One of the biggest problems with small cars in America is that, at least lately, small has meant cheap. And I don’t just mean inexpensive-cheap, I mean cheap-cheap — loud, unrefined, basic, primitive, hard-plastic-laden, etc. But for some people, a small car is the right car, and for those who don’t want to have to make big sacrifices to comfort, styling, and utility, there is good news: The Kia K4 GT-Line Turbo hatchback is here, and though it costs $33 grand, a quick drive in it convinced me it might be worth it.
There’s a reason why the Kia K4 sedan has become the brand’s second-best-selling vehicle in a country that doesn’t really love small cars: The car offers incredible value amidst an ongoing affordability crisis. The U.S. just doesn’t have enough inexpensive, good cars, and the K4 sedan fits the bill, with Thomas Hundal’s review’s headline reading “The Funky Kia K4 EX Is A Whole Lot Of Car For $25,165.”
Now imagine taking that handsome, inexpensive car, making it look even better, and making it even more useful. Say hello to the Kia K4 hatchback.
[Full Disclosure: Kia hooked me up with a night at a hotel in North Hollywood and basically forced me to stay there even though I live 30 minutes away. I’m grateful for it; it was quite cool. Also, Kia fed me some insanely good fried catfish. -DT]
What Is The Kia K4 Hatchback?
Kia is pretty thrilled with how well its K4 sedan is selling, and the hatchback is meant to build on that success by offering a new variant for folks who are “younger, more male, and more urban than [the] sedan buyer.” The brand had an entire presentation for us journalists, and as I am a huge fan of slideshows, I’m going to share some of it with you, dear reader.
The image above shows a pretty mediocre Venn Diagram, if we’re being honest (in that both circles each feature sporty and fun-to-drive), but that’s typical marketing; the point is that the hatch is supposed to be cooler, more fun, and more practical, whereas the sedan is supposed to be a bit classier. At least that’s what I got out of that slide.
You can see the hatchback’s unique bits over the sedan there in red — the roof and everything aft of the C-pillar. The K4 hatchback is 11 inches shorter but offers the same rear legroom, with an inch more headroom. Cargo room goes up over the sedan, too, as this handy table shows:
The K4 hatch comes in three fun colors and four boring ones:
And the interiors are actually quite cool if you go for the off-white or red options:
The base “EX” model (the other trims are GT-Line and GT-Line turbo) gets the boring black interior, and you sadly can’t get that base trim with gold exterior paint. What’s more, the base car and the regular GT-Line both get a 2.0-liter naturally aspirated 147-horsepower engine hooked to a CVT, while the GT-Line Turbo bolts a 190 horsepower 1.6-liter turbo four cylinder to an eight-speed automatic.
Only the base EX gets a torsion-beam rear suspension, whereas the GT-Lines offer an independent rear suspension that looks like this:
All K4s have a MacPherson strut suspension up front (see below); brakes are vented discs up front and solid ones in the rear, though the GT-Line gets bigger rears than the EX, and the GT-Line Turbo gets both bigger fronts and bigger rears.
Anyway, you get the idea. The Kia K4 hatchback is basically a more useful, sportier K4 that, like the sedan, appeals to younger people looking for tech and good looks. But enough of the presentation; let’s get to the review.
It Looks Fantastic
Kia had a bunch of “sparkling yellow” (gold) GT-Line Turbo cars sitting in our North Hollywood, CA hotel’s parking lot, and I have to say: They looked fantastic.
When the DRLs are off, I’m not the biggest fan of the nose, with its T-shaped vertical LED headlights, thin “Tiger Nose” grille between the headlights, and another gaping grille in black down below. But with the DRLs on, the design looks downright aggressive:
The rear and the side profiles, though, are simply sublime whether lights are on or off.
Here’s a clean look at just the gorgeous side profile:
The way the rear end narrows and then cuts off abruptly, along with the rather wide-looking haunches, it makes the car look like it’s driving 100 mph standing still (if you’ll excuse the cliche):
The only thing that seemed a bit off was that the gold paint looked blotchy:
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Otherwise, no notes. And the inside was equally as nice.
The Interior Is Lovely, And It’s Got The Tech
Hopping into the K4 hatchback, I immediately felt a sense of delight. The two-tone steering wheel and seats are just fun, the ~30-inch display ahead is crystal clear, and overall, the cabin just felt airy and pleasant.
