I'm not the kind of guy that digs in
his heels when a carmaker attempts to book him tickets on an airline
on which he has no clout, but if I can finagle a way to fly
my-airline-of-choice Delta, I am not beyond doing it. Truth be told:
I'm not high enough in the media pecking order to demand much of
anything. I'm the Oliver Twist of motoring journalists, holding out
my pathetic little bowl and uttering “Please, sir, I want some
more.”
It tugs at your heart strings, doesn't
it?
I'm too old and have been around too
long – way too long by some people's calculation – to fly across
time zones on an airline for which I am just one more body in a
150-body mass of faceless travelers. If something goes wrong, as it
often does, I want a little status as leverage in the problem
solving. A couple of years ago when my Delta red-eye flight from LAX
to Atlanta was canceled at the last minute due to weather, I managed
to parlay my status into a meal voucher and a free night's lodging at
a nearby hotel; although, Delta's policy is not to provide any
compensation for weather-related delays or cancellations. When things
go south, airline status does matter.
My creativity was seriously challenged
this past November when Kia invited me to the media launch of its
redesigned 2016 Optima near Aspen, Colorado. You see, for roughly
nine months out of the year, Delta doesn't service Aspen. November is
one of those months. It doesn't fly there itself, nor does it have an
arrangement with a regional carrier. My choice was to turn down the
invite or fly United. I wasn't happy with either solution.
A bit of noodling over the problem and
a couple of conversations with my potential driving partner for the
event provided a remedy: Fly Delta into Denver, arrange a press-fleet
car and drive the 200 miles from Denver airport to the Viceroy
Snowmass Resort. Brilliant!
Denver has a vendor that moves around
cars to the area's auto media. I arranged a Volvo V60 AWD Wagon with them
last December when I flew into Denver and drove to my sister's in Los
Lunas, NM. This time around, they provided a Nissan Rogue for my slog
to Aspen.
The 200-mile distance between Denver and
Snowmass – 80 percent of which is I-70 – would lead you to
believe you could drive it in three or so hours. Well, not so much.
I-70 was under repair for a total of perhaps 60 miles. One repair
area would end and speeds would near 70 mph for a mile or two before
encountering the next repair slow down. The final 30 miles is on Rt.
82, which is a state highway brimming with traffic lights. Drive time
was something closer to four hours plus. That's the
glass-is-half-empty description of my drive.
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| Vail Brewing Company. |
The glass-is-half-full story is that
the scenery was absolutely breathtaking. It was nothing short of
glorious. About two hours into this Colorado odyssey I made a quick
stop in Vail, not to top off the Rogue's fuel tank, satisfy a personal
biological imperative nor have a bite to eat. Nope. I pulled into the
freshly minted Vail Brewing Company to check things out. Conversing
with the bartender, I discovered the owners of this new brewery are
actually from Greenville. My, my, it is a small world after all.
Sadly, they weren't there during my exploratory visit.
 |
| The living area in my hotel room. |
My curiosity satisfied, I resumed my
drive, arriving at the event hotel mid afternoon. The Viceroy
Snowmass Resort is a skiing hotel of the first order. Roughly 11
miles from downtown Aspen and 4 miles from central Snowmass, it is
ideally situated for the skiing enthusiast. As a craft-beer-drinking
enthusiast, I found it centrally located as well. Rates in the off
season begin at $375 per night for Studio guestrooms, building to
$2,200 for Four Bedroom units. My room was huge with a six-seat
dinning table and two bathrooms. Yes, I had become – even if only
temporarily – a member of the bathroom one-percenters.
 |
| Viceroy Snowmass Resort. |
Kia operated a well-stocked hospitality
suite. There were actually a few local craft beers in the cooler. Kia
is one of the few carmakers that still throws a media launch as
though it's something special. Rather than striking out somewhere, my
buddy and I hung out in hospitality, had a craft beer or two and took
a few hits from the oxygen bar. Dinner that first evening was
poolside at the hotel. Then it was back to hospitality for some
after-dinner antics.
On day two, we were immersed in all
things 2016 Optima: first with an hour's worth of in-depth tutorials
on design, engineering and marketing, then with a multi-hour drive
around the Aspen area.
Here are some key takeaways. Assembled
in Georgia, the next-gen Optima is slightly larger than the sedan it
replaces: roughly a half inch longer in wheelbase, height and length.
It's also about an inch wider. All of this translates into more head
and legroom, as well as slightly more trunk space. There are three
four-cylinder engine options (2.4-liter, 2-liter turbo and an all-new
1.6-liter turbo) and five trim levels.
Kia expects its two turbos to account
for about 50 percent of Optima sales. The new 178-horsepower 1.6L
turbo is the most fuel efficient posting a government-estimated 28
mpg city/30 highway and 32 combined. It's mated to a seven-speed
dual-clutch automatic.
