Kia’s biggest sedan for Singapore has been given a serious makeover, but the question remains: will we get the new 1.6 litre turbo engine?

SINGAPORE — The New York auto show may be the launch venue for a new Jaguar, McLaren and Lexus, but at the mainstream end of things there’s another exciting new car: the Kia K5 Optima.

The looks have been carefully refined, with the same taut styling and an almost coupe-like silhouette. The headlights reach further back toward the front wheels, and the front bumper has been reshaped with larger, more aggressive air intakes.

It actually looks like the work of a facelift, but Kia says this is an all-new car, with plenty new under the skin. Indeed, there’s plenty to get through, but here’s five things you need to know about the new K5:

1) There’s a new turbo engine
The big news for what is Kia’s flagship saloon here? There’s a 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbo model, with an estimated 178 horsepower at 5,500 rpm and 265Nm of peak torque at just 1,500 rpm. That still obliges you to get a Category B COE, but there’s something sweet about small turbo engines, and that puts the K5 Optima high on the list of cars we’re eager to drive.

That’s not all — the new engine is married to Kia’s first seven-speed DCT (Dual Clutch Transmission), a first for the Kia brand. If it’s as crisp-shifting as VW’s DSG transmissions, the 1.6-litre K5 is something to look forward to.

In the US, at least, two engines carry over from the previous K5: the 2.4-litre GDI four-cylinder (with 185bhp and 241Nm) and the 2.0-litre GDI turbo (247bhp, 352Nm), both with six-speed autos.

Kia says it has retuned both engines to reduce their thirst for fuel and to make maximum torque available at lower revs.

2) The body is bigger. And stiffer.
The new K5 Optima is slightly longer, taller and wider.  The wheelbase has been stretched by roughly 10mm to 2,804mm and the car’s been widened by 25mm, yet Kia says those are enough to increase head room, shoulder room and rear seat leg room, while creating room for a bigger boot.

Half the body is made of high-strength steel and the use of hot-stamped steel has gone up 350 percent. Result? A much more rigid body that performs better in crash tests, gives sharper handling and improves refinement. That brings us to how…

3) … you’ll be surprised by the steps taken to cut Noise, Vibration and Harshness
The current car is by no means noisy, but several small steps have been taken in the name of cabin silence. There’s extra dashboard insulation and windshield side moulding, for instance, and Kia uses 450 percent more glue between structural body panels.

The engine mounts, body panels and wheels are all stiffer to cut the vibrations that create noise, too. Even the underfloor cover is bigger than before to smoothen windflow, thus hushing it (while cutting fuel consumption).

The bushings between chassis parts are also bigger, a move that can dampen engine and road noise, and isolate engine vibration through the floor and steering wheel.  

4) Ride and handling were high priorities
Both the front and rear suspension have been gently redesigned to make the big Kia ride more smoothly over bumps, but the main handling goals were to make it more stable at high-speed and yet more nimble. The sharper handling will be a natural consequence of the stiffer chassis, but it’ll be interesting to see if the K5 Optima evolves into a car for keen drivers. Our main wish list: more steering feedback, and better body control in corner-to-corner transitions.

5) We don’t know when it’ll be in Singapore, or what versions will be available
That’s because importers Cycle&Carriage Kia are still in the dark themselves about what export versions of the K5 Optima are available, and when.

Priority will go to the States, where the Optima has been Kia’s top-selling model for three years running. Our best guess (though it’s still a guess) is that you’ll see it in Singapore only in early 2016. The 2.4 GDI will almost certainly make it here, but wouldn’t you like to see what the 1.6 turbo is like?

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