Check out the decent rear visibility:
The screens ahead of the driver show important things like speed, tire pressure, door-ajar warnings, fuel state, coolant temperature, speed limit, engine RPMs, and it’ll even pop up the image from a blind spot camera when you hit the turn signal. On the screen just off to the right side, ahead of the windshield washer stalk, are the HVAC settings, and to the right of that is the big infotainment screen:
It’s a nice, wide screen, and it offers a bunch of fun “display themes,” including Toy Story, Disney, Star Wars, Spider-Man, and more. Here you can see a little bit of the Spider-Man theme in our car’s navigation icon, and you’ll notice the Spider-Man colors used in the speedometer and tachometer:
Switchgear is limited, but appreciated, with a physical volume roller that works as both an on-off push switch and an up-down rotary volume control. HVAC fan and temperature settings are satisfying rocker switches, while physical buttons for the multimedia system’s home screen, maps, media, setup, and more are simple push-switches:
The shifter is a classic T-handle; it’s a bit of a waste of space, and not particularly elegant, but it’s easy to use. Also easy to use is the wireless charging pad ahead of the shifter (a wireless charging pad that actually works!), and there are two USB-C ports and a cigarette lighter thoughtfully placed ahead of the shifter:
The back bench is spacious; I fit my five-foot-eight self in there with loads of legroom and headroom; even my 6-foot-something friend Tommy (from TFL) fit with nary a complaint:
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Cargo space, too, was plentiful:
And I’ve got to give a shoutout to Kia for offering a spare under the floor:
I don’t have much to complain about the interior overall; it seems to be made of reasonably high-quality materials, there’s plenty of space for passengers, plenty of storage cubbies, and it’s stylish. Maybe I think the door panels are a bit bland when viewed from certain angles (note the heated and cooled seats and the heated steering wheel), and I did have the infotainment system glitch out and reset when I tried to change themes; hopefully that gets stored out before these ship to customers.
Now let’s talk about how the machine drives.
It’s Way Nicer To Drive Than I Expected, But It’s No GTI
The gold GT-Line Turbo’s 190 horsepower and 195 lb-ft of torque pulling about 3,300 pounds offered an excellent power-to-weight ratio, and thanks also to a good eight-speed automatic, I found that accelerating up to freeway speeds was easy and brisk.
Here’s a video of me putting the pedal to the metal, before settling at a nice, quiet, comfortable highway cruising speed around 70 mph:
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I bet the 0-60 mph time is in the high-6-second range, which is solid, as is the car’s exhaust note. It’s nothing aggressive, but it’s at least there, and the car definitely feels a bit sportier as a result. But despite that nice acceleration and the exhaust sound, the truth is that the Kia K4 hatchback isn’t a hot-hatch, as became apparent when we hit the fabled Angeles Crest highway through the mountains.
Angeles Crest is a steep and dangerous twisty road through the San Gabriel Mountains, and though the drive reinforced the Kia K4 hatchback’s nice, quiet ride with limited road or wind noise, it definitely didn’t establish the car as a sporty machine. The suspension is soft in the corners, the transmission — even with paddles — often didn’t really do what the driver wanted it to do, and though the brakes felt strong and confidence-inspiring, the steering was just OK. Angeles Crest was probably not the ideal road if Kia’s goal was to emphasize the K4 hatchback’s strongest traits.
Still, it was good enough in the turns, and the freeway drive back featured plenty of potholes and nearby vehicles in traffic, and the car shrugged off the disturbances in a way that was genuinely impressive. Road noise, wind noise, other-car noise, road bumps — none of it stood a chance against what Kia’s dynamics and NVH engineers built into this little economy hatchback.
Kia had us journalists drive around the canyon roads about 50 miles north of LA near Palmdale, and though the K4 hatchback was far from unathletic, it was the refinement that kept standing out to me. “Man, this is a nice car,” I thought to myself.
Maybe it was because I thought I was going to be reviewing a $26,000 economy hatchback. Part of me wishes I had.
A Nice $33K Hatchback That Makes Me Curious About The $26K Base Car
Driving the Kia K4 hatchback GT-Line Turbo just made me want to drive the base “EX” model, because to me, it’s so much more impressive if an automaker can make a decent $26,000 car than if that automaker can make a good $33,000 car.
