Kia Optima Sportswagon - First Drive Review release September 2017

Auto executives often tell us that there’s practically no demand for station wagons in the U.S, this excuse explaining why so few of these compellingly useful variants make it over here, however much enthusiasts might want them. Yet look closer and you realize that, as with so many things, there’s a strong socioeconomic slant to this iniquitous situation. A decent number of wagon variants do make it stateside, considering that the total segment makes up roughly 1 percent of our market—it’s just that nearly all of them wear upmarket badges and lofty price tags.

Which is why the new Kia Optima Sportswagon is playing against at least three loaded dice. It’s not posh, it’s not expensive, and it’s a wagon, one that’s been explicitly created for the European market where mainstream sedans like the regular Optima suffer from almost the same level of prejudice as wagons do in America. As such, there are no plans to bring the Sportswagon here, despite our earlier attempt to lobby Kia to do so.

Fine-Looking Wagon

Which is a shame, because this is a great-looking wagon. Under the direction of design supremo Peter Schreyer, Kias have been channeling upmarket German makers for the better part of a decade now, the Sportswagon doing so more than most. It’s a handsome beast, with something of Audi Avants and BMW Touring wagons in its taut lines, its styling sticking closely to that of the Sportspace concept that previewed the idea at last year’s Geneva auto show.

Yet it’s not one of the impractical lifestyle-focused wagons that puts style over substance. With 19 cubic feet of luggage space behind the back seat, it has more carrying capacity than the European Ford Fusion/Mondeo wagon and only slightly less than the Volkswagen Golf’s 23 cubic feet. The cargo hold is accessed via a wide, low liftgate aperture and cleverly incorporates cut-outs behind the rear wheel arches to maximize capacity.

The rest of the Sportswagon feels predictably similar to the Optima sedan, with a near-identical cabin providing plenty of space for occupants both front and rear as well as generous standard equipment. European buyers in some markets will be able to choose from two 2.0-liter gasoline engines, one with a turbocharger, but the vast majority of sales will be with the 1.7-liter CRDi diesel that powered our test car.

Dynamic Competence—Plus a Nice Stick

This produces a modest 139 horsepower but gives the Sportswagon a reasonable turn of speed. It’s not the most civilized powerplant, but its relatively narrow powerband means there’s little point in experiencing the industrial noises it makes when pushed hard. The need to keep the engine between 1750 and 3500 rpm where it’s happiest also means plenty of opportunities to play with the standard six-speed manual gearbox. The stick has a nice, crisp action that suits the car well, although more expensive versions get the option of a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic. We tried this transmission as well, and it shifts cleanly but—against the norm these days—has worse economy and acceleration performance than the manual.

The wagon drives nicely, too. We’re told the Sportswagon’s chassis settings have benefited from Kia’s commitment to sharpen the driving dynamics of its mainstream models, and it certainly feels a measure more agile than we remember from the regular sedan. Beyond springy-feeling assistance the steering is accurate, while grip levels are good and the unlikely chance to take some laps on the test track at Hyundai’s vast Namyang proving ground demonstrated that the Sportswagon holds on gamefully in slower turns and can be hustled along at an impressive pace without complaint. The springs and dampers feel firm, although the Sportswagon coped well enough with some of the rougher Korean roads that we drove.

None of which changes the reality that there is little chance the Sportswagon will ever come to the United States. Much as we’d like to invoke Kevin Costner’s great line about the correlation between construction and attendance, we know that American buyers almost certainly wouldn’t flock to a Kia wagon. Still, as Hyundai and Kia move toward their goal of becoming one of the industry’s biggest players, we can expect more territory-specific models like this. Who knows, maybe North America will get a full-size pickup.

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