Optimum package

THE fourth-generation Kia Optima may be brand new, with a longer, wider and taller body. But as with the Korean brand's recent efforts, the changes are so subtle as to be almost unnoticeable.

True, the pretty, midsize sedan has a sleeker "tiger nose" front end with a slimmer, hot-stamped grille and lengthened, wrap-around headlamps. It also has a slightly bigger glasshouse with a new window for the rear pillar.

But at a glance, the whole car with its sporty profile looks much the same.