Here’s what Thomas said about the base powertrain on the Kia K4:
Prod the starter button with a foot on the brake pedal, and Kia’s two-liter naturally aspirated four-cylinder engine sparks to life with the aggressive normalcy of a gas stove. With 147 horsepower and 138 lb.-ft. of torque on tap, it doesn’t exactly provide swift progress, but the butt dyno says that the zero-to-60 mph time should be on the quick side of nine seconds, and the CVT does a pretty good job of keeping the revs low in most conditions. With regular port injection, it’s exactly the sort of engine a compact car needs, something that’ll get the job done without being too high-tech for its own good. However, there is definitely a delay between pressing the throttle pedal and accelerating from a stop, which makes it hard to take off from a light eagerly yet smoothly. If locals near you tend to drive like maniacs, you’re going to notice this initial flinch.
Initial lag aside, there’s lots to love here once you’re up to cruising speeds. The cabin of the K4 is reasonably quiet although not quite as hushed as a Honda Civic, the suspension is soft enough to soak up minor road imperfections but buttoned-down enough not to result in TV cop chase levels of body roll when you fly down an on-ramp far closer to the speed limit than the ramp advisory speed, and the pleasantly weighted steering is extremely predictable, if light on feedback. What’s more, you sit proper low, although the steering column could use a bit more reach adjustment.
It sounds good enough, and if you can combine a good enough powertrain with a nice overall design and good practicality at the low-low price of just over $26,000… well, that sounds good to me, even if Kia sees the hatch topping out around 20 percent of all K4 sales, with the sedan representing 80.
The Mexico-built K4 hatchback will hit markets any day now, and I bet it will be a hit internationally. As for the U.S., I have no idea. I hope people buy these, though fuel economy (28 MPG combined for the turbo, 30 MPG for the base vehicle) isn’t much better than a similarly-sized crossover, and I myself might prefer the Mazda3 hatchback despite its older cabin and bad rear visibility, as it offers a stick, and automatic models offer AWD at a similar price.
Top graphic image: David Tracy
The little floating roof thing just takes my brain straight to Beam.NG’s fictional Cherrier Vivace. Which has that weird little detail.
(Now how do we get the GT model AWD and up to Vivace Arsenic power levels…)
Now do something similar to the K5…
This is a good looking hatch, and looks better than the Mazda3 behind the C-pillar, but it’s still no contest. My ’14 Mazda3 with the 2.0 gets 34 mpg regularly, and while it won’t keep up with the turbo K4, it’s just as quick as the base model and it sounds like it drives a lot better (even setting aside the manual advantage).
I’m glad it’s out there and hope it does well, but it’s a bit of a disappointment for something that was really promising.
Oh man that hood looks like it was someone’s first ever attempt at spraying metallic paint
I wish this were more uncommon. I had an Acura ADX loaner last month in metallic dark grey and the sides looked just like this. And that’s an (ostensibly) $42k vehicle.
As the owner of a 2020 Kia Forte GT, I still look at the K4 as a downgrade overall. It’s slower, much more expensive, and much uglier than the outgoing car. It also doesn’t have the option of a manual transmission, which really helps the old GT become a fun, engaging car. It surprisingly has an edge and some actual personality, which is lacking in a lot of cars these days, and makes a great, more affordable alternative to the Civic Si and Jetta GLI. This GT-Line (which is not the same as the full boat GT that we will probably never get) seems to be missing this edge.
I will say that the hatch (and the wagon which we won’t get) look worlds better than the dumpy, unfortunate road tumor that is the sedan. But for the love of all that is holy, can car manufacturers please stop with the “floating roof” aesthetic?
I loved my ’24 Forte GT before it was taken from me too soon by an idiot who ran a red light and totalled it. I actually bought one of the last new ’24s on the lot in early ’25 after comparing it against the K4 GT-Line turbo sedan. The Forte GT felt like a proper little performance car right down to its snarly exhaust and dual-clutch transmission. The K4 lacked that edge… it was, as David repeatedly says, a very nice car.
i will say that, when I was looking for a replacement for the Forte, neither the K4 or a used Forte GT entered my mind, mainly because good Forte GTs are pretty uncommon and I get the feeling that a lot of the owners just hammer on them. I’d never buy a used Kia with the DCT without knowing exactly how the owner treated it.
