On twisty roads, the 2006.5 Kia Optima shows promise as an entertaining family sedan – it just needs better seats and a more powerful V6 engine. In the city, the 2006.5 Kia Optima soaks up potholes and broken pavement, proves easy to park, and offered enough verve from its four-cylinder engine to tackle the hilly streets of San Francisco. As a long distance road tripper, the 2006.5 Kia Optima needs work. The front seats don’t leave occupants refreshed, there’s wind noise at speeds above 70 mph, and while the Optima was quiet on the grooved and sectioned concrete of L.A’s network of freeways, traveling the various surfaces of Interstate 5 through California’s central valley showed that the cabin is hushed only on the smoothest blacktop. Plus, we didn’t get near the fuel economy the EPA says we should have on this trip.

Courtesy of Kia Motors, photographed by Greg Jarem