2024 Kia K5 vs 2025 MINI Cooper

If you can overlook the real-world fuel economy and unimpressive crash-test ratings, then a 2024 Kia K5 is a steal of an automobile. (Don’t worry, it has an engine immobilizer system to prevent theft.) It comes in LXS, GT-Line, EX, and GT trim levels, and the only change for 2024 is standard heated seats for the GT-Line trim. Turbocharging is standard, and you can get all-wheel drive if you live where the sun often doesn’t shine.

Verdict: It’s a shame Kia doesn’t offer the K5 with a hybrid powertrain, and its performance in new, tougher-to-pass crash tests is worrisome. But there is no doubt the 2024 Kia K5 is a stylish, comfortable, enjoyable, and technologically advanced midsize car. And the price is undeniably nice.

The Mini Cooper is redesigned for 2025 with a host of alterations throughout. It’s a little bigger inside and out, while sporting all-new infotainment tech and quirky interior design to help maintain the badge’s fun personality. It still weighs less than 3,000 pounds, too, and when combined with a potent turbocharged four-cylinder in the Cooper S, that makes for some truly hilarious fun-to-drive attitude.

Verdict: Although substantially larger than the original BMW Mini that reached America’s shores in 2002, and no longer offering a manual transmission as standard, the new Mini Cooper continues to be a stylish and fun-to-drive way of getting around, and will even return solid overall fuel economy in the process.