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"      Specs: 2011 Kia Optima SX     Delivered price   $30,840   Time in test   255 days   Total miles   19,255   Miles since last report    2965    Maintenance costs to date   $438   Our mileage   24.5 mpg   EPA city/highway   22/34 mpg        March Update:   Previous Updates &amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;gt;      The poster child for economical performance, our 274-bhp turbocharged Optima SX is achieving just shy of 25 mpg overall with its recent duties of commuting and serving as a chase vehicle for comparison tests. It&amp;#039;s one of those great turbo engine/transmission pairings where thrust (and the right gear) can be summoned almost instantly with a gentle prod of your right foot, or a tap of the steering wheel-mounted paddles.         2011 Kia Optima SX    The Optima&amp;#039;s styling\u2014a product of Kia&amp;#039;s design team under the guidance of Peter Schreyer\u2014rarely fails to elicit an enthusiastic comment; and those high-set taillights remind us a bit of the late, lamented Subaru SVX. Yet the Optima is not without demerits: that fast roofline thieves front head room, and the seat heaters are slow to warm up when outside temps plunge to freezing overnight (yes, even in Southern California). And $60 dealer oil/filter change services are slated for every 3750 miles, more than twice as often as many competing turbocharged vehicles. Perhaps that&amp;#039;s what emboldens Kia to provide its 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty. At 18,114 miles, our Optima received the 15,000-mile service ($189.95) consisting of oil &amp;amp;amp; filter change, air filter change, tire rotation, engine oil treatment and battery service.         2011 Kia Optima SX    We continue to be impressed with the Optima&amp;#039;s strong acceleration, its nicely straightforward controls in a center stack subtly canted toward the driver, and its flush &amp;quot;Hot Wheels&amp;quot; alloys, though those last items are showing some scrapes from curb encounters of the close kind. If we could change a couple of things, we&amp;#039;d tweak the high-speed compression damping of the shocks, as the chassis feels a bit jiggly over pavement seams and minor road imperfections. And though the seat material seems to be wearing well, those silvery inserts are a little too &amp;quot;Ziggy Stardust.&amp;quot; Don&amp;#039;t get the reference? Ask your parents.      Previous Long-Term Updates - 2011 Kia Optima SX:    (*Appeared in 03/2012 Issue) (*Appeared in 12/2011 Issue) (*Appeared in 11/2011 Issue)  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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