2016 Lamborghini Huracan LP610-4 Spyder

Still sensational sans roof.

First Drive Review

Since the Volkswagen Group began its assimilation of Lamborghini in 1998, the automaker from the sleepy Italian burg of Sant’Agata has nearly tripled its employees and increased sales from a few hundred cars per year to 3245 in 2015. A poster child for this explosive growth is the new Huracán coupe, which is, in its first 18 months on the market, outselling its predecessor, the Gallardo, by a rate of 70 percent. So the Huracán Spyder is poised for success.

That the Huracán was designed with open-roofed aspirations from the start helps the cause, and it means that popping the top didn’t require extra bracing for its aluminum and carbon-fiber spaceframe. Lamborghini R&D head Maurizio Reggiani says torsional rigidity is reduced by 10 percent versus the coupe, although detecting the loss is all but impossible—90 percent of hyperstiff is still hyperstiff. Indeed, we couldn’t detect a hint of cowl quiver in our drive around extremely rainy Miami.
Fortunately, there were a few rain-free minutes during the launch event, which gave us time to experience the top’s operation and the car’s open-air appeal. The lid takes 17 seconds to rise or retract, and the designers worked overtime to maintain the car’s silhouette with the top down. For example, the hexagon created by the side-window surround is one of the Huracán’s key design elements, and the stylists were able to carry this element to the Spyder with a rather intricate convertible tonneau that, when unfurled, mimics the coupe's B-pillar shape.

The top and its attendant mechanisms add 265 pounds to a base Huracán’s mass, which puts it at about 3650 pounds. A small chunk of the additional weight comes from two fabric-skinned “ears” near the outboard side of each headrest.; their mission is to keep cabin turbulence to a minimum. The tabs do their job well, and it’s easy to hold a conversation at 70 mph. Aside from the extra mass—so what if your Spyder can only manage a zero-to-60 sprint in 2.8 seconds, versus the 2.5 we recorded from the coupe?—the only real Spyder downside is that the hunchback lump on the engine lid that provides stowage space for the softtop reduces rearward visibility to a mere sliver.
Flat-foot the throttle, though, and that’s quickly forgotten as the 602-hp 5.2-liter V-10 lets loose its scream. Shifts are marked with a bark like a Doberman’s warning from behind the chain link. Although there weren’t many opportunities for redline shifts in Miami, we managed to discover that the top of second gear is good for 65 mph. While trundling around the city, we found the transmission to be transparent, never clunky or harsh, and throttle tip-in seems tuned for a strip mall, not the drag strip. This makes the Spyder very livable; besides, launch control is available for forays to the wild side.
Lamborghini is in the unique position of having the only naturally aspirated fleet of exotics, and it plans to keep its supercars that way for as long as it can. (The upcoming Urus SUV will be the first turbocharged Lambo, and it also will offer a hybrid powertrain.) Turbocharged engines are inherently more efficient, and Lambo knows that it eventually will have to adopt them to meet environmental regulations. In the meantime, the Huracán nods to efficiency by having only half of the V-10 active under light loads. Of course, this can only do so much, and a $1700 gas-guzzler tax is part of the Spyder’s $267,545 base sticker.

About the V-10’s cylinder deactivation: We had thought that it operated by stopping fuel delivery and cutting spark to one full cylinder bank, leaving the engine to run as an inline-five. In reality, the five cylinders that fire are in constant flux to equalize engine wear. However, because valve operation is not suspended, the efficiency gain attributable to reduced pumping losses is lower than it could be.
Miami roads aren’t exactly known for their fun factor. The graph-paper grid of 90-degree corners didn’t allow us to detect exactly how the Spyder’s at-the-limit handling benefits from the optional $3400 magnetorheological dampers or the standard 20-inch Pirelli P Zero tires. The ride is as supple as any 200-mph supercar this side of the hydropneumatic suspension setup from McLaren, however. All indications are that this Spyder is just as capable as the sublime coupe.
Coming on the heels of the Huracán Spyder will be the Urus; it’s a profit-driven, Cayenne-like move from this corporate cousin to Porsche. While this seems to go against brand ethos, Stuttgart proved it a worthwhile business practice (and we likely needn’t remind you of the original Lamborghini SUV). Current Lambo boss—Il Presidente, according to company letterhead—and imminent chief of Audi Quattro Stephan Winkelmann has said the Urus might sell 3000 units a year, which would nearly double total Lamborghini sales. That might liven up Sant’Agata in a way the town has never known.

