Styling is a subjective thing. One man's concept of beauty and all that.
That said, the 2025 Kia K4 looks like they had two styling teams for it---one for the front, and one for the rear. And (here comes the subjective part---my site, my opinion), neither of them turned in their best work. I applaud stylists who want to avoid cookie-cutter stuff, but this should have just been a shrunken Kia K5---clean and sleek.
Beyond the schizophrenic front and rear, the high beltline and the way the front and rear lights do a dramatic plunge make the car look very bottom-heavy.
The rear looks like maybe they were trying to channel the late Kia Stinger, a fastback sport sedan sold from 2018 to 2023.
The Stinger (especially in its 365 horsepower GT2 AWD trim) was a terrific car to drive---with performance numbers in line with the BMW M440i. Two things, though---in six years total, the Stinger sold roughly as many units (70,844) as the Ford Edge, in the last of its ten model years, did in 2024 alone (70,417). The Stinger was not a hit. Second, the K4 isn't meant to succeed the Stinger. It replaces the humble Kia Forte (which sold 117,961 units last year).
And yeah, that's a tough segment, putting the K4 head-to-head against big-sellers that have defined the word "subcompact", like the Honda Civic and the Toyota Corolla as well as the less-stellar but still competitive Nissan Sentra.
In fact, what's under the hood of the K4---in LX, LXS, EX and GT-Line trims---is the same 147-horsepower 2.0-liter four-cylinder that powered base Fortes.
Go all the way up the trim ladder to the GT-Line Turbo and you get a 1.6-liter turbocharged four with 190 horsepower. That sounds like a decent step up for a subcompact sedan---something that might compete with the 200-horsepower Honda Civic Si.
Except it doesn't. Its 0-60 time of 7.3 seconds trails the Si's 6.6. Worse, the new Civic Hybrid is even quicker, at 6.2 seconds to sixty---and with an EPA fuel economy estimate of 50 mpg city/47 highway to the K4 GT-Line Turbo's 26/36.
Adding insult to injury, there was a faster version of the car the K4 GT-Line Turbo replaces---a not-so-humble version of the Kia Forte. I reviewed the Kia Forte GT in 2020. It was packing 201 horsepower from the same 1.6-liter turbo four and its 0-60 time was just one-tenth behind the Civic Si---6.7 seconds.
How come? The Forte was 200 pounds lighter.
More bad news---the 2025 K4 GT-Line Turbo's base price is $3,700 more than that of the 2024 Forte GT.
The old Forte had class-leading trunk space (15.3 cubic feet). The K4's capacity drops to 14.6, which is competitive with but now behind the Honda Civic's 14.8.
The K4's story gets better inside the cabin. Rear seat legroom improves dramatically over the Forte's 35.7 inches. The K4's 38 inches is a best-in-class measurement, topping the Civic's 37.4 inches, the Sentra's 34.9 and the Corolla's 34.8. The slope of the roofline costs the K4 in rear headroom compared to the Forte, but only by 0.2 inches.
The base price of the 2025 Kia K4 GT-Line (not the GT-Line Turbo) is $25,190 ($26,345 with destination), and as is typical of Kia, comes with a strong list of standard features, including a comprehensive active safety suite, a 12.3-inch digital instrument display and 12.3-inch touchscreen with navigation, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a three-month trial subscription to SiriusXM satellite radio, a hands-free power trunklid, front and rear USB ports, a wireless phone charger, dual-zone automatic climate control, cloth and synthetic leather seat trim, a power driver's seat with power lumbar adjustment, heated front seats, 60/40 split-folding rear seat, 18-inch alloy wheels, auto on/off LED reflector headlights, daytime running lights and taillights, power-adjustable heated outside mirrors with turn signals, and a rear center armrest with cupholders.
Our tester did have two extra-cost options:
GT-Line Premium Package (Harman/Kardon premium audio system, synthetic leather seating, memory driver's seat and outside mirrors and ventilated front seat): $1,100
GT-Line Sunroof Package (Power sunroof with sunshade): $900
And that puts the bottom line on the window sticker at $28,345.
Any well-equipped car that comes in under $30,000 these days is worthy of note. But in too many ways, both subjective and objective, the K4 is a step backward in its race against the Civic and Corolla.
