Exploring Davenport, Iowa in the Kia Optima

Thanks to DriveShop for the loan of the Kia Optima to facilitate this review! 

This year has been so awesome for travel, and I’ve discovered more of the Midwest than I ever thought possible. Stepping back and realizing that travel doesn’t always have to be for travel’s sake, but it can be integrated with business for sure. Take my trip to Iowa this fall for the Iowa Corn Board Corn Quest. While most people wouldn’t think that our packed three day adventure left room for travel information, it did. But that’s not what I’m focusing on today, since I did it earlier this month. I’m focusing on the sweet ride that I took with me to Iowa. The Kia Optima. If you haven’t been paying attention to my confessions over the last six years, I’m a bit of a lover of smooth cars, that are also stylish and functional. The Kia Optima is all three, and I know that I’m in good company, because my friend Danyelle over at The Cubicle Chick has one that she talks lovingly of all the time. 

What I loved the most about the car was all of the features that I had. The ride to Iowa wasn’t long, but my cell phone provider is not loved very much in that area, so I did need to use the GPS of the Optima to get me around, and it went well. I really loved seeing the expressway as is on the large display, especially when it got dark, which happens to be my favorite time to drive in general. Speaking of being on the expressway, the way that this car handled the curves was wonderful. It was nice to not feel the gear shift, but know that it was effortlessly moving into a better gear was comforting. 

Seriously people, I was a little bit enthralled with this to the point I’m banking on our next car having a display this large and easy to read. I’m easy to please. 

The trunk space was phenomenal as well. It’s always impressive to me when I have the room to fit all of our luggage if I needed to. In this case, I didn’t. I only needed to fit luggage for my four day jaunt, which included muck boots and several variations of layers in case it decided to get cold. 

The first person to make a joke about how close I have to sit the steering wheel will be escorted out. Thanks. I always call this area of the car the motherboard. I don’t care what you call it, and I know what the proper name is, but I like feeling like I’m navigating the Star Ship Enterprise while I’m driving, and there you have it. 

I want you to really look at this bridge. It was forever amount of feet long. Yes, you read that right. It was FOREVER and I have a bit of a bridge phobia. To the point where I stopped traffic on the entrance to allow the car in front of me to go all the way across the bridge so I didn’t have to stop. I apologize profusely to the people behind me that I held up, but the fear is real when I don’t have Mr. Houseful driving the car for me. 

Business trips alone are always bittersweet for me, but I didn’t once feel as if I was going to be uncomfortable on the trek there or back because of ALL of the room, and great gas mileage that I had with the Kia Optima. As a matter of fact, a full tank of gas took me from Chicago to Davenport and back with stops along the way. I also love spotting the same cars as mine on the road, because you become hyper aware of them for some reason. There were quite a few, and in some boss colors too! 

The 2016 Kia Optima has a MSRP of $22,200 and 25/37 city/hwy mpg, which makes it a great car for road trippers, or business travelers who happen to do more driving than flying. Loved the white with the red leather interior, but I’m REALLY feeling the sangria body color for sure. 

Any of you have a Kia Optima and loving it? Share below and let me know!