2017 Bentley Bentayga

The Bentley for those with the stamina to cross the Sahara.

That beguiling scent wafting through the harvest air is familiar: Oh, yeah, it’s the smell of money. Markets are roiling, inflation’s down, and the great recession is a shrinking speck in the rearview mirror. The wealthy have itchy wallets. They’re amenable to freshening their fleets and sharing a whiff of their good fortune with the world at large.

It’s the perfect time, then, for Bentley to expand its portfolio. On a mission to deliver the most power, exclusivity, and prestige ever seen in an SUV, Bentley’s new Bentayga will ensure that a sand dune never impedes a trip to the Mall of the Emirates. And where this Bentley ventures, others are sure to ­follow. Lifestyle-support vehicles from Lamborghini and Maserati will trail the Bentayga’s 2016 arrival, with competitors from Rolls-Royce and Aston Martin also more than probable.

Design

Bentleys have always been imposing, but the Bentayga towers over its surroundings in a way none has before. At 68.6 inches tall, it’s nearly nine inches loftier than any other Bentley. Ex­teri­or designer Sang Yup Lee had a vast screen on which to project Bentley’s “powerful, exquisite, and individual” power points.

The Bentayga is essentially Continental and Flying Spur sculpture retailored in big-and-tall size. A face dominated by wide eyes and hungry grilles signals the hoi polloi to step aside. Sweeping side creases and prominent rear haunches showcase wheels ranging from 20 to 22 inches in diameter. The roof arch and a hatch, angled more steeply than the windshield, express Bentayga’s bent for speed. And Lee’s painstaking attention to detail is evident in the body-colored running-lamp pupils concealing the headlamp washers, the subtle front-fender creases achievable only by hot stamping, and side vents accented with B logos. Exhaust outlets are large enough to serve a Greyhound bus.

Chassis

Erected on the VW Group’s MLB architecture shared with the Audi Q7 and the next Porsche Cayenne, the Bentayga rides on a 117.8-inch wheelbase and stretches 3.5 inches longer than the Q7, to 202.4. It has aluminum skin over bones formed from steel and aluminum. This is Bentley’s first use of aluminum castings in a structural role; they serve as nodes for anchoring the front air springs, rear suspension subframe, D-pillars, and front bumpers. Bentley claims this saved 500 pounds over all-steel construction, quoting a curb weight of 5340 pounds—700 pounds lighter than the flagship Mulsanne.
Air springs support a poised ride and four height settings. The steering is of the variable-ratio variety with electric assist. A 48-volt electric circuit adjusts the stiffness of the front and rear anti-roll bars. To aid off-road treks, the dash displays pitch, roll, wheel articulation, steering angle, altitude, and compass heading. Eight different driving modes cover all manner of on- and off-road contingencies, including wet grass.

Interior

Jaws reflexively drop upon entering the Bentayga’s inner sanctum. Designer Darren Day interpreted Bentley’s double-wing cockpit motif with due respect for handcrafted quality, functionality, and occupant comfort. Bright bezels less than one-sixteenth of an inch wide separate control panels from surrounding trim. Knob-surface knurling is finer than what you’ll find on a Rolex’s winding crown. More than a dozen hides are tanned, stitched, and quilted to a fare-thee-well to upholster the 22-way power-adjustable seats. And the wood shop at Crewe takes burled walnut from multiple locations around the globe, peeling, pressing, matching, sanding, lacquering, ­polishing, and wrapping it over the compound-curved dash.
The standard three-person rear bench splits and folds as usual, and an optional third row expands passenger capacity from five to seven. Alternatively, a four-seat configuration ditches both rearmost rows for two thrones similar to the front buckets, as well as a fixed rear partition. Ninety control modules operate the touch screen, head-up display, night vision, and comprehensive suite of driver-aid systems. Those who enjoy typing on the fly will want the twin-rear-seat setup’s optional integrated, removable tablets.

