The Kia Forte is officially out, and in its place comes the all-new 2025 Kia K4. Following the same strategy that saw the Optima give way to the K5, Kia’s latest compact sedan enters the ring to challenge segment staples like the Honda Civic, Hyundai Elantra, and Toyota Corolla. It launches first as a sedan, with a hatchback variant set to arrive for the 2026 model year. With its bold new styling, a thoroughly modernized interior, and a choice of two four-cylinder engines, the K4 marks a sharp evolution in Kia’s compact car game.
Pros
- Feature-packed interior
- Tons of passenger space
- Affordable price tag
Cons
- Controversial styling
- Sluggish base engine
- No hybrid or performance option
Every 2025 Kia K4 sold in the U.S. comes with a four-cylinder engine—either a standard 2.0-liter naturally aspirated unit or an available 1.6-liter turbocharged upgrade. Our test car came in GT-Line trim, which amps up the styling with a sporty look but doesn’t bring any mechanical enhancements. While the K4 offers impressive value and features for the price, the base engine leaves something to be desired when it comes to performance and driving engagement.
So, does the all-new K4 deserve a spot on your compact sedan shopping list? We spent a full week behind the wheel to find out.
Exterior Looks: A Lot Going On Here
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Kia has been on a roll with bold design choices lately, and the 2025 K4 might be one of its most daring yet. It features a striking take on the brand’s Opposites United design language, highlighted by vertical boomerang-style headlights and bold, full-width taillights. The front end has a futuristic appeal, but the rear styling—especially the oddly shaped C-pillar behind the rear doors—might divide opinions. In our view, the upcoming K4 Hatchback wears the design more gracefully.
Color choices also vary by trim. The base LX offers just three options—silver, white, and black—while higher trims unlock a wider palette of seven exterior hues. Our tester came in Morning Haze, a no-cost color that delivers a modern, understated vibe. Deep Sea Blue is another great free option, but our favorite is the bold and vibrant Currant Red, which adds $395 to the price but brings serious visual impact.
The K4 lineup offers a clear wheel upgrade path as you move up the trim ladder. The base LX rides on 16-inch steel wheels with surprisingly stylish covers, while the LXS swaps those out for 16-inch alloys. Step up to the EX, and you’ll get 17-inch wheels, while the GT-Line dials up the attitude with sporty 18-inch alloys—finished in black on the GT-Line Turbo for an extra dose of aggression.
Kia also boasts that the K4 is the longest vehicle in its class, measuring 185.4 inches—a 2.7-inch stretch over the outgoing Forte. However, that claim overlooks a key rival: the Volkswagen Jetta, which is actually longer at 186.5 inches. So while the K4 is definitely spacious, it’s not quite the segment king in terms of length.
Interior & On-Board Technology: Budget Luxury
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The outgoing Kia Forte earned praise for its upscale interior that gave off serious budget Audi or BMW vibes—and the new K4 takes that formula even further. Its cabin is now more tech-forward, with a clean layout and modern design cues. You’ll find soft-touch materials in all the right places, though some hard plastics still linger in lower-touch areas—a reminder of its budget roots.
Even the base LX trim comes well-equipped, but it’s the GT-Line that really shines, offering an experience that borders on entry-level luxury. Inside, the K4 seats five passengers comfortably, and its rear-seat legroom is among the most generous in the compact segment, making it a standout for small families or ride-share use.
2025 Kia K4 Interior Dimensions |
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| Seating Capacity | 5 Seatere | |
| 1st Row | 2nd Row | |
| Headroom | 42.3 inches (39 w/ sunroof) | 38 inches (37.3 w/ sunroof) |
| Legroom | 42.3 inches | 38 inches |
| Behind 1st Row | Behind 2nd Row | |
| Cargo Volume | 14.2 ft³ | N/A |
Even the base LX trim of the 2025 Kia K4 comes impressively well-equipped, offering features like cloth seats, heated side mirrors, Smart Key with push-button start, four USB-C ports, smart cruise control, automatic emergency braking, lane keeping assist, driver attention warning, rear occupant alert, and high beam assist.
