The Kia K5, the car formerly known as the Optima, now wears the same name worn in its home market of South Korea. Name aside, the K5 has been redesigned for 2021 with a new exterior and interior, though still shares its Hyundai-Kia N3 platform with its cousin, the Hyundai Sonata.
Aside from the upcoming GT trim, all K5s come powered by a turbocharged 1.6-liter “Smartstream” four-cylinder engine that’s rated for 180 horsepower and 195 lb.-ft. of torque. The only transmission choice for the LX, LXS, GT-Line and EX trims is an eight-speed automatic, though buyers can choose either front- or all-wheel-drive on the LXS and GT-Line trims.
As for the aforementioned GT trim—available come November according to Kia—power will come from a turbocharged 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine mated to an eight-speed, dual-clutch transmission. This powertrain—shared with the upcoming Hyundai Sonata N-Line—will be good for 290 horsepower and 311 lb.-ft. of torque.
In anticipation of the hotter GT, we got our hands on a GT-Line version configured with front-wheel-drive and few premium options like LED projector headlights and smart cruise control. Keep reading to get our driving impressions.
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The Turbo 2.5 sounds like a winner. As for the lesser motors, I prefer the NA 2.5 to the turbo 1.6 having driven both in the current Sonata.
I said a few months back that Kia and Hyundai were knocking things out of the park. Then they killed off a lot of manual transmissions. I'm intrigued about their DCT they are starting to throw into things.
First Chevrolet's Blazer isn't a Blazer now Kia's K5 isn't a K5. Maybe I don't want to live on this planet any more.
Good news is we still got Dolly Parton.
Datsun310Guy said:
First Chevrolet's Blazer isn't a Blazer now Kia's K5 isn't a K5. Maybe I don't want to live on this planet any more.
Good news is we still got Dolly Parton.
I was also hoping for a classy box on wheels
The new not-a-Blazer Kia K5 looks nice both in pictures and in person. I think it looks a lot better than the outgoing Optima, which itself wasn't all that bad looking, minus the strange roof treatment they had. The K5 still has something funky going on with the roof trim, but the rest of the car makes up for it.
For GRM-minded folk, it's the turbo 2.5 or nothing. That drivetrain looks a lot more fun than the detuned 1.6T from the Forte GT in this car. I'm wondering if the GT comes with the new wet-clutch DCT they have been working on instead of the dry clutch unit that's in the Forte GT.
One more thing, and this goes for all the Kia vehicle lines: the GT-Line and GT are completely different cars. The GT-Line is basically an appearance package, while the GT has the mechanical bits to back it up. That's confusing to consumers; when I was car shopping and looking at my Forte GT, this threw both me AND the dealership off, since they offer different financing and incentives for the two lines. They should change the name of the GT-Line to something else, like Touring or Sport, to differentiate them. Take a note from Honda on this.
In reply to Tony Sestito :
I can confirm that the GT will get the wet clutch DCT.
I'm not fond of the exterior styling but I like the interior look.
So its AWD in the K5 GT with the 2.5L but they snuff the Sonata N-Line with FWD?
