Korean War: Inside Line pits Hyundai Sonata against Kia Optima [w/poll]
 

<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/sedans/" rel="tag">Sedan</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/hyundai/" rel="tag">Hyundai</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/kia/" rel="tag">Kia</a></p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2011-kia-optima-and-2011-hyundai-sonata/"><img hspace="0" vspace="4" border="0" alt="2011 Kia Optima and 2011 Hyundai Sonata" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/12/optima-sonata-il-opt.jpg" /></a>
<div style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><sma ll>2011 Kia Optima and 2011 Hyundai Sonata - Click above to enlarge</small></strong></em></div>
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The Koreans are coming! Actually, strike that... they're already here. As a matter of fact, both the <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/model/sonata">2011 Hyundai Sonata</a> and its corporate kissing cousin, the <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/model/optima">2011 Kia Optima</a>, rank very highly on our own midsize sedan pecking order chart. All of this begs the question: Which one is better, and why?<br />
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The boys from Inside Line decided to pit the two sedans, which share most major components and assemblies, against each other in a no-holds-barred fight for supremacy. Not surprisingly - both use 2.4-liter four cylinder engines (plus or minus California emissions...) and six-speed automatic transmissions, and both weight nearly the same - picking a winner means delving into the details.<br />
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And IL found that the details favored the <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/make/kia">Kia</a>. There are a number of reasons given for the why and how of this conclusion, which you can read all about <a href="http://www.insideline.com/kia/optima/2011/2011-hyundai-sonata-vs-2011-kia-optima-comparison-test.html">right here</a>. Basically, though, IL found that the Optima is tuned more for the enthusiast as opposed to the competent and comfortable nature of the Sonata. <br />
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Which one would you pick? Take our poll below and then feel free to talk about your choice in Comments.<br />
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<p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2010/12/15/korean-war-inside-line-pits-hyundai-sonata-against-kia-optima/#poll57446">View Poll</a></p><br />
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<div class="postgallery"><p><s trong>Gallery: <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2011-hyundai-sonata-first-drive">First Drive: 2011 Hyundai Sonata</a></strong></p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2011-hyundai-sonata-first-drive/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/02/01hyundaisonata2011fd_thu mbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2011-hyundai-sonata-first-drive/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/02/02hyundaisonata2011fd_thu mbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2011-hyundai-sonata-first-drive/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/02/03hyundaisonata2011fd_thu mbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2011-hyundai-sonata-first-drive/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/02/04hyundaisonata2011fd_thu mbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2011-hyundai-sonata-first-drive/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/02/05hyundaisonata2011fd_thu mbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a></div><br />
<div class="postgallery"><p><s trong>Gallery: <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2011-kia-optima-first-drive">2011 Kia Optima: First Drive</a></strong></p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2011-kia-optima-first-drive/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/09/01kiaoptimafd2011_thumbna il.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2011-kia-optima-first-drive/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/09/02kiaoptimafd2011_thumbna il.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2011-kia-optima-first-drive/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/09/03kiaoptimafd2011_thumbna il.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2011-kia-optima-first-drive/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/09/04kiaoptimafd2011_thumbna il.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2011-kia-optima-first-drive/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/09/05kiaoptimafd2011_thumbna il.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a></div><br />
<em><strong><small>Galler y photos copyright (C)2010 AOL</small></strong></em> <br />
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[Source: <a href="http://www.insideline.com/kia/optima/2011/2011-hyundai-sonata-vs-2011-kia-optima-comparison-test.html">Inside Line</a> | Main Image: Kurt Niebuhr for Edmunds]<p style="padding:5px;backgr ound:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2010/12/15/korean-war-inside-line-pits-hyundai-sonata-against-kia-optima/">Korean War: Inside Line pits Hyundai Sonata against Kia Optima [w/poll]</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.autoblog.com">Autoblo g</a> on Wed, 15 Dec 2010 19:30:00 EST. Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://www.insideline.com/kia/optima/2011/2011-hyundai-sonata-vs-2011-kia-optima-comparison-test.html>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2010/12/15/korean-war-inside-line-pits-hyundai-sonata-against-kia-optima/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/forward/19763186/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2010/12/15/korean-war-inside-line-pits-hyundai-sonata-against-kia-optima/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>

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