2022 Kia K5 Reviews, Pricing & Specs

Kia offers the 2022 K5 in LX, LXS, GT-Line, EX, and GT trim levels. Every one of them has a turbocharged engine, and the LXS and GT-Line offer an optional all-wheel-drive (AWD) system. Base prices range from $23,790 to $31,190, not including the destination charge for shipping the K5 from Kia’s West Point, Georgia, assembly plant to your local dealership.

Our test car for this review was a K5 EX with front-wheel drive (FWD), extra-cost paint, the EX Premium option package, and a set of floor mats. The Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) amounted to $33,945, including destination. Considering that most Americans spend considerably more on a typical new vehicle (based on the median average transaction price), a Kia K5 similar to our test car is attractively priced.

Beyond the inherent value in choosing a car instead of an SUV, the Kia K5 looks like nothing else on the road. Low, long, and sleek, the K5’s styling suggests that it is a luxury sports sedan instead of a practical family sedan. For years, the Optima was a design leader in its segment, and the K5 carries on the tradition.

Kia paired the test car’s Glacial White Pearl paint with an unusual Ash Blue synthetic leather over a black interior featuring matte-finish fake wood trim and polished metallic accents. Aside from the expected hard plastic surfaces decorating the lower half of the cabin, the result was decidedly upscale.

Beyond the K5’s good looks, the car exudes quality. We’ve mentioned this before, but it is critically important for an automaker to infuse the controls with a sensation of solidity in order to convey care in a vehicle’s construction.

For example, in the K5, the automatic transmission shifter demonstrates none of the loose and sloppy feel that can be common for this component. In addition, the door release handles have some heft to them, and the steering wheel stalks have a secure, refined sense of motion. Operation of the switchgear and air vents and a general lack of panel flex within the cabin all make a driver feel as though the Kia K5 is bargain-priced but not bargain-sourced.

If you want maximum power and performance, get the Kia K5 GT. It boasts a turbocharged 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine generating 290 horsepower and 311 pound-feet of torque, put to the front wheels through an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. The K5 GT is quite a good time.

However, the GT is also the most expensive and least efficient version of the K5, and doesn’t offer all-wheel drive. So, if you want to save money or benefit from added traction in the winter, you’ll need to settle for the K5’s standard turbocharged 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine and its conventional eight-speed automatic. According to its specs, it delivers 180 hp and 195 lb-ft of torque.

Granted, those figures sound unimpressive. But thanks to the availability of the torque between 1,500 rpm and 4,500 rpm, followed by maximum horsepower at 5,500 rpm, the K5’s standard turbo-four offers surprisingly linear power delivery with little low-end lag.

You can calibrate the powertrain using Drive Mode Select, which offers Normal, Sport, Smart, and Custom settings. Our K5 EX also came with Active Sound Control, which pipes in a simulated engine note to add some personality and character to the car. If you’d rather not hear this, you can turn it off using a menu located within the infotainment system.

During our week test-driving the K5 EX in Southern California, the spunky 1.6-liter turbo proved itself well matched to the car. No, it won’t roast the front tires, but there’s enough twist to break the wheels loose when stomping on the gas from a stop or powering out of a corner or a curve. Gathering speed to merge onto freeways is not a problem, either. However, there isn’t a surplus of passing power, so plan accordingly.

Spiking gas prices in 2022 have made Americans conscious of fuel economy, and the EPA claims a Kia K5 EX should get 31 mpg in combined driving. On our testing route, including suburban freeways, coastal highways, mountain roads, and city driving, the car returned 29.1 mpg.

In daily-driving situations, the K5 EX allows too much road noise to penetrate the cabin, depending on the type of road surface. Also, the suspension has trouble absorbing small anomalies in the pavement, allowing minor cracks, bumps, and ripples in the road to affect the ride quality negatively. Perhaps these are the prices you pay for the appealing 18-inch wheels and their 235/45 tires.

With this said, there isn’t much impact harshness filtering into the car. The K5 traversed local speed humps at 30 mph without effort and took smaller speed bumps in stride. And while road noise can be an issue, wind noise is nearly non-existent at highway speeds, thanks to the K5’s 0.27 coefficient of drag.

Outward visibility is excellent, except directly to the back due to the car’s high rear deck. The EX Premium package adds an excellent surround-view camera system and bumper sensors that make it much easier to park the K5.

Should you decide to take the long way home, you’ll discover that the Kia K5 EX is not an affordable, mainstream sports sedan. Unlike the more powerful GT, K5s equipped with the 1.6-liter turbo use a column-mounted instead of a rack-mounted electric steering system. In part, this contributes to the EX model’s so-so steering feel.

While running the K5 EX on the twisty mountain road portion of our driving route, the car lacked the light, lively, and faultless handling you’ll get when driving a Honda Accord Sport or Touring. Grip is decent, though squeal in tighter curves is evident. Also, while they did not fade, the brakes stank at the end of the Mulholland Highway run. The suspension also allows too much excess body motion on imperfect stretches of pavement.

Considering that outright driving pleasure isn’t the K5 EX’s mission, it is reasonably capable and is not sloppy to drive. But it also isn’t as fun as the Honda Accord.

Comfort is easy to come by in a 2022 Kia K5. All trim levels include dual-zone automatic climate control. Our test vehicle had a 10-way power-adjustable driver’s seat and front passenger’s seat with heating and ventilation, a heated steering wheel, and rear air conditioning vents for back-seat passengers. A panoramic glass sunroof bathed the Ash Blue interior in natural light, and the power sunroof shade moves fast, opening and closing without stopping halfway like so many of them do.