Engine

Bentley is proud to have been assigned assembly responsibility for the VW Group’s new 6.0-liter W-12. Variable intake- and exhaust-valve timing, direct and port fuel injection, and a pair of Bosch Mahle turbos hammer out 600 horsepower and 664 pound-feet of torque. The company claims a 4.0-second zero-to-60 sprint and a 187-mph top speed. To improve fuel efficiency, half the cylinders shut down when not needed.
Compared with a two-wide-by-six-long V-12, Bentley’s power cube is four cylinders wide and 3.5 cylinders long, a boon to underhood packaging. And the new-generation W-12 is 66 pounds lighter than its predecessor. Cramming a dozen cylinders, four camshafts, and 48 valves into this box is no mean feat. What stops other makers from using the exotic W engine layout is the long path the inner cylinders’ exhaust follows before escaping the heads. This transfers more than the normal amount of heat to the cooling system, diminishing fuel efficiency.
Bentley plans to manufacture only 3600 Bentaygas next year, one-third of which are slated for Americans with an open garage slot and at least $185,000 to blow. Asked where the newest Bentley will fit in the Volkswagen Group’s pecking order relative to Porsche’s 570-hp Cayenne Turbo S and the 2018 Lambor­ghini Urus, Bentley CEO Wolfgang Dürheimer stressed: “Bentayga will be the fastest, most luxurious, and most exclusive SUV—that’s its place. No other SUV will offer this unique combination.”

2017 Chrysler Pacifica

Meet the New Town & Country

 

Here it is: the all-new 2017 Chrysler Town & Country! Except it isn’t called the Town & Country—it’s now the Pacifica. Chrysler says it wants this vehicle to dramatically shift how people think about minivans, and the company no doubt felt that Town & Country was synonymous with mom jeans and regurgitated Cheerios. 

 

So the Pacifica badge was exhumed after a long dirt nap. You might recall that the name was attached to a three-row crossover a decade or so ago, one that could reasonably be considered as being ahead of its time—no snickering, now—as it was softer and more carlike when America was still obsessed with more-truckish SUVs. But that Pacifica suffered from disappointing sales, and we’d question the wisdom of using its name if anyone outside of Chrysler even cared it existed. As for the T&C badge, we don’t believe this means it’s dead for good; prior to being applied to a minivan in the 1990s, it appeared on all manner of vehicle types over a 75-year run. So we wouldn’t bet against Town & Country reappearing down the line as a trim level, special package, or perhaps a large crossover similar in philosophy to, uh, the original Pacifica.  

 

The Pacifica’s piles of technology can be split into two categories: safety and convenience. To keep occupants safe and sheetmetal unbent, the Pacifica now offers a 360-degree camera view, automatic parallel and perpendicular parking, forward-collision warning and mitigation, lane-departure warning and mitigation, rear backup sensing with automatic braking, adaptive cruise control that will bring the van to a complete stop and hold it there, and several other active and passive systems.  

 

2017 Ford Fusion

Mid-cycle tweaks to stem the crossover tide.

With 300,000-plus U.S. sales to its credit last year, the Ford Fusion plays a key role in its maker’s plan to rule the auto world. And now, three years into its current generation, Ford has tweaked its mid-size offering to fortify its position against a host of competitors. The key addition is the revived Fusion Sport, which promises to raise a ruckus in suburbs overrun with Camrys thanks to its 325-hp twin-turbo V-6, all-wheel drive, and fortified chassis systems. Meanwhile, all five members of this sedan family receive fresh front fascias, revised interior trim, and significant infotainment upgrades for 2017.
 

