the dashboard. I could also make the map show me items like the nearest gas stations or parking which was very helpful while in the city.

Kia Optima Hybrid_7

The Family Road Trip Car

As I mentioned I got to ride between the boys all the way to the beach, about an hour and half drive, and with all the room I was actually comfortable. We saved so much money on gas. We would have made it there and back in one full tank if I hadn’t driven it into town over 4 times. Usually it takes us one tank to get to the beach and one tank to get back.

We also got to enjoy listening to the radio all the way to our destination, even going over the mountains, by listening to the SiriusXM radio. The boys loved the kids’ channel. Which was good because mommy forgot to bring the boys their tablets for the car ride. If mommy had remembered we their tablets they could have plugged them into the car and played games all the way to the beach. I was a little disappointed I forgot the tablets because I was so excited to try that out.

Also while on the trip it was great when we were ready to find a place to eat, we could quickly pull up Points of Interest and have the GPS show us where all the restaurants were nearby.  That was great as I took so many pictures that my phone battery started to die. But that wasn’t that big of a deal once we were back in the car I just plugged it in with the 12V powerpoint.

The Family Car

I thought we would never go back to a sedan, but was pleasantly surprised we could get an awesome sedan from Kia that could still be the perfect family car.

 

 

Written by

Pepper Ferguson

Hi I'm Pepper. My family and I are sharing pieces of our lives.
We hope to inspire you by showing that even small changes can make the biggest differences in your life. You don't have to go to extremes to become healthy. Just do it one habit, one meal, one walk, and one hug at a time.

Let's work together one piece at a time making better habits, eating healthier, getting moving, and most of all loving our families.

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