A couple of weekends ago, we took a trip to San Diego. It’s about a five hour drive, so we figured that we’d take Justin’s car since it takes diesel & gets crazy good gas mileage- much better than my car, at least! The problem is, his car is pretty small. I wasn’t sure that we’d all sit comfortably in there for that long of a drive- Shane’s feet are squished against Justin’s seat & the glovebox hangs low, making me uncomfortable if I sit there for more than twenty minutes. The point is- it’s not a road trip car.

So when I had the chance to take the Kia Optima Hybrid on our trip instead- I jumped at the chance. It was the perfect mix of my car & Justin’s- it has ample room inside like my car, but it gets amazing gas mileage like Justin’s! Plus, Justin has been eyeing this car for awhile now & has even said that if he was looking to buy a new car right now, he’d want this one. And that was before he even knew we’d be reviewing one!

The first thing I noticed about the car was that it looked like a sports car! From the lights to the rims, this car doesn’t look like your typical four-door sedan. We were both very impressed by the looks of it, but of course, you can’t judge a book by it’s cover. Luckily, the inside is great, too!

The radio was perfect for our travel since it had Sirius Satellite Radio so we didn’t find ourselves attempting to try to find the local stations when we crossed state lines like we usually have to. You can also plug in your phone and play the music from it using the UVO by Microsoft system, but we were having issues getting Justin’s phone to connect. The issue was on Justin’s phone, though- not the car. We eventually got his podcast player working for the trip back & Justin was able to listen to his podcasts while Shane & I slept, which was very nice for him.

Another great feature that I loved was the abundance of steering wheel controls. Nevada is a hands-free state, which means you can get a ticket for talking on your cell phone without using a Bluetooth device. I love that many new cars allow you to talk on your phone through your car’s speaker system- it is great for anyone but especially those like me who forget to charge their Bluetooth device & then just can’t make calls until they’re parked. Not only does this car have the phone-to-car technology, but for added safety your hands don’t even need to leave the steering wheel! You can start or end a call directly from the controls on the wheel- and you can even use your voice to dial! The car also had lots of other buttons- some change the display {which can show eco info, mileage, miles until gas is needed, etc.}, some are for the volume and then of course there’s cruise control- another favorite for traveling long distances on the freeway!

This feature has nothing to do with traveling, but is great for the summertime for anyone- but particularly those of us who live in 110+ degree heat. There have been many times this summer where I had to put my groceries in the front of the car, simply because I literally couldn’t open my trunk without burning my hand. This car has a little button underneath the hood that opens the truck, and you can keep your hand on it to open the trunk without getting burned since it’s rubbery & doesn’t get hot. I really wish my car had this- it’s such a simple feature but would make such a difference in this heat.

I know this is standard for many cars, but neither of our cars have this fun feature- you can program your mirror to open your garage or community gates! Our community doesn’t have a gate, so we only have clickers for our garage, but we also have clickers for Justin’s parent’s community. It becomes a LOT of clutter if you keep them all out- especially for those who actually live in communities with gates who need to keep both their gate clicker & garage clicker out. So it’s nice being able to just program the mirror to do it clutter-free! I like that it shows the direction, too- I am horrible at cardinal directions & as far as I’m concerned, North is just “up”- so it’s nice to have that as backup in case my directions say to go North.

The interior was really nice, too- the one we reviewed had cloth seats, which I personally prefer since we have a 3 year old who can give seats quite a beating {not to mention, we tend to need to clean them a lot!}. I also like it for where I live because again, it’s hot here & leather can be brutal in the summer. There was also a lot of room, and all of us were comfortable for our long trip!

I was incredibly impressed with the gas mileage: we made it from our home in Las Vegas all the way to Legoland in Carlsbad, CA, then to our hotel in San Diego, then to the beach in Coronado then back to San Diego for the zoo & still had some gas left! We filled up for our drive back and had just under half a tank left from the entire drive from San Diego back to Vegas- about 340 miles {all highway}.

The only thing that I didn’t like about this car was the trunk space. Because it’s a hybrid, it of course has a battery- and in this car, the battery is stored in the trunk. There’s still enough room in the trunk for a grocery trip- and we fit our large duffel bag and stroller in it for our trip just fine. But if you use a double stroller or needed a larger suitcase, I’m not sure they’d fit.

You can check out the 2012 Kia Optima Hybrid, which starts at $25,700, at your local dealer!

What car did you take on your last road trip? Did you like it?

Note: I was provided with the vehicle for a week to facilitate this review. All experiences are authentic & all opinions are my own.