One reason people are migrating away from cars and into SUVs is that higher-riding SUVs are easier to enter and exit. Not surprisingly, then, getting into and out of the low-slung K5 is harder on your knees and back.

Otherwise, both front seats are pretty comfortable, and Kia’s SynTex synthetic leather is convincing as an excellent alternative to the real deal. Rear passengers will find plenty of room for heads, legs, and feet, though if the people riding in front are reclined too much, the hard plastic front seatback panels become a liability.

Controls are logically laid out, and Kia successfully blends style with utility. The switchgear looks good without compromising legibility or functionality, and while digital instrumentation is increasingly popular, there is still something to be said for the K5’s traditional analog gauges.

Storage space is fairly generous. Highlights include a roomy bin underneath the center armrest, a dedicated smartphone charging slot, a handy tray forward of the shifter, and artfully integrated (almost hidden) trays in the door panel armrests.

The K5 has a 16 cubic-foot trunk offering lots of cargo space, and you can expand it by lowering the 60/40-split folding back seat. Unfortunately, Kia does not provide a handle on the inside of the trunk lid to help with closing the lid. A Smart Trunk feature will automatically release the trunk lid if you have the key fob and stand behind the car for a few seconds.

Kia offers two different infotainment systems in the 2022 K5. The first one is standard with LX and LXS trim, and it includes an 8-inch touchscreen display. Highlights of this setup include large stereo volume and tuning knobs and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Starting with GT-Line trim, the K5 features a larger 10.25-inch touchscreen display but loses its tuning knob. It also requires a cable running between your smartphone and a USB port in order to operate Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. These are steps backward, but on the bright side, you get satellite radio, Kia Connect subscription services (with a free one-year trial period), access to a Wi-Fi hotspot, a navigation system, and Kia’s unusual Sounds of Nature ambient noise tracks.

A wireless smartphone charger is standard on most trims, and the Premium package adds a 12-speaker Bose premium audio system and the K5 EX’s Active Sound Design technology. Our test car also had a Leading Vehicle Departure Alert system, reflecting Kia’s understanding that its customers check email and social feeds while sitting in traffic and at intersections. This feature sounds a reminder when cars ahead have started to move again.

If you like purple, you’ll be thrilled with the Kia K5’s infotainment system graphics. If you don’t, you won’t. Also, based on our evaluation, the K5’s voice recognition technology is terrible. Using our standard set of voice commands, it was able to find a Starbucks and a hospital. Otherwise, it was pretty much useless, which means you’re going to want to run Apple CarPlay or Android Auto and forget about the embedded technology.

If the Kia K5’s voice recognition capabilities fall short of expectations, the car makes up for it when it comes to driver assistance systems.

Bundled within the indistinctly defined Kia Drive Wise collection, our test car had forward-collision warning with pedestrian detection, automatic emergency braking, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, lane-departure warning, lane-keeping assist, and lane-following assist.

Additionally, our K5 featured automatic high-beam headlights, a driver monitoring system, a rear-seat reminder system, and a Safe Exit Assist system that warns occupants when it’s unsafe to open a door and exit the car. The Kia Connect technology included a year of complimentary service to 911 Connect and safe teen driver settings related to speed, curfew, and geographic boundaries.

In addition to all of these safety features, the EX Premium package adds cyclist detection, Junction Turning Assist that can brake to avoid collisions and intersections, navigation-based adaptive cruise control, Highway Driving Assist with lane-centering assist, front and rear parking sensors, automatic rear braking, a surround-view monitoring system, and power rear child locks that work with Safe Exit Assist.

We sampled as many of these collision-avoidance features as possible and discovered that Kia Drive Wise is excellent. The lane-keeping technology misread a handful of pavement scars from recent freeway construction, attempting to steer the K5 in a direction we did not want it to go. Also, the navigation-based curve control feature, which automatically slows the car down for highway transition ramps, is helpful in some situations but not in others.

On a positive note, Highway Drive Assist is one of the best systems of its kind available in a modern mainstream automobile. It does require your hands on the steering wheel, but it is refined, accurate, subtle, and effective while demonstrating a smooth response to changing traffic conditions ahead. The only thing that could improve it is an automatic emergency stop system that steps in when the driver becomes unresponsive.

This safety tech helps the Kia K5 achieve the highest possible safety rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS)—Top Safety Pick+. The K5 also earns an overall five-star crash-test rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

In addition to its attractive sticker prices, the Kia K5 delivers value in the form of a five-year/60,000-mile warranty and roadside assistance plan coupled with separate 10-year/100,000-mile protection for the powertrain. Kia also includes a complimentary year of Kia Connect service (not including WiFi). You’ll need to get a subscription to one of four different plans to continue enjoying the tech after the trial period ends.

As impressive as these value-added owner benefits are, they still don’t match what Kia’s corporate cousin Hyundai supplies for its Sonata midsize sedan. Plus, Kia doesn’t offer a hybrid powertrain option like the Sonata does.

Nevertheless, the K5 sedan’s appealing design, upscale cabin, roomy interior, comfortable seats, quick acceleration, decent fuel economy, affordable price, large trunk, and ownership perks mean there’s a lot to like about a 2022 Kia K5.