2025 Kia K4 First Drive Review: This is Growing Up

When is an affordable car not affordable?

Kia’s outgoing compact car, the Forte, certainly qualified; it regularly featured on the list of 10 most affordable new vehicles on the market. For 2025, the K4 replaces it—and pulls double duty as the brand’s only actual car in Canada—being roomier, more refined, and yep, you guessed it: more expensive.

The good news is that the 2025 Kia K4 is still a relative bargain in Kia dealerships, a solid improvement on the brand’s last compact, and a continued respite for buyers not looking for an SUV. The bad news? In its quest to take on the class leaders, the K4 can come across as pricey.

What’s New for 2025:

The K4 arrives as one of the largest compact cars on the market. It matches its platform mate the Hyundai Elantra on wheelbase (107.1 inches / 2,720 millimeters) and overall length (185.4 in / 4,710 mm), but is an inch wider. Kia is claiming class-leading rear legroom, which is technically correct: it ties the Hyundai at 38.0 in (964 mm). As Futurama taught us, this is the best kind of correct.

Under the skin, the K4 carries over the two powertrains of before: a 2.0-liter inline-four in lower trims, and the familiar 1.6-liter turbo-four in the GT-Line Turbo. The former spits out 147 horsepower and 132 pound-feet of torque through a continuously variable transmission (or “Intelligent Variable Transmission” in Kia-speak). Opt for the turbo and you’ve got 190 hp and 195 lb-ft to play with, now running through an eight-speed auto ‘box instead of the old dual-clutch.

Unlike others in the class, the K4 eschews both electrified powertrains (Honda Civic hybrid) and all-wheel drive (Mazda3). The Toyota Corolla does both.

Exterior Style:

With the market’s continued focus on SUVs, this is our first real look at Kia’s latest “Opposites United” design language as applied to a car. It certainly exaggerates the modest dimensional increases over the Forte: the long arch of the roofline and all the straight angles visually stretch this sedan out. Yes, sedan: despite a shape that suggests otherwise, this is still a three-box, not a liftback. Kia employs a black plastic trim piece at the bottom of the rear window to trick the eye, but no dice. If you want a more practical shape, a hatchback model is coming, though Kia won’t talk details.

Turbo-powered models ride on 18-inch wheels, but the EX you see here sticks to modestly-sized 17s.

Powertrain and Fuel Economy:

For this first drive event, Kia Canada only brought the EX trim along, to represent what has traditionally been the volume-selling trim in the Great White North. That means the 2.0-liter, which is one of the least-muscular engines in the segment.

Around town, the four-pot is fine, in large part due to the responses of that CVT. Need anything more than traffic-flow levels of verve and the engine struggles to deliver, with the CVT exploring further and further up the tachometer. Full-throttle highway merges result in more noise but not much more forward motion.

The trade-off here is above-average fuel economy. The 2.0L has an official combined fuel economy rating of either 33 or 34 mpg (7.3 or 7.0 L/100 km), depending on wheel size. Even through rolling hills and with stops for photos, our tester indicated consumption right around there.

Ride Quality and Comfort:

Only over the roughest of surfaces does that rear suspension make itself known, introducing additional lateral movements before it settles. We’re talking big potholes here. Everywhere else the K4 is calm and composed, with good manners on highways and city roads alike. The modest wheel size affords it more sidewall than many competitors, and the resulting ride feels more like the next class up. The K4 hums along like a big car when you’d like—in comfort, on a steady throttle down the highway—while maintaining a compact feel in the corners.

Big props to Kia for the cloth seats in this mid-trim model. The EX features a wool-like knit that looks and feels good, less scratchy than the material in the similar Elantra. The front seats earn big points during our drive: soft enough to be comfortable, yet shapely enough to be supportive. In Canada, every trim features heated thrones, though the ventilated option is locked to the top trim. It would have been useful once the temperatures were in the mid-90s in Austin (34 degrees Celsius).