With 10 or so competitors scrambling to stem buyer flight to crossovers, the traditional family sedan has become a hotbed of design and engineering. The bestselling Toyota Camry was refurbished a year ago, the Honda Accord was revamped this year, Nissan treated the 2016 Altima to a heavy facelift, and Chevy’s Malibu is new from tire treads to roof antenna. Ford’s dream is that this Fusion will rise up from its current fourth-place status to wound the mid-size masters. 


Three distinct grille designs distinguish Fusion family members. A fashionable shiny-black mesh pattern adorns the $34,350 Sport model. That same motif with a bright chrome finish decorates the new Platinum trim level, which starts at $37,495. S (the entry model costing $22,995), SE, and Titanium Fusions have a five-bar grille that’s essentially a wider version of the 2016 front-end design. While the hood and front-fender sheetmetal is unchanged, LED head- and fog lamps now are standard or optional on Fusions. Except for a new decklid wing, the rear design is carryover.

The Fusion hybrid ($26,060) and Energi plug-in hybrid ($33,995) powertrains are unchanged save for new regenerative-braking calibrations. The engine lineup for other Fusions is also largely the same, too. A naturally aspirated 2.5-liter inline-four rated at 175 horsepower is the base engine. EcoBoost 1.5-liter and 2.0-liter four-cylinders have new dual-scroll turbochargers. (Expect nearly 200 horsepower for the 1.5 and about 250 for the 2.0-liter when final output ratings are released.) An eight-speed automatic is standard in all nonhybrid Fusions.
The only notable chassis news concerns the firmer damper, anti-roll bar, and spring-rate calibrations engineered for the Fusion Sport. Continuously controlled damping technology shared with the Lincoln MKZ reads an array of sensors every three milliseconds to adjust the shock absorbers within 30 to 50 milliseconds. Fusion chief engineer Bill Strickland calls this a “pothole detection” strategy. While that may be a stretch, these electronic dampers should be capable of nicely balancing comfort and body control. The front brake rotors are significantly larger, and 19-inch wheels wrapped with Goodyear Eagle performance radials are standard Sport fare.
Inside, to clear the way for more accessible cupholders and storage bins, the Fusion’s shift lever has been replaced by a rotating knob. (Thankfully, it does not rise out of hiding for use, à la Jaguar and Land Rover.) An S position in the Sport model calls up a more aggressive shift schedule, which also can be commanded by new wheel-mounted shift paddles. Those handy paddles are available as optional equipment in other trim levels. The Fusion Sport is fitted with firmly bolstered front buckets trimmed with leather and perforated microsuede. Diamond quilting covers the softer Platinum and Titanium seats.

2017 Ford F-150 Raptor SuperCrew

A second Raptor officially hatches.

In the modern automotive idiom, few names stir up as much enthusiasm—and testosterone—as “Raptor.” Indeed, the moniker of Ford’s brawny, F-150–based off-road sensation ranks right up there with Hellcat, GT350, GT3, and GT-R for many enthusiasts, and it tops all of those among folks with a taste for suspension travel and heading off the beaten path.
 
And so the introduction of the all-new, second-generation 2017 F-150 Raptor at last year’s Detroit auto show was a much-anticipated event, even though the new truck doesn’t go on sale until this fall. Now, Ford is using the 2016 Detroit auto show as an opportunity to roll out its new Raptor in SuperCrew form. 

Based on the aluminum-bodied F-150 SuperCrew, the Raptor SuperCrew rides on a 145.0-inch wheelbase—a foot longer than the standard SuperCab-based model—and has four front-hinged doors and the SuperCrew’s 5.5-foot bed. Aside from that, and the inevitably more capacious rear seat, not much changes compared with the standard Raptor, which we detail in this story.

