Kia Optima vs Lexus IS

What's the difference?

There are plenty of reasons why you should still consider a mid-sized sedan like the Kia Optima. I’m sure there are… just let me think about this for a sec…

Okay, so this part of the market is dying. A decade ago, sedans like this were really popular, but now there are heaps of alternative options. Yep, people are going for mid-sized SUVs rather than mid-sized sedans like this.

But that doesn’t mean models like the just-updated 2018 Kia Optima are without their reasons for being. I’m just not sure the facelift has made it more appealing to look at…

One question frequently discussed in the skunkworks of the CarsGuide office is: What exactly does Lexus stand for?

When the brand debuted its original export-market IS sedan in 1999 the messaging was more or less clear: Toyota’s premium sub-brand was here to be a Japanese BMW.

The brand even employed Nobuaki Katayama – chief engineer on the iconic Corolla AE86 program – to again take the reins of its small rear-wheel drive sedan program.

As the years went on though, Lexus changed. Fundamentally geared toward the US market, the second-generation (wild IS F aside) became a bit more sedate and softer around the edges, while the third generation strayed even further from the sedan’s performance-inspired roots, leaning into a plush interior, hybrid drive, and even CVT transmissions.

This brings us to today’s Lexus IS. Essentially a heavy facelift of the third generation (which arrived back in 2013), the brand has “reimagined” its core sedan with a tweaked design and updated technology for 2021.

Is it enough to keep it relevant against its ever-present European rivals and the newly arrived threat from Hyundai’s Genesis G70? I took a signature IS300h hybrid for a week to find out.