Stepping up to the LXS adds thoughtful upgrades such as blind spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert and split-folding rear seats. The EX trim elevates the experience further with dual 12.3-inch displays, dual-zone automatic climate control, premium cloth upholstery, and a wireless phone charger.
The GT-Line adds a sporty edge along with more creature comforts, including built-in navigation, an AI voice assistant, heated front seats with Syntex/cloth upholstery, a power driver’s seat with lumbar support, and other upscale touches that make the K4 feel closer to a premium compact sedan.
Our tester featured the GT-Line Premium Package, which adds several upscale touches: a Harman/Kardon audio system, heated and ventilated SynTex seats (available in Black/White or Red/Black), a power sunroof with sunshade, and a memory function for the driver’s seat.
If you step up to the GT-Line Turbo, these features come standard, including the upgraded stereo, sunroof, and premium SynTex upholstery. From there, you can opt for the Technology Package, which brings additional advanced features like ambient mood lighting, Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist 2, and Highway Driving Assist 2, enhancing both safety and driving comfort.
Thanks to its long wheelbase, the Kia K4 offers one of the roomiest rear seats in the compact sedan segment—beating even the Volkswagen Jetta by more than half an inch of legroom. The Hyundai Elantra, which shares the same platform, matches the K4 with 38 inches of rear legroom and a 14.2-cubic-foot trunk.
That said, some rivals do offer larger cargo areas. So if trunk space is a priority, you might want to explore other options—or consider waiting for the K4 Hatchback, which should offer more flexibility for carrying gear.
Infotainment: Great Stuff At A Low Price
Every 2025 Kia K4 comes standard with a crisp 12.3-inch touchscreen featuring wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, along with a handy row of physical buttons for climate and audio controls. Base LX and LXS trims pair the infotainment with a small 4-inch digital gauge cluster, while EX and higher trims upgrade to a more premium setup: a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster with an additional 5-inch screen nestled between the two for climate control functions.
While the extra screen adds a high-tech, upscale look, we often found ourselves preferring the physical buttons for their ease of use over the middle climate display.
Audio offerings vary by trim. The base LX includes a basic four-speaker setup, while LXS, EX, and GT-Line trims bump that to six speakers. The GT-Line Turbo gets a standard eight-speaker Harman/Kardon sound system, which is also optional on the GT-Line and delivers impressively rich sound for a car in this price range.
Performance: Where’s The Pep?
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The 2025 Kia K4 offers two engine options: a 2.0-liter naturally aspirated MPI (multi-point injection) four-cylinder and a 1.6-liter turbocharged direct-injection four-cylinder. The base 2.0-liter engine is a direct carryover from the outgoing Forte, with identical power and torque figures, and it’s still paired with Kia’s Intelligent Variable Transmission (IVT)—a smoother take on the CVT.
Stepping up to the K4 GT-Line Turbo gets you the same 1.6-liter turbo engine used in the Forte GT, though it’s been slightly detuned, producing 11 horsepower less than before. Instead of the previous seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, the K4 now uses a more refined eight-speed torque-converter automatic, which should deliver smoother shifts and improved drivability.
Unlike its platform sibling, the Hyundai Elantra, the K4 doesn’t offer a hybrid option—nor is there a high-performance variant like the Elantra N. For now, the K4 lineup focuses on style, tech, and comfort rather than outright speed or efficiency leadership.
2025 Kia K4 Engine Options |
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| Four-Cylinder | Turbo | |
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| Engine | 2.0-liter four-cylinder | 1.6-liter four-cylinder |
| Transmission | Intelligent Variable Transmission | Eight-speed automatic |
| Drivetrain | Front-wheel-drive | |
| Power | 147 hp | 190 hp |
| Torque | 132 lb-ft | 195 lb-ft |
Automakers usually send us their most powerful trims to evaluate, but in this case, we tested the base powertrain of the 2025 Kia K4. Kia hasn’t published official 0–60 mph times for either engine, but in our testing, the base 2.0-liter model clocked a rather leisurely 9.58 seconds. That’s on the slow side, even for this segment, where performance isn’t typically a top priority.