Frustratingly, Ford still hasn’t disclosed output figures for the Raptor’s engine, which is a version of Ford’s prolific, 3.5-liter Ecoboost V-6. Earlier reports suggested that the engine could produce some 450 horsepower, but all Ford has said officially is that it will outmuscle the previous Raptor’s 6.2-liter V-8, which churned out 411 horsepower and 434 lb-ft of torque. With up to 500 fewer pounds to lug around—thank you, aluminum!—and 10 gear ratios allowing the engine to stay in the sweet spot of the powerband, the 2017 Raptor is expected to be much quicker off the line. It also should be a force to be reckoned with off-road thanks to torque-on-demand four-wheel drive plus a new terrain-response system with six available modes. It’ll be more fuel-efficient, too, if anyone cares.

2016 Toyota Tacoma V6 4x4 Manual

Man up with a stick-shift, 4x4 pickup.

Chevrolet’s recent advertising for its Colorado mid-size pickup, which courts buyers with the tagline “You know you want a truck,” and features staged focus groups wherein truck-driving men are viewed as more datable, has zeroed in on the key purchase driver for trucks: their implied machismo. The ads are spot-on, but we think they work much better for the square-jawed, ready-for-anything Toyota Tacoma. Granted, the updated-for-2016 Toyota lost its first comparison test to the Colorado, but it has an ace up its sleeve: an available manual transmission. Put in marketing terms, everyone knows that rowing a stick, especially with a bed behind you and four-wheel drive under the chassis, is just plain manly.

Industry-wide, from sports cars to economy cars, the trend away from stick shifts continues. Nissan’s Frontier still can be had with a stick, but that truck is ancient. The Tacoma’s primary competitor, the Colorado, offers a stick only in the rear-drive, four-cylinder, base-model “Work Truck,” which is as unappealing for everyday use as it sounds. Toyota puts its manual option right where off-road enthusiasts want it, in select four-wheel-drive Tacoma variants like the TRD Off-Road model tested here—and it even lets you pair the stick with a V-6. There are actually two manuals in the Tacoma lineup, and either replaces the six-speed automatic that’s standard on nearly every Tacoma. On the base Tacoma SR extended-cab 4x4, which uses a 2.7-liter four-cylinder, the manual has five forward ratios. In the V-6–powered extended-cab or four-door Double Cab TRD Sport and Double Cab–only TRD Off-Road models, the stick has six speeds.

Given how satisfying the Tacoma’s six-speed shifter is to use—well-defined gates, solid engagement, and reasonably tight throws for a unit with a nearly foot-long shift lever—we’d like to see it more widely available within the Tacoma family. This holds doubly true when you consider that the six-speed automatic transmission suffers from finicky programming that can find it hunting for gears. Even so, the more involving transmission doesn’t mask the Tacoma’s inherent foibles: The cabin feels somewhat cramped thanks to its high floor and low-mounted seats, some structural flexing can be detected, and the TRD Off-Road model’s knobbier tires deliver subpar grip on-road. The flipside of these flaws are that the high floor affords 9.4 inches of ground clearance, the chassis flex helps keep tires in contact with terra firma over big obstacles and provides engineered-in resilience, and the big tires lend the already soft suspension an extra measure of compliance.

If you fit in the Tacoma—the cabin’s pinched vertical dimension, fixed seat height, and minimally adjustable steering column limit its adaptability—you’ll understand where we’re coming from when we say there’s just something inalienably right about a stick-shift Toyota truck. It sounds trite, but the experience is appealingly burly. The updated Tacoma’s lumberjack handsomeness blends oh-so naturally with the TRD Off-Road model’s locking rear differential, off-road shocks, Kevlar-lined tires, and plastic fender flares (automatic-transmission examples get electronic aids for off-roading). Compared with the Colorado, which feels as though it’s trying to emulate a crossover in both style and comfort, the Tacoma remains starkly truckish.
Surprisingly, the Tacoma is also fairly comfortable. Our loaded test truck came optioned with a $650 tri-fold hard tonneau cover for the bed, as well as the $2980 Premium and Technology package, which added dual-zone automatic climate control, heated front seats, rear parking sensors, blind-spot monitoring, LED running lights, a sunroof, and towing equipment. As equipped, our Tacoma stickered for a reasonable $36,630. The burly suspension swallowed up the worst of Michigan’s roads at the expense of moderate body roll in hard cornering, the cabin is quiet at highway speeds, and the dashboard controls are simple and easy to use.


