Sedans are dead, except that they aren’t. While major manufacturers like Ford are pivoting away from the four-door passenger car, others are making them even better. It’s hard to argue that Kia, Genesis, and Hyundai are killing it lately. And not just in the SUV market, they are producing some South Korean goodness in just about everything they are producing. The Kia Optima ran from the early 2000s until it was replaced by the “K5” (not to be confused with “K7“) for the 2021 model year. So, apparently, Kia is benchmarking German sedans these days with the new K5, what does that translate to in real life? Jeff gave you all a preview of the new 2021 K5 almost exactly a year ago. We just spent a week with the top-spec GT. So, let’s find out how it all turned out.

Overview

So, check it out, the Kia K5 comes in five trim levels: LX, LXS, GT-Line, EX and GT. Front-wheel drive is standard, as is the way, however all-wheel drive is optional the LXS and GT-Line. Our range-topping GT doesn’t have it, but does have a 290 horsepower 2.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine. You also get an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission with paddle shifters as well as better brakes and better suspension. That’s basically the full monte of sports-sedan goodness, well except for the FWD bit. More on that later.

Exterior

Let’s get one thing straight up front, Sapphire Blue is an amazing color. It’s deep and rich, like a Texas oil field. Just look at the way the colors dance across it’s sheetmetal. It’s a fantastic color, and from the moment it was dropped off in front of my house, I was digging it hard. The front end is consistent with most of the most recent Kia passenger cars, with lots of various slats and swoops. It verges on busy, but tows that line just right.

Damn, maybe I’ve had a few too many bourbons, but that’s a good looking sedan. The sedan isn’t dead, rumors of its demise were greatly exaggerated. Damn, I should have saved that for the closing paragraph. Too late now. Suffice to say, the Kia K5 has it where it counts in the exterior design angle. I’m not 100% sold on that “tooth” looking area on the front grill, but overall it’s an aggressive and interesting design. Not shocking since it was designed by Kia-Hyundai designer-supreme Peter Schreyer….wait, no it wasn’t. Damnit, don’t write while drunk. While Schreyer (who once hopped behind the bar and served me a well-crafted drink at a NAIAS press event) has designed quite a bit of the most recent Kia-Hyundai stuff, the K5 was actually designed by Karim Habib. Habib is an accomplished BMW designer who was brought onto the Kia team in 2019. He has also designed recent iterations of the Sonata, as well as the new Carnival minivan.

The exterior of the GT gets some upgrades as standard:

• GT Body Styling
• GT Front Grille (Hyper Silver)
• Outside Mirrors (Sport Black)
• Mirror-Mounted LED Turn Signal Indicators
• Rear Spoiler (Sport Black)
• Front LED Fog Lights
• Rear LED Combination Lamp
• Quad-Tip Dual Exhaust
• 19-inch Alloy Wheels

Our tester had the GT1 package ($4,000) which mostly upgrades the interior, but also adds full LED headlights to the exterior.

Interior

It’s not just pretty on the outside, Kia’s interior designers have been hard at work on the inside as well. I won’t claim it’s BMW-level, and I should know, I own a BMW M4 so I would totally know (#humblebrag). However, it’s way better equipped than my five year old dinosaur. Just look at it, just look at that screen! In particular, I love the details on the radio frequency. The rest is very well screwed together, with impressive materials and a great fit and finish. Plus, the ergonomics are great, I love how there is a slot to slide your phone in that also wirelessly charges it.

Even the base GT is incredibly well equipped. You’ll get normal stuff like a USB charging in the center console, LED interior and map lighting (who uses a map still?), a nice flat-ish sport steering wheel, and trim-specific accents.

That GT1 package is well worth the $4,000 and adds tons of interior goodies like:

Driving

The K5 manages to hit that “just right” level of horsepower and torque. Sure, it could have more, but it feels balanced when you put your foot down. Kia brought in AMCI to do competitive testing against the BMW 330i and Audi A4 Premium 40. The K5 cleaned their clock, besting both cars in just about every acceleration and handling category (the A4 stopped a bit shorter in both dry and wet conditions). The clocked a 5.8 second 0-60 time, which was super quick back when I first got into sport compact cars, and still feels pretty quick now. The 14.3 second 1/4 mile was pretty rapid as well.

Standard GT performance gear includes:

• Turbocharged 2.5 liter 4-Cylinder with Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) and Multi-Port Injection (MPI)
• Rated at 290 horsepower @ 5,800 rpm and 311 lb.-ft. @ 1,650-4,000 rpm
• 8-Speed Dual Clutch Automatic Transmission (Wet Type)
• Steering-Wheel-Mounted Paddle Shifters
• GT Sport Tuned Suspension
• GT Brake Calipers
• Electric, Rack-Mounted Motor Driven Power Steering (R-MDPS…yeah that needed an acronym)

Out on the road, it hides it’s FWD layout pretty well, and as I said, AWD is not an option on the GT. The dual-clutch transmission helps keep things moving well, and sport mode it actually ramps up the exhaust noise nicely. It’s no Veloster N, but it’s still pretty fun.

Plus you get a host of the latest safety stuff that is fully acronym’d for your pleasure:

• Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist (FCA) w/ Cyclist Detection (lol) and Junction Turning
• Smart Cruise Control w/ Stop and Go (SCC w/ S&G)
• Navigation-based Smart Cruise Control – Curve (NSCC-C)
• Highway Driving Assist (HDA)
• Safe Exit Assist (SEA) with Power Rear Child-Safety Door Locks
• Parking Distance Warning (PDW), Reverse
• Parking Collision-Avoidance Assist, Reverse (PCA-R)

I don’t think my BMW has any of that. Plus the K5 GT gets 24/32/27 EPA-Estimated MPG (City/Highway/Combined), if that factors into your decision. It’s not bad.

Summary

So, even though it’s an incredibly uninspired name (hey, let’s take “K” from “Kia” and add a number to it) it’s an amazingly good car. Especially for the money. Seriously, $30,490 to start and $35,705 out the door is ridiculously good. Kia and Hyundai…and Genesis are fully taking aim at the German luxury car aristocracy, and their aim is damn good.

Oh, and in case you’re curious what a K5 looks like next to a similar looking Elantra, I accidentally set that up at Wawa one day.

Bonus Pics