Kia offers its high-tech Uvo system
with all manner of features like Geo-fencing and Curfew Alert for
concerned parents, as well as all sorts of smartphone apps. Optima is
the first Kia offering an available Harman/Kardon QuantumLogic7
surround-sound system with 10 speakers. Every Optima comes with a
rearview camera with upper grades also offering a 360-degree camera
display. Also available is the full suite of safety technologies like
front-collision warning, lane-departure warning, rear cross-traffic
alert and so on. Auto high beams and adaptive headlamps that point
into curves are new options.
 |
| Hard at work. |
There's nothing like spending some
serious wheel time on the winding mountain roads of Colorado to
provide a true feel of a car's capabilities. The new Optima's stiffer
suspension was apparent in attacking the twisties. A fun car to
drive, Optima continues Kia's value position in the market. Pricing
begins at $21,840 and moves northward to $35,790.
In more than 25 years of participating
in these carmaker media events, I'm happy to say that I had never
been pulled over by the local constabulary for a motoring infraction
of any stripe. Well, not until this one. As we approached some
nameless Colorado town, my driving partner and I were yucking it up
over something or other and I totally missed the signs announcing a decrease
in the speed limit from 55 to 45 to 35. Suddenly I looked into my
rearview mirror to see rotating red and blue lights. I eased over
onto the shoulder, switched off the ignition, pulled my wallet out of
my pocket and rolled down the window.
Seconds later I was confronted with
Lake County Sheriff's Deputy David Basile. Explaining that he pulled
me over for doing 50 in a 35 zone, he requested my license, proof of
insurance and registration. I admitted that I could have been
exceeding the limit because I simply didn't know. He thanked me for
my candor and returned to his car.
As we sat waiting for the deputy's
return, a few of our fellow media types went roaring by honking,
waving and generally enjoying my misfortune. Roughly 10 minutes
passed before Deputy Basile reappeared at my window. He apologized
for taking so long and then said that the reason was, he was having
trouble running my Optima's plate. Not surprising. Carmakers have
stacks of “Manufacturer” plates they can screw on to any of their
cars. I explained this to the deputy and added that we were on a
media ride and drive. He then asked of all the Optimas going by were
part of the event. I affirmed they were.
He then asked, “Are all these people
going to give you shit the rest of the day?”
“Why, yes they are,” my driving
partner and I replied in unison.
“I think that's punishment enough,”
he said as he handed back my paperwork.
He presented me with a warning,
admonishing me to go forth and sin no more. He also provided me with his
business card.
Apparently the deputy and his
supervisor tracked down the Kia PR folks at the hotel, thanking them
for bringing some business into the area in the off season, but
requesting that they rein us in a bit. All is well that ends well. It
should be no surprise that I am now a huge fan of the Lake County
Sheriff's Office.
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| My driving partner Keith and me at the oxygen bar. |
Having spent a good part of the day
somewhere above 10,000 feet, my first stop back at the hospitality
suite was the oxygen bar. Ten minutes sucking the high oxygen mix
cleared my head and set the stage for a bit of partying the rest of
the day.
Dinner that evening was at Aspen's
Chef's Club. This is a restaurant in which some of the area chefs chosen
by Food & Wine as the most-promising up-and-coming plan
and prepare the menu items on a rotating basis. No clue who was
wrangling the food the night we were there, but it was wonderful.
Back at the hospitality suite it was
finally time for this event's version of the Olympic Games Figure
Skating medal awards or, as I like to affectionately call it,
“Bulls**t!” Kia always throws a contest in conjunction with its
media-launch ride and drives. This particular contest involved
snapping a photo of anything, mating it with a creative and/or funny
caption. Although these contests always have rules, they are more
like suggestions. Judging is totally subjective and cheating is
widely encouraged. This can be a benefit or a curse.
My driving partner and I decided that
we would plant the story that I had indeed received a ticket for my
infraction that amounted to $350. An attempt to gain some sympathy
points from the judges, it was, sadly, foiled by the Sheriff's phone
call. We had snapped a photo earlier in the day of me pulled up next
to an abandoned police car and waving my arms. To this we attached an
uproariously humorous caption, which now escapes me, and submitted
it.
 |
| Is there a problem, officer? |
In what has become a blatant fix in
these contests, we were awarded an honorable mention. To this I say,
bulls**t! This is my third or fourth honorable mention in Kia
contests. I am like the Harold Stassen of Kia-event competitions. (If
you are unfamiliar with Harold Stassen, my children, look him up.) Even
cheating we couldn't seem to get the ball over the goal line. I was
shocked, appalled and, dare I say, dismayed!
I do like the redesigned Optima,
though.
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