The manual Tacoma V-6 continued to bolster its case at the test track, where it muscled its way to 60 mph in 7.3 seconds, 0.8-second quicker than the automatic version. Strangely, our stick-shift truck weighed in at 4598 pounds, an inexplicable 164 pounds heavier than the identically equipped automatic-transmission TRD Off-Road 4x4 we sent into battle with the Colorado. (Toyota’s quoted curb weight for the manual-transmission Double Cab is 35 pounds lighter than the same model with the automatic.) The secret to its speed, then, is in the gearing. Six-cylinder Tacomas optioned with the manual send their 278 horsepower to the wheels via a shorter first gear and a 4.30:1 final-drive ratio, while the automatic uses a taller 3.91:1 final-drive, as does the stick-shift four-cylinder Tacoma. The manual’s accelerative advantage fades off the line, as evidenced by the automatic Tacoma’s higher trap speed—but with a slightly slower time—through the quarter-mile.
 

Much like the Chevrolet Colorado’s optional V-6, the Tacoma’s six isn’t a torque monster. And neither does it produce its peak horsepower or torque low in the rev range; even so, we found ourselves sometimes shifting into higher gears at less than 1500 rpm without any untoward lugging or vibration, mostly to avoid the V-6’s graininess at higher rpm. Featuring both direct and port fuel injection, the V-6 never begs the driver for more, although its marginally improved EPA fuel-economy ratings over the old Tacoma’s 4.0-liter V-6 were backed up by the marginally better real-world fuel economy of 18 mpg that we recorded over 827 miles. A 2015 Tacoma TRD Pro we tested last year, which came with similar off-road-tuned shocks and beefy tires, returned 17 mpg, albeit with an automatic transmission; the 2016 Tacoma V-6 automatic gave us 19 mpg.
Want to go off-road in a reasonably sized pickup truck, or at least look the part? The Tacoma fits the bill. It is eminently usable, fitting in downtown parking spaces with relative ease, the built-in Deck Rail System tie-downs in the bed make locking down variably sized loads a snap, and its 6400-pound tow rating is enough to drag another car (or a trailer full of dirt bikes). Oh, and the inner bed is entirely composite (the exterior-facing painted panels are metal), meaning it won’t rust and can take a beating without denting. Is the Chevy Colorado still more refined and roomier? Absolutely, but you won’t sprout a few extra metaphorical hairs from your chest driving it. C’mon, you know you want a manual-transmission truck.

2016 Kia Optima 1.6T

The smallest engine makes for the most compelling Optima.

 

When it debuted at the New York auto show in 2010, the now-outgoing Kia Optima wowed spectators with its attenuated roofline and determined visage, penned under the direction of design boss Peter Schreyer. That Optima established Kia’s current design language, and the new, 2016 version doesn’t stray far from the script, with the tiger-nose grille, the arc of chrome along the roof edge, and the beltline that sweeps up at the rear. Details may have changed, and the car is 1.1 inches wider and a bit longer, but no one will confuse the new car with anything but an Optima. Two of the three available engines carry over. The mainstay 2.4-liter four-cylinder is a naturally aspirated unit making 185 horsepower and 178 lb-ft of torque; it’s found under the hood of the base LX and the mid-level EX. At the top end, the 2.0-liter turbo returns brandishing 245 horsepower and 260 lb-ft; it powers the SX and the SXL. Both get a six-speed automatic. New to the party is the engine in our test car: a 1.6-liter turbo four married to a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic. Its 178-hp output is the lowest of the group, but its 195 lb-ft of torque betters the 2.4-liter.  