Interior Style and Quality:

Entering the cabin, it’s clear where the extra money has gone. The K4’s interior is a big step forward, a classy space that aligns with the exterior design while also piling on a lot more standard tech. The dashboard design is blocky, with tasteful bits of bright work to lift the ambiance. Look at all those physical buttons, too! (More on that in a bit.) Material quality still isn’t Mazda3 good, but the soft-touch plastics and bits of knit put the K4 near the pointy end of the class.

A new squircle steering wheel takes a bit of getting used to, but its small diameter does contribute to the K4’s eager feel.

Rear space is good, as all that legroom is most welcome. The sloping roofline does impact headroom, but at least there’s the generous rear quarter window to let in more light.

Tech and Safety:

The K4’s tech suite is something of a mixed bag.

Its major advantage is the standard 12.3-inch touchscreen. It’s crisp and clean, running the latest infotainment system from Kia. The menu design has been simplified, so there’s not a lot of actions that take more than two pokes, maybe three. While higher trims feature a driver instrument cluster of the same size, Kia says the EX uses a 4.2-inch screen. This is a bit of a misnomer: the dials on either side of the info panel are digital too, but since they’re not customizable, Kia doesn’t include them in the measurement. I appreciate the honesty, and the cool retro graphics.

One of the best features involves the Apple CarPlay and Android Auto integration, which is finally wireless across the board. Hit the Map button on the dashboard and it the screen will automatically switch to the last used navigation app on your phone. This is a clever integration and acknowledges how buyers in this part of the market are likely to use the car. Take note, Chevy. A wireless charger and four USB ports are great additions, especially on a lower trim like this.

Another perk: a longer list of standard safety kit. Full-range adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, lane keep assist, and automated emergency braking are standard across all trims. Blind spot monitoring shows up on everything beyond the base trim.

Kia has made some pretty heavy cost-cutting moves to achieve all this. Where most competitors offer automatic climate control across the board, the only way to get it here is with the turbo engine. The manual setup here doesn’t use dials either, but buttons, with four settings each for cool or warm marked with small lights. Emphasis on the “cool” too: even on the max fan setting, the K4 took its time bringing cabin temps down after being parked in the sun for lunch. Cupholders for the folks in the back? Turbo models only, as well.

Value, Dollars and Sense:

In Canada, the K4 will arrive in five trims: LX, EX, EX+, GT-Line, and GT-Line Limited. This EX trim lists for a reasonable $28,345 CAD including destination. The LX shaves $2,500 CAD off that price, rolls on 16-inch steelies, and ditches the phone charger, heated synthetic leather steering wheel, and two audio speakers (bringing the count to four). As mentioned, it also loses the blind-spot monitoring (and rear cross-traffic alert). On the other side, the EX+ adds a wide sunroof and faux leather seating.

The GT-Line kicks off at $33,345, with the full-fat Limited an additional three grand. The latter comes loaded with Highway Drive Assist 2, 18-inch alloys, a 360-degree camera, a digital key, a Harman Kardon sound system, and front-ventilated seats with driver memory.

America’s lineup takes a different approach: LX, LXS, EX, and GT-Line for now, ranging from $23,145 to $26,345 including destination. Note that the GT-Line doesn’t force the turbo motor like in Canada; the GT-Line Turbo will arrive later at a bit under $30,000.

I’ll have to reserve judgment on the turbo until I’ve got behind the wheel, but based on price it will be a hard sell. The Honda Civic Si is likely to have the edge from a performance perspective, while the top-trim K4 gets within spitting distance of the excellent Civic hybrid sedan.

Final Thoughts: 2025 Kia K4 First Drive Review

Is the 2025 Kia K4 a class leader? On first impressions I’m saying no: it lacks the breadth of abilities that you’ll find in the dominant Civics and Corollas of the class. Nonetheless, for buyers wanting a stylish, techy compact car that’s spacious and easy to drive, the K4 nails the brief. Prices may be up, but it still makes the most sense here at its middle trim: not as affordable as before, but still affordable after all.

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