Following its debut at the Geneva motor show earlier in the year, the facelifted Optima saloon and Sportswagon are now on sale, boasting a series of updates and a new 1.6-litre ‘U3’ diesel engine that develops 134bhp and 236lb ft of torque. The ‘tiger-nose’ grille now has a bright chrome finish, and there’s revisions to the bumpers, headlights and fog lamps, as well as fresh designs for the alloy wheels. Inside, there’s a newly-designed steering wheel and satin-chrome trim for the centre console, and GT-Line S models feature black leather upholstery with red stitching.
New safety equipment includes driver drowsiness detection and the 360-degree camera system is now of a higher resolution. The new diesel engine features Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) for effective emissions control, with CO2 emissions of 117g/km for the manual saloon, rising to 122g/km for the seven-speed twin-clutch automatic Sportswagon editions. As before, the model architecture consists of 2, 3 and GT-Line S, with the highest trim level now offered exclusively in Sportswagon guise. Prices start at £22,260 for the 2 1.6 CRDi saloon, rising to £31,400 for a Sportswagon GT-Line S 1.6 CRDi with automatic transmission. For now, just the diesel models get the update, with the plug-in hybrid editions retaining the previous design, for now.
