A 180-hp turbocharged 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine paired with an eight-speed automated transmission powers the majority of K5 variants. Front-wheel drive is the engine’s default setup; all-wheel drive is an option, although not available on the GT variant. The 180-horsepower, front-drive K5 we tested had good acceleration in town, and our testing showed a 7.0-second sprint to 60 mph. At highway speeds, though, it was less spectacular because passing took more time. Nevertheless, thanks to a reliable transmission and a well-insulated cabin, the engine noise was usually kept to a low roar. The 2.5-liter turbo-four in the full-Monty GT model is more potent and produces 290 horsepower and 311 pound-feet of torque. The sportiest K5 is equipped with bigger brakes, a special suspension tuning, and wider tires on larger 19-inch wheels in addition to its specialized eight-speed automatic (with the same wet dual-clutch as the Hyundai Sonata N Line). The GT we were driving reached 60 mph in 5.2 seconds and came to a complete stop from 70 mph in 163 feet. The Sonata N Line stopped even quicker and reached 60 mph in in 5.0 seconds (152 feet). Although the Kia only comes with all-season tires, the high-performance Hyundai we tested had optional summer tires as well, which added to its performance edge.
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The Kia K5 GT has AWD, right?
Our current reality appears to be a parallel universe where the expression “The family car is no longer a car, literally no longer means literally, and the Toyota Camry is now a performance sedan.
You did read that correctly. After years of serving as the symbol of “For 2018, the Toyota Camry received a significant athleticism boost across the board, especially in its sportier SE and XSE variants. Surprisingly, 85% of all Camrys sold in Canada last year were of that model.
Yes, we are reviewing a Kia, but please be patient. The idea behind Toyota’s method, you see, was to provide customers who are still hesitant to switch to a crossover as much of a genuinely sporty driving experience as possible. It seems to function. Sales of mid-size sedans as a whole fell by 31% between 2017 and 2019, although Camry sales fell by only 6%.
The mid-size K5 car from Kia, which last year took the place of the Optima, appears to be following the same design strategy. Although the K5’s base 1.6-liter, 180-horsepower turbo engine isn’t particularly strong in a straight line, those who value a sedan’s low center of gravity will benefit greatly from the chassis qualities. The standard all-wheel drive in Canada, however, eliminates at least one of the benefits of selecting a crossover over a sedan.
The K5 GT is a four-cylinder, 2.5-liter turbocharged engine that produces 290 horsepower. If Toyota’s rationale is correct, the GT might end up becoming Kia’s best-selling K5.
The GT has a slightly lower maximum power than the Camry V6’s 301, but it still outperforms every other mid-size sedan, with the exception of its identically powered Hyundai Sonata N-Line sibling. The K5 engine is a torque monster above all else. From 1,650 to 4,000 rpm, it outperforms the competition, including the Camry, with 311 lb-ft; the Subaru Legacy GT comes in second with 277 lb-ft.
The K5 GT doesn’t feature all-wheel drive, which is a surprise. If rear-wheel drive had been the default, that may be understandable: A gearhead’s ideal drift car is a 300-horsepower, rear-driven sedan. However, the K5’s drivetrain is front-wheel-drive only. 155.5 lb-ft per wheel in the GT, which is more than three times as much as its less-capable AWD stablemates’ average of 49 lb-ft per driven wheel, is a lot of twist to distribute to only two front wheels.
To be fair to the K5 GT, the majority of its potent rivals lack AWD as well (the exception being the Subaru). However, its competitors have less torque to deliver. The final word? Contrary to what you may think, the GT effectively handles the torque-versus-traction problem. The steering doesn’t pull or struggle, and the traction control mostly keeps things under control, albeit with intermittent yells of protest from the Pirelli all-season rubber tires every now and then.
All of this, however, only applies to smooth, dry pavement, and even then, the GT cannot utilize all of its power while taking off from a stop. When a traffic light turns green, one of the 180-horsepower, all-wheel-drive K5 cars would likely dust a damp or loose surface.