The Forte GT is not without its faults. Mine has had issues with the braking system (solved by doing the “National Mod” front brake upgrade) and early wear of the window trim, weatherstripping, and the driver’s seat. But that said, it has been a pretty solid car overall and remains fun to drive over 5 years into ownership. But the fun far outweighs the annoying things.
I’ve read not-so-great things about the dry clutch DCT they used in the GT, so I’m not surprised that they opted for a traditional slushbox here. They seem to suffer from chattering and early failures, much like the good ol’ Ford PowerShift they foisted upon the public in the Fiesta and Focus. The wet clutch units in the Hyundai N-cars don’t have these issues.
The K4 is not a performance car at all. Not even a little bit. But it could be a decent vehicle. That remains to be seen, but I won’t be considering one when it’s time to retire my Forte GT.
33k is on the lower end now. The days of the 20k car are gone.
Is it a station wagon in disguise?
Maybe, if they put that 11” back on.
Vinyl seats are the only option?? no thanks. That might be a deal-breaker. And I was looking forward to this thing. It looks great though. and yellow/gold paint! hurray!
The fact that many automakers have the stones to charge more for vinyl (Toyota) is insane.
It’s missing the rear door handle. Not sure why designers insist on doing this. There’s a line in the door where it should go! But no, let’s hide it and maybe people won’t know that it has four doors.
Otherwise good looking car!
If only the designers could’ve resisted the temptation (orders from above?) to include that floating roof feature at the rear…
Regardless, I’d still get a Mazda3 turbo hatch, given the choice.
Floating roofs and split headlights and DRLs need to die die die.
I’m largely with you on this one David –
One could get a cleanly styled, Soul Red, Mazda 3 2.5 S Preferred with actual dials and about the same power as the K4 GT Turbo for roughly 3K less.
It’s a no-brainer.
It is. I’d want to compare base specs, but I’d still choose the 3 for its 6-speed.
Yeah, but to get the 6-speed in the 3, you have to go for the Turbo Premium Plus, which will run you close to $40k. Not saying that wouldn’t be my choice, but that’s a whole different pricing ballpark.
Turbos can’t be optioned with six speed manuals. The manual is limited to the 3 2.5 S Premium (NA), which will cost you around $33K.
Correct.
Hmm. Thought it was the other way around. My bad!
Keep in mind that the 3 hatchback (and CX30 for that matter) are effectively coupes. If you never need the backseats or just need them for doggos/emergency use it doesn’t matter but if you have to put car seats or average sized people in the back of those with any regularity you’re gonna have a bad time.
I recall one of the magazines fit considerably more cargo into the sedan than the hatch and even the CX-30.
Mine is great for elementary aged kids (no car seat or booster only), though, which is what I use it for!
Yup! I do think they’re both great cars if you can make them work, they’re just bad for new and new-ish parents.
They don’t stay elementary-sized for long. The tight rear legroom has killed the 3 for me several times. I don’t understand why Mazda packages this car so badly, other compacts manage to provide more space back there.
Sadly, true. I did the “sit behind myself” test on a Mazda3 hatch before I decided to commit. (Adjust driver’s seat to a comfortable position, then climb in back.) It wasn’t horrible back there, but I wouldn’t want to be stuck there regularly or on a long road trip either. Granted, I’m not as young and spry as I used to be. And, if I’m being honest, I didn’t notice any appreciable difference in backseat room between the hatch and sedan either. I did find the CX-30’s back seat a little easier for ingress and egress, but that’s likely due to a combination of the higher seating position, higher roofline, and the advancing decrepitude of my knees.
Given that 99.44% of the time, I’m driving solo, the 3 hatch was kind of a no-brainer for me.
We did similar at a local car expo (kick the tires and “try on” multiple new cars at a convention center without salesmen humping your leg) and had a similar response with the 3 hatch. It was nice from the driver’s seat but the rear seats are almost an afterthought. Considering I have an 8yo who is quickly approaching my wife’s height, it’s just a no-go.
David has access to a 3 hatch through Galpin, and all the equipment so maybe it’s time to bring back Will It Baby?
I had a K4 Sedan as an Uber recently, and was astonished at the amount of room, save for headroom — I had to slouch. I am 6 foot 3 and have a sizeable waistband.
