VicVictory's commuter car ('17 Optima PHEV)

That’s impressive considering that my friend’s Prius C shows only about 60 MPG on an average commute… but I have to ask because my 15 year old brain is curious… what engine is it and how quick is it? :smiley:

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66 HP primary electric motor, with a 2.0L Nu GDi that separately provides 154 HP. When running together, they have a max combined power of 202HP. 0-60 is a respectable 8.0 seconds if you’re pushing it. That’s on par with a new 4-cylinder, non-hybrid Camry.

And if you hit it just right, that sucker is FAST off the line, because the instant torque of the electric motor is actually better than most gas engines’ low speed power. It just tends to get its doors blown off later on. Lol

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Considering what happened to Subaru not long ago, where they lost a class action lawsuit for that exact issue, I don’t understand why dealers/manufacturers still want to try their chance even at the risk of getting sued.

New cars should not be burning oil period.

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I think the reason why GM is doing this, despite being hit for the Cobalt/Ion ignition issue they tried to bury, is because it seems most if not all of the newer V6’s in those have both oil consumption and vibration issues when the cylinder deactivation feature is working. Unfortunately, there is no way to disable the feature, because that’s how they pass CAFE regs.

And the new V8’s consume oil both with AND without the cylinder deactivation.

Chevy likes to cover up issues. Fords have obnoxious/distracting interiors. Chrysler products have absolutely no value for the money. And, well, I’m not fond of German cars and their gremlins. Kia on the other hand… bring it on! :slight_smile:

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Kia and Hyundai are really knocking it out of the park. I’d say that when it comes to new cars, they’re like Honda circa the 80s and 90s. A quality car for a bargain. Hopefully they don’t get complacent and throw auto trannies every other week like Honda did after that.

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My drivers ed car was a brand new Kia Soul earlier this summer, and I looked at it and thought “Haha that’s cute!” It actually had a lot of character, was built very well, handled nicely and was peppy.

I don’t know how reliable Kia/Hyundai are but I’d certainly look into buying a used Azera or Santa Fe with a V6. Great cars!

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Very reliable, as long as you do maintenance. We traded in our '05 Tucson years ago that had accrued 125k miles on it. The only thing we ever had to do that wasn’t routine maintenance was replace a $50 emissions sensor. Still ran as nice as the day it was new. I’m seeing tons of run-and-drive Hyundais and Kias with 200k+ miles.

Where you see broken ones is usually when they fail to replace the timing belt(s), and the belt snaps and destroys the engine. This is also partially why, over the past few years, they’ve switched to using timing chains.

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Looks like they’re full on gunning for it now, judging by the LA Auto Show this past week.

The new 3rd gen Soul was impressive enough with just the ICE engines thrown in, but now the new EV is going to have 200+ mile range… You know it’s going to be WAY cheaper than the Chevy Bolt, and put together better. Shots fired.

And the Hyundai Palisade looks to be a serious contender to the likes of the Traverse/Enclave and perhaps even Pathfinder. Unfortunately it did disappoint me a bit. Kia had mentioned the upcoming platform-mate Telluride would be a 3.5L V6 hybrid, but the Palisade makes no mention of hybrid drivetrains, even after launch. That makes me less confident that next month’s official unveiling of the Telluride will include hybrid drivetrains. Having one would put a pin in it for me, with plans to replace my wife’s Santa Fe XL with one in a couple years.

OK, and now back to the topic of my actual car.

It’s been stolen… by my wife. :stuck_out_tongue: I have “custody” of it for one commute per week. But she has the longer commute, and she really REALLY loves it, so it’s kinda de-facto become her car. It’s the cold-and-wet season here now, which means extended use of the climate control system and, by association, the ICE engine. We did find out a “worst case” scenario for fuel mileage. When we went to go visit her Dad’s family for Thanksgiving, the “direct” route using a ferry was so backed up that we decided to drive all the way around the sound and back up the peninsula on highways. Mind you, this was Thanksgiving weekend traffic, so Seattle and Tacoma had insane stop-and-go backups.

47 MPG. That is the apparently worst case scenario, if you just run and run and run and can’t recharge the battery. I know Priuses (Priii?) that don’t get that good of mileage under normal conditions.

Also, a few weeks ago, it received its first oil change. Damn near a year into service it was finally time. The minimum service interval on this model is apparently 7500 miles because of how little the ICE engine gets used under normal conditions. So in addition to saving on average $100 in fuel costs per month, I’m saving an additional $100 or so per year in routine maintenance. I’ll take it!

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