Gordon Dickie is a suspension tuning guru that Kia stole from Mazda several years ago. He’s also the man charged with cultivating the fun-to-drive feel that Kia wants every one of its vehicles to possess. Dickie refused to sign off on this 2006.5 Kia Optima redesign until he had the underpinnings set up to his liking, but the delay in getting to market was worthwhile. He benchmarks BMW for ride and handling, and this is clear from the moment you twist the Optima’s key, select a gear, and set off down the road.

The 2006.5 Kia Optima is a smooth, capable, communicative machine. The optional 17-inch tires grip well, but the Optima does push wide in turns, and the rubber isn’t shy about announcing its limitations. The suspension soaks up road anomalies like a good European sports sedan, swallowing bumps, dips, and potholes with equal aplomb. The driver always knows what’s happening at the road surface tactilely and aurally, but the communication is rarely intrusive. The Optima’s brake pedal feels terrific underfoot, letting the driver dial in just-right amounts of pressure to the pads, and the steering is responsive with perfect assist levels. When you look at the spec chart and see that the Optima’s weight distribution ranges from 60.6/39.4 front/rear in the four-cylinder manual to 62.1/37.9 front/rear in the V6, its handling is even more surprising. The car just doesn’t feel nose heavy, ever.

This predisposition to utter driving competence makes the Optima’s V6 powertrain that much more disappointing. It’s geared to feel strong off the line, but it runs out of steam quickly and the five-speed automatic refuses to offer snappy shifts, gliding between gears instead. Manual shifting helps little, since there’s no point in revving the engine, but at least Kia’s Sportmatic setup requires a tap down for a downshift and a tap up for an upshift – none of BMW’s and Mazda’s F1-for-the-masses nonsense for this manually interactive automatic. Kia might be positioning the new Optima as a sporty four-cylinder value proposition, but this V6 has got to go. It’s adequate at best, and stands out as the lame duck mechanically.

Our pick is the four-cylinder model. With the automatic, it’s geared for good response off the line, and accelerates with verve. The engine is refined, and the automatic seems to work better with this engine. Sportmatic is also more worthwhile, as the four doesn’t mind revving. Getting a four-cylinder with a stick and the 17-inch wheels would make for a fun, affordable sedan, but Kia doesn’t offer that combination. Those interested in a softer ride and a quieter interior should check out the standard 16-inch wheels and tires, which deliver on both counts but not at the expense of the Optima’s capable handling characteristics and road feel.

There are many reasons to consider purchasing the Optima EX, but one of the best is for its standard Infinity stereo. This audio system rocks with 360 watts of power, nine speakers, and eight-channel amplification capable of 45 watts each. It sounds crisp, clean, clear, and delivers resonant bass. But what’s up with the cassette deck? Is this 1996 instead of 2006? Plus, this car needs an iPod jack, which is rapidly becoming a deal-maker or -breaker with young customers.

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.