What, on the other hand, do we see across from the Kia showroom? A Stinger, I see. It’s a highly respectable sport sedan with even more power than the K5 for only $5,000 extra, as well as standard all-wheel drive to allow you use it effectively. It’s a thought to ponder.
Is the front-wheel-drive Kia K5 GT-Line?
The GT level only comes with front-wheel drive, but the GT-Line offers all-wheel drive as an option. The GT-Line has both a front-wheel drive model with a starting MSRP of $26,090 and an all-wheel drive model with a starting MSRP of $27,690.
Which model of Kia K5 is all-wheel drive?
The Optima has been replaced by the current generation of Kia’s midsize sedan, the K5. The K5 is a brand-new car that uses the company’s global moniker for its mid-size sedan despite having comparable four-door, fastback appearance as its predecessor.
The Kia K5 is one of the more affordable options available in the mid-size sedan market, with prices starting at $23,790 plus $995 destination. We drove the K5 GT-Line, which has more aggressive body kit, gloss black accents, and larger alloy wheels as well as sportier aesthetic features.
Yes. Front-wheel drive is the only option for the K5 LX base model, but all-wheel drive is available as a $1,800 option for the mid-level LXS and a $1,600 option for the sporty GT-Line. Curiously, only front-drive is available in the opulent K5 EX and K5 GT.
The Kia K5 GT-Line sports a 1.6-liter inline-four turbocharged engine that produces 180 horsepower and 195 pound-feet of torque. The 2.5-liter K5 GT is far more sporty, but the GT-Line is still swift enough to keep up with contemporary traffic. Compared to some competitors’ CVTs, its eight-speed automatic transmission is sportier and more responsive.
The Kia K5 GT has FWD, so why?
The brand-new 2021 K5, which brings North America in line with a global naming convention, is positioned in the same lineup as the Optima and is comparable in size and price. Even yet, a shared lineage is still present because it is categorized as a fifth-generation model.
The K5’s powertrains are also standardized because it is constructed on the same new Hyundai Motor Group N3 chassis as other family cars like the Hyundai Sonata. Both the 1.6-liter and 2.5-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder engines in the Sonata are mated with either an eight-speed automatic or eight-speed dual-clutch transmission. These engines provide 180 horsepower and 195 pound-feet of torque each.
The K5 is now a gas-only vehicle, but someday electric versions are probably going to be available. LX, EX, GT-Line, and GT are the four levels available in Canada. The 1.6 turbo in the first three models is coupled to an eight-speed automatic transmission, while the 2.5 turbo in the GT is mated to an eight-speed DCT. Drive layout is a distinction between new and old that is worth mentioning. The GT is solely front-wheel drive, in contrast to the Optima’s all-wheel drive configuration; the bottom three K5 grades are all-wheel drive exclusively.
Because Kia offers the Stinger in its portfolio, the K5 GT is essentially FWD. Kia intended to further distinguish the K5 GT from the Stinger, which was just updated for 2022 and costs just over $50K in Canada with a standard 368-horsepower twin-turbo V6 and AWD.
Although the K5 GT boasts 45 more horsepower and 51 more pound-feet of torque than the previous Optima SX and a new wet-clutch DCT, the primary reason for FWD, in my opinion, is cost. I believe Kia’s product strategists aimed to keep the K5 GT under $40K, and they (barely) succeeded in doing so in Canada.
The K5 GT would have been competitive with the Stinger if AWD had been chosen, pushing the MSRP over that mark. The ultimate fuel consumption figures would have been impacted by the weight of an AWD system. FWD thereby reduces the margin to roughly $10,000 while increasing the K5 GT’s fuel economy. From such angles, the decision is sensible.
