Proof That Econoboxes Can Still Be Cool

Another day, another new front-drive, four-banger economy car. This time around, it’s the 2025 Kia K4, the successor to the compact Forte, Kia’s second-best seller and a sedan that actually displayed market growth rather than stagnation. Now, it’s got a new design and alphanumeric name to match. But hold your sighs because this Korean Corolla wants to make a case that cheap can also be cheerful and that today’s commuter cars are more interesting than ever.

The Basics

Handsome, isn’t it? Well, mostly. The abrupt halt in the C-pillar quarter windows and gloss black fender accents are odd, but maybe that’s nitpicking. Korean automakers made strides to wield their sketching pencils with more identity, which is evident in the K4’s exterior, evocative of the K5, rather than something “bargain bin.”

Psst. If this almost does it for you but not quite, hang tight for the not-a-wagon-but-totally-a-wagon K4 Hatchback that’s confirmed to be coming to America.

Numbers-wise, the K4 is the largest offering among its direct peers by mere inches. With a length of 185.4 inches, it’s longer than a Toyota Corolla by 2.9 inches, a Honda Civic by 1.4 inches, and its corporate Hyundai Elantra cousin by 1.3 inches. The wheelbase sits at 107.1 inches, longer than Corolla by 0.8 inches, shorter than Civic by 0.6 inches, and identical to Elantra. With a width of 72.8 inches, it’s also a tad wider than all of them. 

Larger dimensions afford the K4 marginally more interior space. With 42.3 inches of available front legroom and 38 inches of available rear legroom, it edges out Corolla and roughly mirrors Elantra and Civic.

A dual-screen infotainment and digital cluster combo dominates the trend-following cabin. Call it overplayed, or call it playing it safe. The size of the cluster is dependent on trim, but the 12.3-inch infotainment screen is standard, as are over-the-air updates, adaptive cruise with lane keep, and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Interestingly, there’s a generative AI voice assistant for general questions and finding nearby points of interest.

In the oh-so-important performance department, the base LX K4 serves up a familiar recipe, with a CVT routing 147 respectable ponies and 132 lb-ft of torque from a 2.0-liter naturally-aspirated four-pot. The spicier GT-Line Turbo rocks a turbocharged 1.6-liter engine and an eight-speed auto, putting down a pseudo sport compact 190 horsepower and 195 lb-ft. No three-pedal manual thrills are available, sadly.

Opting for the GT-Line or GT-Line Turbo ditches the base torsion beam rear suspension for a multilink setup, similar to the old Elantra Sport. All models utilize MacPherson struts up front with twin-tube shocks, and GT-Line Turbos receive one-inch-larger brake rotors front and rear to reign in its added grunt. 

Driving Experience

As a rootin’ tootin’ commutin’ car, the Kia K4 is an inoffensive appliance. While no enthusiast offering, it serves as a pleasant reminder of the Korean car industry’s consistent upward tick in refinement.

Both engines are dairy smooth, never feeling too heavily taxed on Texas highways, and willing to stretch their legs if need be on the backroads outside Austin. The base 2.0-liter engine’s “intelligently variable transmission,” as Kia calls it, is a personal highlight, believe it or not.

Eight convincingly simulated gears swap fake ratios swiftly and with a silky seamlessness for an un-CVT-like experience. It almost makes the GT-Line Turbo’s genuine eight-speed gearbox feel ho-hum, which it’s not. That transmission is quick, smooth, and smartly programmed for economy car duty. It’s just not a transcendent eight-speed by the standard of other eight-speeds, whereas the base car’s CVT is actually a brilliant CVT. Anti-CVT elitists can fight me. 

There were no lower-rung cars with torsion beam suspension to test. Both variants we drove were GT-Lines with multilink posteriors. However, I can attest that the sportier setup and larger 18-inch wheel package find expansion joints, rumble strips, and tattered asphalt to be nonissues. No, imperfections aren’t invisible and it’s no budget Genesis, but the K4 manages bumps with the poise of bigger family cars.

The cabin is as generous in space as the numbers suggested they’d be. In fact, I’d say it’s excessively roomy for this five-foot-six Asian-American writer. The seats are also refreshingly squishy without forgoing any back support.