I quite liked the interior too.
People seem to really like them, I see them everywhere and while I personally think the styling is a mixed bag I’ve always respected Hyundai and Kia for taking big design swings on affordable cars. I think it’s one of the reasons why they’ve been so successful lately…and as a funny aside I actually started paying attention to them when the first gen Kona came out.
I thought they were neat looking and charming, and I actually test drove a regular 1.6T one before I bought my GTI in 2020. Of course I wound up circling back two years later when I got my Kona N. Obviously it’s edgier looking than the normie Konas but it still has all those design touches I liked initially.
Anyway like I said, I’d be interested in a performance version of this with some of the N DNA, and I assume the 2.0T and DCT/manual would more or less be plug and play given it’s the same platform. KIA PLSSSSS
That they badge the 1.6t versions as “GT-Line” hopefully implies that a proper GT is on the way. Maybe with a detuned version of the 2.0t so as not to steal sales from the K5 GT?
The bar for spending $33k on a new car is “good enough”. Got it.
I think this looks decent, but I prefer the look of Honda Civic Hatchback or the Mazda 3 hatch. I think the K4 offers a lower base price than either, but once you start adding options they all seem comparably priced.
The Civic and Mazda look better at the front, and the Civic looks great from the rear but just isn’t as practical with the sloped roof. I really like this behind the C-pillar.
But as for any other consideration this falls well short of the Civic or 3.
Good point about the sloped roof on the Civic, but after driving my mom’s new Civic hatchback I think I would sacrifice the cargo room, the intersior is much quieter than the Mazda in my opinion. Although I just realized Honda did away with the manual transmission unless you get an Si which can’t be had as a hatch which was very nice in the last gen.
The Civic hatch was offered with a manual with the 2.0 NA engine until 2024, so you can get the current gen Civic hatch with the manual as long as you can find one used (and i have no idea how many sold that way). Now the only way to get a manual Civic hatch is to spring for the Type R.
This is just absolutely begging for the N treatment and I hope it gets it. As is it’s a nice looking affordable car with plenty of space, what looks like a nice interior, and enough technology to satisfy the kids they’re hoping buy this without going overboard. I’ll give Hyundai/Kia credit, they’ve been fighting the good fight and keeping buttons alive and well.
Anyway, something to make note of is how well suited this would be as a family car. Not necessarily the MAIN family car, but as the other car that may need to handle family duty in a pinch. This is an area where lots of other small hatchbacks fall short. Ask me how I know….
But 38 inches of rear legroom means car seats will fit with ease and it’s way more than you’d get in a Golf or Mazda 3. 22 cubic feet of cargo space is nothing to scoff at either. For reference that’s within spitting distance of comparable compact crossovers like the HRV, Kona, etc. It’s not incredible, but I think it’s a sacrifice folks might be willing to make to avoid being stuck with a crossover.
Plus, rear AC vents! You don’t get those in any of the comparable Honda products. If you’ve got little ones they’re an absolute must. Anyway, this seems like a winner. Just make an actual performance model please. The Elantra N stuff is right there in the parts bin….
I didn’t put my car seat in it, but I have no doubt it’d fit. This would work great as a family car for small families IMO
The newly minted family man has spoken!
Tommy! Love the stuff he’s doing with Model T’s and A’s over on TFLC YouTube channel. Not surprised you two are buds.
Good review. I like the cars a lot. I distrust the reliability.
I owned a Niro hybrid of the previous generation and genuinely enjoyed the styling and interior. The fuel efficiency was great. The 6-speed auto was a little laggy, and it doesn’t sound like they fixed that. I traded it off at 106k miles when the engine started using oil.
My daughter’s 2018 Sportage just had the classic Kia oil loss and engine munch. She had the oil changed by the dealer 11/17; Christmas Eve it developed a miss at idle. We checked the plugs and #2 was soaked in oil. The oil was 4qts(!!) low. Boroscope showed internal damage. Now the dealership and the extended warranty folks are squabbling over who pays for a new engine.
So I’m hesitant on Kias until they prove they’ve gotten their reliability mojo back.
Tommy is one of my favorite people in all of cars.
Obviously I’d have to drive both of them but I see myself opting for a fully loaded Trax over a base-spec K4 for the same money.