Anyway, let’s talk about the car itself. The exterior of my test car is Pacific Blue, and the interior is Black Sofino faux leather. The K5 GT has a ton of stuff, as one might expect. The extensive list of standard equipment on this vehicle also includes 19-inch wheels, heated and cooled front seats, a heated steering wheel, a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, a heads-up display, a Bose premium audio system, and many other features.
The photographs clearly show how different the K5 is from the Optima in terms of appearance. Although the K5 has a similar overall shape to its predecessors and is somewhat longer (+51 mm) and has a lower roofline (23 mm), it has more aggressive and high-tech appearance.
These eyes find the LED lighting signature to be the most striking. The powerful “heartbeat”-shaped daytime running lights that also serve as amber turn signal indicators on the angled and recessed headlights make the Optima appear subdued in comparison. Similar things happen towards the back, where LED “dashes” span the deck lid’s width to give the K5 a more appealing appearance, especially at night.
Other distinguishing design features include the chrome trim that extends from the A-pillars and wraps around the base of the rear window, the chrome-tipped quad exhaust outlets integrated into a prominent rear diffuser, and Kia’s updated “tiger face” grille with a mesh design inspired by shark skin.
The multimedia interface and the instrument cluster’s big digital panels make up the majority of the K5’s interior, at least in terms of the GT. Both include comprehensive features, razor-sharp resolution, and a variety of customizing options. I particularly appreciate how the drive mode selector setting affects how the gauge cluster looks. Noteworthy is the fact that both are standard kit exclusively for the GT grade. Except for GT Line, which also has a 10.25-inch screen, other versions have smaller screens (4.2-inch instrument cluster, 8-inch multimedia). Only the larger multimedia screen comes with included navigation, although all grades include Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as standard.
The K5’s interior, aside from the screens, is rather traditional. I don’t mean that in a disparaging way because I actually enjoy many trim finishes and the appearance they produce. The red contrast stitching is a stylish finishing touch, and the synthetic leather seating is cozy and pleasant to the touch. Although it is largely found on the edges, the lower dash panel, door trims, and center console do contain cheap, hard plastic, which is disappointing for a $40K vehicle.
I believe there is a lot to enjoy about this overall. The cabin is roomy, there is a ton of information, and everything looks good, but nothing really strikes out as particularly novel or fresh. And it must be acknowledged that many modern cars now come equipped with sizable digital screens. Although they function well and look fantastic in the K5, their deployment at this point feels a little routine.
In general, quite well. Although I can only speculate how handling would be improved with a rear biased AWD system, this setup is good. Once more, as with all of my road testing, I drew my conclusions by using public roads. I really want to push the K5 GT hard on a closed circuit, but that will have to wait until another time.
What I can say is that the 2.5-liter turbo delivers a lot of pull off the line, particularly in sport and sport plus modes, the latter of which turns off traction control. I occasionally noticed some lag, but it’s nothing a modulating throttle application can’t take care of. Put another way, making speedy getaways is simple when you have 290 horsepower and 311 lb-ft of torque at your disposal. The GT’s 0-60 mph (97 km/h) pace, according to Kia, is 5.8 seconds.
When you put the family sedan into sport or sport plus, use the rev bump, re-mapped wet-clutch DCT, and paddle shifters to spice up the drive home, it provides a stimulating driving experience. Throughout my test, I repeatedly did this and found it to be pretty interesting. The general handling is balanced and acute, and the steering feels light and responsive. But if that’s not your thing, alternative driving modes (normal, smart, and bespoke) are available for everyday driving with added fuel savings.
Overall, the K5 GT offers excellent value for the money. It will take some time to get acclimated to the new name, but given how much has changed, it makes sense. The K5 undoubtedly opens a new chapter, particularly from the outside. Although optional (or standard) AWD and a more ambitious interior design would be good, they are not deal-breakers for me.
Overall, I’m happy that sedans are still around. We are fortunate that a car as appealing as the K5 GT is among those that are still around, despite the fact that their numbers are dwindling with each passing year.
The company gave the author access to the vehicle. Evaluations of the content and vehicles were not subject to approval.