Visibility was bang-on except for the narrow rear window. Fortunately, the K4 includes the Hyundai Motor Group’s staple suite of blindspot aids, including warning lights in the mirrors, a graphic in the gauges, and turn signal-activated blindspot cameras. If all else fails, the K4’s rearward visibility woes should be fixed when the inevitable hatchback variant comes around.

The cameras and graphics can be viewed via the high-res displays, which feel more premium than many of its peers’ systems, with sharp responsiveness and firm, tactile buttons backing it up. It’s a well-thought-out and easy-to-use interface to navigate. The only screen fail is the climate display being partially hidden by the steering wheel, but redundant climate screens can be summoned on the main infotainment display. If you’re curious, the AI assistant worked well at finding artisan cheese stores around rural Texas, although it sucks at telling dad jokes.

As a canyon-carvin’ Kia, I walked away impressed. I definitely wafted through some lakeside twisties at a brisker pace than the engineers ever intended as the “Free Bird” guitar solo goaded me into tire-scrubbing shenanigans.

The GT-Line’s chassis tuning is still geared for touring, but it remains confident in its own road-holding abilities. Controlled body motions and a compliant chassis mean the K4 isn’t upset by sudden bumps or undulations. You’re besting no one in canyon duels, but you won’t be a pathetic mess if you commute through Tail of the Dragon, either.

Steering is light, reasonably direct, and translates traction limits and surface changes through your palms surprisingly well with muted but still-detectable reverberations. The easy-to-modulate brakes are firm and capable enough for mildly spirited drives, but do please keep it mildly spirited. 

Transmission behavior is willing to play along in auto, and manual paddle shifting provides quick-ish response at wide-open throttle. The base 2.0-liter is plenty responsive in Sport mode and provides decent passing power, but the punchy 1.6-liter is the real treat. With a healthy 195 lb-ft on tap at 1,700 rpm, the turbo engine gently nudges you into your seat and can break those front all-seasons loose in first gear (don’t ask), but it won’t frighten uninitiated drivers. 

It’s no VW GLI or Hyundai N. I wouldn’t even call it a Honda Si. It’s too soft and easygoing for that, and that’s OK. It suits Kia’s intentions of a comfortable but somewhat sporty “in-between” trim that offers fun and performance to buyers wanting an extra kick but don’t want or need a purebred sport compact.

If you ask me, though, it’s a tune, coilovers, and some TE37s on summer tires away from greatness.

Fuel Economy

Efficiency is darn good if not that standout for something unencumbered by battery packs or all-wheel drive. Base powerplants score 30 mpg city, 40 highway, and 34 combined, although GT-Lines lose one mpg in each metric, likely due to wider tires. GT-Line Turbo scores 26 mpg city, 36 highway, and 29 combined.

Over half a day of driving, both engines proved easily capable of mirroring those stats and sometimes exceeding them on Texas highways. The instant mpg gauge in the 2.0-liter GT-Line constantly hovered around 42-ish mpg while humming along at 70 mph. One can only imagine what a hybrid powertrain would do.

The Early Verdict

The 2025 Kia K4 is exactly what it sets out to be plus a little bit more. It’s loaded with useful safety technology and a few handy extras that are genuine niceties to have rather than in-your-face distractions. The larger footprint yields small gains in comfort, the chassis strikes an agreeable ride-handling balance, and its powertrains impress in ways that’ll satisfy many casual commuters.

It’s a solid value, too, with a base price of $21,990 for the LX and $28,090 for the GT-Line Turbo—that 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty isn’t bad either. That starting cost nearly mirrors the equivalent Elantra and Volkswagen Jetta while undercutting Corolla by a few hundred and Civic by a few thousand, and it does so with fiercely competitive content.

If Kia maintains the K4’s value while continuing to offer nifty features and perhaps expanding the lineup with a hybrid or full-on GT, then it’ll be a real breadwinner. I won’t say the K4 is a hands-down winner in any one measure besides space, which it barely ekes out, but its blend of talents certainly enables it to continue the success of Fortes past and put up a great fight in the compact car arena.

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