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2021 Kia K5 2.5 GT review: a new era

"The 2021 Kia K5 focuses on style and sportiness without sacrificing practicality."

• Attractive styling

• Powerful engine

• Nimble chassis

• Intuitive technology

• Low standard driver assistant technology

Kia spent two decades transforming the Optima midsize sedan from a joke into a truly desirable car – all so it could rename itself and start over.

The 2021 Kia K5 is the replacement for the Kia Optima. While the name is a sterile alphanumeric combination that car buyers are more likely to associate with a Chevy SUV than anything bearing the Kia badge, the K5 looks pretty good on paper. The last Optima was a good looking car, but Kia chose even more this time around while adding a bigger touchscreen, more driver assistance technology, optional all-wheel drive, and a sporty GT model.

Kia has to pull out all the stops if it is to grab buyers' attention. The K5 has many competitors including the Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, Nissan Altima, Mazda 6, Subaru Legacy, and Volkswagen Passat, as well as its sibling – the Hyundai Sonata.

Prices for the 2021 Kia K5 start at $ 24,555 (all prices include a mandatory target fee of $ 965) but only buy an entry-level LX. Our test car was the K5 GT with a more powerful engine and a sporty chassis. The GT starts at $ 31,555, but our test car also had the optional GT1 package, which includes a 10.25-inch touchscreen, Bose premium audio system, and adaptive cruise control, among other things. That brought the MSRP to $ 35,705.

Design and interior

The K5 shares a base platform with the Hyundai Sonata, but the designers made a good distinction between the two. Where the Hyundai has sleek lines that look like it's floating in the street, the K5 is slightly more muscular, with a bulging hood and a front bumper that protrudes forward like the chin of a 1940s cartoon character. This is in line with the personality of both sedans. The Hyundai is a laid-back cruiser, while the K5 is said to be sportier.

However, the main differentiator of the K5 is the lighting. On the front you get straightforward LED daytime running lights, which Kia calls "heartbeat", as well as a horizontal light blade on the back. While the overall shape of the K5 is very slim and attractive, many other sedans these days have a similar shape. The styling is subjective, but the lighting design makes the K5 a lot more distinctive.

Sleek design usually costs the interior, but that's not the case with this Kia. The K5 has more headroom and front legroom than other midsize sedans and just 0.2 cubic feet less rear headroom than the class-leading Toyota Camry. The rear legroom is a bit below average, however.

The styling is subjective, but the lighting design makes the K5 a lot more distinctive.

At 16 cubic feet, the trunk space is above average, but behind the 16.7 cubic feet of the class-leading Honda Accord. The K5's Hyundai Sonata sibling also offers a little more cargo space at 16.3 cubic feet. Kia also offers a 60/40 folding rear seat for longer items, but this feature is not available in the basic K5 LX.

The interior design was clean and functional, although the slope of the roof somewhat obscured the rear view. Our K5 GT test car had special features such as heated and ventilated front seats, a heated steering wheel, a driver storage system for the seat and mirrors, and a panoramic sliding roof, which proves that Kia still takes its reputation as a token seriously. The materials didn't feel very high quality (Kia only offers faux leather instead of real leather upholstery) but were acceptable given the price of the car. However, Kia used a lot of shiny plastic that created an annoying sheen on sunny days.

Technology, infotainment and driver assistance

The standard infotainment system includes an 8.0-inch touchscreen. However, as an upgrade, you get a 10.25-inch touchscreen. Oddly enough, Kia only offers wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with the smaller screen. While you still need to connect to use CarPlay and Android Auto on the bigger screen, it adds natural language speech recognition and Bluetooth with multiple connections.

Our test car had the optional 10.25-inch screen with cool-looking graphics, including old-fashioned tubes for radio stations. We appreciated the keyboard shortcuts for various menus, but the buttons on the right side of the screen were a bit difficult to reach from the driver's seat. The speech recognition system, which recognizes simple sentences like "turn on the air conditioning", had no obvious comprehension problems, but it was a little slow to respond.

It is also possible to charge cell phones. The unusual design involves placing the phone in a vertical slot. That seems like a smart way to save space, but Kia still left a phone-sized room – uncharged – in front of the gear stick.

The larger optional touchscreen contained cool-looking graphics, including old-fashioned radio tubes for radio stations.

A Bose audio system with 12 speakers, subwoofer and external amplifier is also available. When you're tired of listening to music, the Kia also offers "nature sounds" including "lively forest", "calm ocean waves", "rainy day", "warm fireplace" and "open air cafe" in one machine with the K5 white noise on wheels.

The standard driver assistance technology under the Kia Drive Wise banner includes forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, a monitor for the driver's attention and automatic lane centering for the lane following assistant. Optional functions include blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alarm, automatic reverse braking and adaptive cruise control. The latter can use the navigation system to preventively reduce the speed for motorway curves or changes to the speed limit.

On the freeway, adaptive cruise control accelerated and braked smoothly, even though we didn't get a chance to test the automatic speed limit setting. The system also has a stop-and-go function, which is useful in heavy traffic. It's worth noting, however, that several competitors – including the Honda Accord, Subaru Legacy, and Toyota Camry – offer adaptive cruise control as standard, but without some of the features of the Kia system. We also found that Kia's lane tracking assistant is less competent than the lane-centering feature of Subaru's EyeSight system – which isn't exactly perfect either.