Available only in the LX 1.6T, the 1.6-liter is designed to be the most economical offering of the bunch (apart from the Optima hybrid, still based on the previous-gen car), and its EPA ratings of 28/39 mpg city/highway are at the top of the class. Its seven-speed dual-clutch automatic, however, is a welcome break from the rising tide of CVTs in this category. It credibly mimics the smoothness of a torque-converter automatic at low speeds and delivers well-timed shifts under acceleration. That acceleration is pretty spry for a green guy, aided by the fact that the Optima LX 1.6T danced across our scales at 3241 pounds—more than 300 pounds less than the 2.0-liter SX. That figure is about on par with a four-cylinder Honda Accord.

 
It’s also more than 200 pounds lighter than the Ford Fusion 1.5-liter EcoBoost, which is perhaps the Optima LX 1.6T’s most direct competitor. In a battle between those two eco-misers, the Kia shines. Engine output is pretty much a draw—the Kia’s 1.6-liter makes 3 fewer horsepower but 10 lb-ft more torque than the Ford’s 1.5-liter EcoBoost—but the Optima’s fuel economy is better by 3 mpg in the city and 2 mpg on the highway (and that’s spotting the Fusion its optional auto stop-start system). And when it’s time to put your foot down, the Kia’s 7.3-second zero-to-60 time trounces the Ford’s 8.2-second result.
In fact, the case could easily be made that the 1.6 is the best of the three Optima powerplants. The 2.0-liter turbo got to 60 mph only half a second faster in our test, at a cost of 6 mpg in the city and 7 mpg on the highway. The 2.4-liter four (which we tested in the Optima’s close kin, the Hyundai Sonata) is both slower, at 7.9 seconds to 60, and thirstier. Speaking of the Sonata, when we tested the 1.6 turbo in that car—where it’s offered in the Sonata Eco—it was even quicker, hitting 60 in 6.7 seconds; that suggests our Optima, which had less than 500 miles on the clock, might have done even better with a more broken-in engine.
 

The LX 1.6T rides on the Optima’s standard suspension, not the “sport-tuned” version found in the SX and the SXL; even so, it need not make any apologies for its ride. Pleasantly tied down without excessive body motions, it’s also compliant enough to take the edge off harsh pavement, aided by this version’s 65-series rubber on 16-inch wheels. The low-rolling-resistance tires, however, led to a long stopping distance of 185 feet from 70 mph, although roadholding was a respectable 0.83 g.
That the 1.6-liter engine comes in only one trim level may be its main drawback. One step up from the base LX, the LX 1.6T is reasonably well equipped (Bluetooth, a backup camera, keyless entry), but if you want leather, seat heaters, or navigation, you need to climb up the ladder. The options list does, however, include navigation, a blind-spot warning system, and rear cross-traffic alert.
At this level, interior materials are pretty basic, with lots of grained black plastic, but at least the steering wheel is wrapped in smooth leather, the armrests are decently padded, and the console has plentiful storage. The previous Optima’s more driver-oriented dash has been replaced by a new design that emphasizes the cabin’s width. It’s a straightforward interior design with a gimmick-free layout of the controls that recalls the Honda Accord. The comfortable seating position is enhanced by a prominent dead pedal for the driver, and relatively thin pillars and a low cowl afford good visibility. The back seat boasts abundant legroom and adequate headroom under the sloping roofline as well as a short-trip-appropriate middle position.
The 2011 model brought the Optima in from the subprime fringe of the mid-size-sedan market, and the redesigned model ought to keep it there. While not the most powerful or luxurious variant, the LX 1.6T may be its most interesting, offering painless frugality that should speak to price-conscious sedan buyers.