2010 New York: Kia Releases First Images of 2011 Optima

Kia has released the first images of the new Optima a few weeks ahead of its big debut at the New York Auto Show. While the appearance has clearly been updated significantly, we still know almost nothing about what lies beneath.

The new Optima is considerably sleeker and more aggressive than the outgoing car. Though Kia’s saving the juiciest details for the show, we hear that the new car is longer, wider and lower than the old one. We can see it also has a much higher window line that makes the greenhouse look shorter and sleeker, and while the general shape of the headlights and grille clearly identify it as an Optima, the overall style is thoroughly updated.

It’s possible the new Optima will retain the current car’s 175-horsepower, 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine and 194-horsepower, 2.7-liter V-6 with their five-speed manual and automatic transmissions, but it seems more likely we’ll see updates under the hood as well.

The New York Auto Show starts on March 31 till April 1.

About the author: Shahir R. Ali General Manager and lead programmer at wemotor.com who loves cars and enjoys writing about them once in a while.