I look at that and see a Station wagon or even a lower to the ground Crossover. Probably just me, but that is what the design language says to me.
I do appreciate the rear doors hidden door handles, and I wonder if the regular sedan version can be had with fold down rear seats and a hatch that includes the rear glass like the current Dodge Charger?
Even though I prefer the Wagon for usefulness and head room ultimately, I would probably be more drawn to a sportier looking hatch setup if available.
I like hatchbacks in general, and I think this one looks great – from the outside. The screen is (subjectively) terrible and I also think the steering wheel is ugly in that two tone. Besides that, this car is something that I could see the value in, if it was value-priced. I don’t have the aversion to Hyundai and Kia that some do as I’ve owned my share of them and had generally positive experiences, but I think this is overpriced, even at $26k for the EX. In 2017 I bought a new Hyundai Elantra GT that was essentially this car but with a stick and less of the tech junk for $17K. I know cars have gotten more expensive, but 50% inflation in 9ish years is a bit much for me to stomach.
White interiors rarely age well. I’m not sure why designers continue to push them (well, yeah, I do).
This is hardly a white interior.
It’s black with a bit of white trim around the edges.
To me it’s a relief just to have something not 100% death-black.
But I think I’d have to order up some seat covers right after purchasing the car – probably some Hawaiian-Hibiscus pattern…
I added photos of the red seats. What do you think?
I like the red seats, but I’d take a hard pass on that red steering wheel. Ick.
It’s better than all black, but it’s a strange shade of red.
More like raspberry.
Red interiors are always great, but this shade of red is slightly too muted/burgundy. If you’re gonna go red, go red.
Yeah, the “white” should at least include a white headliner, or at least one several shades lighter than black.
And on the steering wheel to boot!
Now let’s make it a bit longer and turn it into a station wagon.
here here!
That was recently announced ( and shown ), for foreign markets.
Star Wars mode and a real spare tire. Nice.
I bet the lower ride height would make it easier for a senior dog to get in and out. And it comes in Stormtrooper white.
The Mazda3 was what I was thinking too, along with the Civic hatchback and Subaru Impreza. Kia still needs to come a bit lower on price to make up for expected higher depreciation. I expect the EX will be the top seller and push down the K4 sedan ATP as it comes in a couple of lower trims.
The competitive set, per Kia:
Mazda3, Impreza, Civic hatch, Corolla
Isn’t this the same company that just killed off the Soul? Seems that there is a lot of similarities going on here.
The dashboard screen is an immediate turn off. I guess I’m just too old to want that sort of thing. I don’t have an analog needle gauge fetish, screens in the binnacle are fine. I just don’t much care for a full-width screen. Seems like a distraction. Maybe if it had a button to turn off (not just blank, but TURN OFF) 80% of it at night, it might be ok.
Also, what’s with the contrast in the photos? With all the gushing over the bodywork, most of the photos look like they’re hidden in shadow. Might need to dial that up a bit. Either that or I’m old again and I just can’t see.
When I saw it at NYIAS last spring(!) the Kia reps insisted that the Seltos “replaces” the Soul. I told them, no, this does.
I would be huffing and puffing incredulously if someone tried to tell me the Seltos is a replacement for the Soul.
It’s a Kia so I have an arm’s length interest at best. Rent? Sure. Purchase? Hell no.
Lease.. maybe? I really like it, but yeah, I have a hard time with the brand as well. I also drive old German shit boxes, so my tolerance is pretty high.
That Venn diagram is unhinged. I am not convinced that either of the two circles target markets exist in any appreciable quantity here in the USA. Maybe in other markets? And the K4 sedan being “class-up”? On what planet is a sedan classy these days to the average person?
Yes, I like the looks overall, but screw floating roof designs. I hate them so much.
Are we looking at the same picture? That looks terrible!
Honestly, though, for $33k this seems like a dang good car.
If that rear visibility were any more decent, you’d need a periscope!
It’s better than a box truck. 🙂
Sedans only exist because they are seen as classy compared to hatchbacks or wagons.
I’m guessing the rear visibility is better than what the image can convey. Pictures like that always look bad in reviews regardless of the in-person experience.
“That Venn diagram is unhinged. I am not convinced that either of the two circles target markets exist in any appreciable quantity here in the USA.”
But… there’s so much versatility for activities!