We expect the 1.6-liter turbocharged K4 to be noticeably quicker. For comparison, a Hyundai Kona with the same engine reached 60 mph in 8.48 seconds during our testing. The K4—being lower and likely lighter—should land closer to the seven-second range. However, it’s worth noting that the new eight-speed automatic likely trades some of the engagement of the previous dual-clutch transmission for smoother everyday drivability.
Despite its underwhelming performance, the base-engine K4 manages to avoid feeling overly strained. The Intelligent Variable Transmission (IVT) does a solid job keeping RPMs low and mimicking traditional gear shifts with simulated step changes, which helps make the driving experience feel more natural. Even under acceleration, the engine remains composed, never sounding too loud or buzzy—and at highway speeds, it stays impressively quiet and unobtrusive.
Ride and Handling: Surprisingly Sharp
The Kia K4 doesn’t pretend to be a performance sedan, but it still delivers a surprisingly athletic driving experience. With a curb weight under 3,000 pounds in non-turbo form, the car feels light on its feet, aided by precise steering that offers a decent amount of feedback to the driver.
Drive modes are limited to Normal and Sport, and in typical Kia fashion, switching to Sport mode firms up the steering, lending a bit more engagement during spirited driving. It’s not transformative, but it does make the car feel more confident and direct on twisty roads.
One of the biggest chassis upgrades comes with the GT-Line trims, which swap out the base torsion beam rear axle for a more sophisticated independent multi-link rear suspension. The result? A noticeably smoother ride and tighter handling, especially over uneven pavement.
This is a chassis with untapped potential—and we’d love to see Kia explore it. A return of the GT model, especially in hatchback form, powered by the Elantra N’s 278-hp 2.0L turbo would be thrilling. A hybrid version—mirroring the Elantra Hybrid’s standout efficiency—would also be a smart move for buyers seeking more mpgs without sacrificing style.
The EPA rates the base K4 LX at 30 mpg city, 40 highway, and 34 combined—solid figures that keep it competitive in the compact sedan segment. Upper trims see a slight dip, losing 1 mpg in each category. Opt for the GT-Line Turbo, and efficiency drops more noticeably to 26/36/29 mpg, due to the more powerful engine.
While the K4 doesn’t lead the class in fuel economy, it remains on par with most non-hybrid rivals. That said, buyers seeking over 50 mpg will need to look elsewhere—specifically at electrified options like the Hyundai Elantra Hybrid, Honda Civic Hybrid, or Toyota Corolla Hybrid. A hybrid K4 would be a welcome addition to the lineup.
Verdict & Pricing: Luxury Is Its Forte
The 2025 Kia K4 starts at a competitive $21,990 for the base LX trim (plus $1,155 destination), making it one of the most affordable compact sedans in its class. It undercuts its mechanical twin, the Hyundai Elantra SE ($22,125), while only the Nissan Sentra ($21,590) comes in cheaper.
Stepping up to the LXS adds $1,000, bringing the price to $22,990—a modest bump for features like alloy wheels and blind-spot monitoring. Still, we’d recommend stretching to the EX trim at $23,990, which unlocks big-ticket upgrades like the larger dual-screen digital cluster, automatic climate control, and nicer interior materials. It’s easily one of the best values in the K4 lineup.
For budget-conscious buyers who still want a tech-savvy, upscale-feeling compact sedan, the K4 hits a sweet spot few rivals can match—delivering style, space, and features well above its price point.
The GT-Line trim brings a sportier look for $25,190, but to unlock its best features, you’ll need to add the $1,100 Premium Package and the $900 sunroof, bringing the as-tested price to $27,190. At that point, it might make more sense to step up to the GT-Line Turbo at $28,090, which includes most of those upgrades plus a stronger engine.
However, to access the full suite of premium features—like ventilated front seats, memory settings, a digital key, ambient lighting, and enhanced safety tech including a 360-degree camera—you’ll still need to spring for the $2,200 Technology Package. In total, a fully loaded GT-Line Turbo will run you just over $30,000, putting it into entry-level luxury territory, but still offering strong value for the price.