Experience at the wheel

The standard powertrain is a 1.6-liter, four-cylinder, turbocharged engine that produces 180 horsepower and 195 pound-feet of torque. The engine is coupled to an eight-speed automatic transmission with front-wheel drive as standard or optional all-wheel drive. These are respectable specs for an entry-level powertrain in a midsize sedan, and the availability of all-wheel drive is a benefit for new car buyers in colder climates. Note that you can also get all-wheel drive on the Nissan Altima and Toyota Camry. This is standard with the Subaru Legacy.

Kia K5 GT models like our test car get a 2.5-liter turbo four-cylinder with 290 hp and 311 lb-ft and an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission for faster gear changes. The GT is only available with front-wheel drive, but Kia claims it will do zero to 60 mph in 5.8 seconds. For a mainstream sedan, that's pretty quick.

Most midsize sedans will make you look like an adult. This one makes you look like a hooligan.

However, Kia packed more than just strength. The GT receives a model-specific chassis for better handling and 19-inch wheels with non-slip Pirelli P-Zero tires. Despite these tires, the GT was strong enough to spin its wheels on command. The "Sport +" driving mode also deactivates the traction control and lets the engine stay at its boiling point without shifting up. This is not the behavior you would normally expect from a car like this. Most midsize sedans will make you look like an adult. This one makes you look like a hooligan.

However, things are not going to get completely out of hand. The K5 is more than just a theater; It has the necessary steps to show its bravery. Many modern cars feel like they're breaking the laws of physics when cornering, but the K5 felt light and eager, as if it actually wanted to move. The excellent chassis tuning was disappointed by numb steering, but the K5 is far from the only sporty car with this problem. The ride was a bit tough too, but reasonable given the handling of this chassis.

Fuel economy and safety

The most fuel-efficient model of the 2021 Kia K5 is the base 1.6-liter, front-wheel drive LX that together achieves 32 mpg (29 mpg city, 38 mpg highway) fuel economy. Other models with the 1.6 liter engine get 31 mpg combined (27 mpg city, 37 mpg highway) with front-wheel drive and 29 mpg combined (26 mpg city, 34 mpg highway) with all-wheel drive. The 2.5-liter GT has an overall output of 27 mpg (24 mpg city, 32 mpg highway), and we hit 26.4 mpg according to the car's on-board computer.

The fuel economy figures are respectable for a midsize sedan, but it's worth noting that the Honda Accord, Hyundai Sonata, and Toyota Camry are all available with more efficient hybrids. Kia previously offered an Optima Hybrid but has not discussed any plans for a Hybrid K5.

The K5 received the “Top Safety Pick +” rating from the Insurance Institute for Road Safety (IIHS) with the top rating “Good” in all crash tests and the top rating “Superior” for the technology used to prevent frontal crashes. The headlight values, however, ranged from “good” to “bad” depending on the equipment variant.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) gave the 2021 K5 a five-star overall safety rating with four stars in frontal and rollover crash tests and five stars in side crash tests.

Kia offers a 10 year powertrain warranty of 100,000 miles and a five year limited warranty of 60,000 miles. These remain the longest warranty terms in the business. They're unmatched by rivals, except of course the Hyundai Sonata from Kia's sibling brand.

How DT would configure this car

The driving experience is really what sets the K5 apart from other midsize sedans. That's why we'd opt for a GT model like our test car. While the GT is a huge step up from the base spec on the LX, it is still great value for money considering how much gear you get, including a 290 horsepower engine, a well-tuned chassis, and loads of comfort.

However, Kia poses a dilemma for tech-savvy buyers. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are only available with the smaller 8.0-inch touchscreen, while the optional 10.25-inch touchscreen offers multi-phone Bluetooth pairing and natural language speech recognition. So buyers have to decide which features they think are more important.

We couldn't test the smaller screen, but given that the bigger screen is bundled with a $ 4,100 option pack, we'd think long and hard about skipping it and saving a large chunk of the changes. While we liked the voice recognition system, ditching cables seems like a bigger comfort boost.

Our opinion

The 2021 Kia K5 is built on the solid foundation of the Optima and offers an extra dose of style and performance. It's a well-executed midsize sedan, but it faces stiff competition too.

The Honda Accord, Mazda 6, and even the once boring Toyota Camry all offer satisfying driving experiences, while the Subaru Legacy has more standard driver assistance technology and a larger touchscreen available than the Kia, as well as standard all-wheel drive. However, Kia continues to boast a longer warranty and impressive value. Even when an option package was tackled, our K5 GT test car was less than $ 40,000.

It's also about the Kia's sibling – the Hyundai Sonata. The Hyundai has technologies not available on the Kia, including automatic parking with Remote Smart Parking Assist, a digital key feature that allows you to use a smartphone as a key, and a hybrid powertrain. The Sonata isn't as fun to drive as the Kia, however. Hyundai may have a Sonata N-Line performance model, but a prototype drive from 2019 did not challenge us.

Should you get one

Yes. The K5 proves that ordinary, practical cars can be fun too.

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