Kia's new K4 trades on its forte in the compact sedan market

By Jim Bray
August 12, 2025

It was once a Forte, apparently, but now Kia's lone gas-powered car in Canada – as opposed to a slew of SUV's – is a K4, and it sports a new set of clothes and lots of other stuff.

And while it won't go down in my book as one of my favourites, at least it isn't a K9! That would be "ruff!"

Anyway, bad car and dog jokes aside, Kia's latest kick at the small sedan market is an interesting beast and as a Kia fan I liked it, but I wish I'd liked it more.

I remember the Forte well. In fact, I rented the last generation of the car for a two-month period a couple of years ago when I was in Ottawa helping take care of my aging father. I really liked that car and if I'd been in the market at the time, it would have been on my short list.

Alas, my short list keeps getting shorter – mostly because cars are getting scarcer, but also because I don't like a lot of the new vehicles on offer. If I were to trade my 2005 A4 on a new one, for example, I'd lose the V6, the manual transmission and the factory-lowered suspension. And I'd have to live with a bunch of electronics and "safety" nannies that would drive me nuts. More nuts, anyway.

Still, I was really looking forward to trying the K4 for a week. I assumed it would be a nice follow up to the Forte, something I could point people toward who still don't want a damn SUV.

The K4, at least in basic trim, doesn't seem to aspire to anything sporty, including when in its "sport mode". Its mandate seems to be to offer something comfortable and efficient and affordable, and if that's what you're looking for this might just tick all your personal car buying boxes.

One thing the current K4 doesn't offer, at least yet, is a coupe or hatchback such as its old Forte5. I've heard rumours that there's one out there, just not in Canada yet, so perhaps it'll still come.

Meanwhile, this four-door sedan is roomy, easy to get into and out of, and its controls are very simple to operate. Well, maybe a little simpler than they should be, at least in the case of the temperature controls in Kia's sample K4, which consist merely of little lights (red for hot, blue for cold) rather than "real" temperature indicators.

Base K4's get a two litre four banger rated at 147 horsepower and 132 lb.-ft. of torque, which is pretty anemic this day and age. It's hardly uncompetitive, though: the entry level Toyota Corolla, for example, is rated on Toyota's Frostback website as having 138 horses. So, while I'd love some more oomph, the Kia's engine does move the car along reasonably well.

Alas, as with the Corolla and many others these days, it's attached to a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT), though Kia calls it IVT, for "intelligent variable" in a marketing move that made me laugh. It looks, sounds, acts and feels like a CVT – and I hate CVT's with a passion because in the name of "efficiency" most of them suck most of the joy out of the driving experience.

You'll want to remember this entry-level performance when you pull out and pass: you need to plan your passes more carefully and take more time to do them. This isn't just a Kia thing, of course; it's a horsepower/torque thing.

Speaking of things, "things" do get a tad buzzy under spirited acceleration, but if you aren't looking for a pocket rocket you may not notice.

If you do want more oomph from your K4, there's a turbocharged four-cylinder engine available for higher trim levels. It's a 1.6 litre unit making a much more interesting 190 horsepower and 195 lb.-ft. of torque, and it comes with an eight-speed automatic transmission – a real automatic!

Handling and steering are fine, the brakes work well and offer good feel, and the suspension – while a tad soft for my liking – soaks up the roads reasonably. Again, this isn't a sports car, just an appliance – and that isn't an insult: for years now, many folks have considered such cars as the Toyota Camry to be more appliance than motoring nirvana.

The exterior styling, like that of recent stablemates such as the Hyundai Elantra, I found to be a tad off-putting. The roofline sweeps down kind of like a hatchback's would, ending in a rather dumpy-looking buttock. Still, it's better that the comparable Elantra's tightly squeezed bum, and it does hearken back at least a bit to Kia's rather nice sport sedan the Stinger.

Inside, there's lots of hard plastic and it all looks kind of cheap – but at $26,495 CAD for Kia Canada's sample, this is a reasonably inexpensive car considering today's marketplace. Meanwhile, the interior is reasonably attractive and is a pleasant place to do the business of driving or "passenging."

There's a long (as in "landscape" orientation rather than "portrait") LCD screen that covers both a digital instrument cluster and a centre stack "infotainment" centre, and you get Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. A wireless charger can be had on some trim levels.

My sample EX trim unit also had heated seats and steering wheel, 17-inch wheels, LED headlights and taillights and all the usual supposed safety nannies.

I found the HVAC controls excessively simple. As mentioned above, they're just a row of LED's on the instrument panel and there's very little flexibility beyond off/on and intensity. And it can be hard to see what setting you have if you're in bright sunlight, though the same can be said of some LCD displays.

A new infotainment system incorporates stuff like Over the Air updates to bring more convenience to users, convenience that I assume will cost owners a few clams to get and further erode their privacy. You also get a surround view monitor, which is very handy when parking or just impressing your friends.

If you want to make things more interesting, you can opt for higher trim levels such as the GT. Then you'll not only get the 1.6 litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine and a real, eight speed automatic transmission instead of a damn CVT, you'll also be purchasing paddle shifters, a multi-link rear suspension, 18-inch wheels and more.

The K4 is a pleasant vehicle to drive and undoubtedly nice to live with. But when I think back to that Forte I lived with for two months, I think this new model has lost something. Now, I'm one of those atavists who still think driving should be fun, not just pleasant, and that's where the K4 leaves me a tad cold.

Your mileage, of course, may (and probably will, I daresay!) differ.

Pricing for the Kia K4 starts at $26,495 for the EX IVT trim level. The EX+ IVT starts at $27,995, while the GT-Line Turbo will set you back at least $31,495 and the top line GT-Line Turbo Limited (limited, undoubtedly, to how many they can sell) starts at $34,495.

Compare that with a Toyota Corolla, a good example of the mainstream competition. The base L trim level starts at $27,250 and you can configure it up to the XSE AWD model for $39,912. And it's probably as interesting to drive as the Kia.

So, while the K4 left me a tad cold personally, there's really nothing wrong with it if you aren't a curmudgeon with a lead foot.

How's that for high praise?

And, hey, at least Kia is still making cars instead of abandoning that market segment like some of its competition has done. So well done to them for that!