I recently spent 5 days with a 2025 Kia K4. I wasn’t particularly looking forward to rocking a compact car for an entire week, but you know what? What a glorious week it was.
The K4 is a very easy-to-live-with daily driver that just so happens to be built like a tank. It may look a little funny, but boy is it ever comfortable. And solid!
First Impressions
The K4 you see in these pictures was a rental car that I picked up from the west Palm Beach International Airport (PBI). It’s a well equipped mid range LSX model – one level up from the base model LX.
As I was walking up do it for the very first time, it reminded me of the Kia K5 that I recently drove. Cuts and scoops (and creases and folds) everywhere!
Styling and design
The K4 is very much a sedan, but it looks a lot more like a hatchback (similar to the 2023 Tesla Model 3). The design language is sharp and somewhat aggressive IMHO. It’s definitely geared toward a younger demographic.
For the record: I am 50 years old and I quite like all of the scoops and cuts. My assumption is that I’m a weirdo / outlier / edge case, and that the styling and design is likely to be too aggressive for the older demographic.
But what to do I know? I’m just a dork who writes detailed car reviews on basic rental cars.
The interior
I loved the 2021 Kia Forte interior. I like the 2025 Kia K4 interior. The Forte was far more old school and analog, whereas the K4 is ultra modern and high tech. The entire dashboard (and infotainment display) is a single-panel LCD screen.
The front seats are extremely comfortable and supportive on long drives. I also quite liked the clingy fabric. What the seats lack in side bolstering is made up for in stickiness. It’s hard to slide out of these mofos.
Engine and drivetrain
This LSX model features a 2.0 L four-cylinder with 147 hp and 132 lb-ft of torque. It sounded like a cheap four-cylinder, but it was plenty powerful enough for merging onto a freeway flowing at irresponsible speeds.
The transmission is what they call an “Intelligent Variable Auto Transmission.” Thems are just fancy words for “CVT” (Continuously Variable Transmission). It was fine. I didn’t even know it was a CVT actually.
Build quality
I don’t think I’ve ever driven a car as solid as the 2025 K4. Build quality is outstanding – there wasn’t a shake, rattle, or roll during my entire week with it. I didn’t even think it was possible to build a “cheap” compact car with such tight tolerances, but the engineers at Kia figured it out.
Driving impressions
The thing that I liked most about driving the 2025 K4 was the view looking forward. The dashboard is really low, and it’s extremely easy to see over. It almost feels like driving a low slung sports car.
The K4 was an absolute dream cruising at highway speeds thanks to how solid the chassis is. This is relatively light car (2,956 lbs), but it feels much heavier than that. This illusion of weight seemingly absorbs bumps and abnormalities in the road. It’s weird. But I like it.
Gas mileage
Kia claims a combined city / highway MPG of 33 for the K4 with the 2.0 L four-cylinder. I did slightly less than that in about 200 miles of driving. 30.5 MPG was the best I could do.
Pros and cons
The cars coming out of South Korea these days are getting really (really) good. This K4 shocked me in more ways than one. The kicker? I miss that little car already.
Pros
- I have never driven a more solid / well built car in my entire life.
- Forward disability is phenomenal. The low dashboard rules!
- I really liked the seat fabric. Not only did it look great (and durable), I like how it held me in place.
Cons
- It’s a little ugly. I’m sorry, but it is.
- The single panel LCD for the dashboard looks and feels like a shortcut.
(The fact that I could only come up with two cons tells you everything you need to know about how awesome the K4 is).
