2025 Kia K5 GT Review: Affordable Fun, Even If GT-Line Keeps One Big Advantage

Does aspirational automatically have to mean expensive? We're far from the days when a Kia badge on the grille meant someone cared more about budget than brand, though a capable range of industry-upsetting SUVs and crossovers doesn't necessarily mean you've earned a spot among the ranks of sports sedans.

It's an uphill battle, then, for the 2025 Kia K5 GT. While the K5 in general has satisfied its promise of attainable transportation that doesn't feel obviously cheap, the GT suffix heaps on some extra expectations. More fun, certainly, but stronger styling too, while at its core a "Gran Turismo" should also be refined and cosseting enough to do the sort of long-distance jaunts certain German automakers have made their raison d'etre.

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A big ask, then, especially when you consider that Kia can't really afford to nudge the K5 GT's price tag too high. Not if it wants to keep that reputation for affordable glee, anyway.

Most of Kia's K5 trims — from the $26,990 base LXS, through the $27,990 GT-Line, to the $34,990 EX; all plus $1,155 destination — rely on the automaker's 2.5-liter inline-four gas engine. That gets you a comfortable (but not eyebrow-raising) 191 horsepower and 181 lb-ft of torque, paired with an 8-speed automatic transmission. It's perfectly adequate for the affordable runabout the K5 was intended to be (and the Optima before it).

For the 2025 K5 GT, though, Kia slaps on a turbocharger. It leaves the sedan with 290 horsepower and 311 lb-ft of torque, funneled — through an eight-speed wet dual-clutch transmission with paddle shifters — to the front wheels. Not bad at all, for $33,990 plus destination.

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Kia's changes don't stop there, though. The GT gets bigger brakes — 13.6 inch ventilated discs up front, and 12.8 inch solid discs at the back, a 1.6 inch increase versus the regular car — plus rack-and-pinion mounted electric power steering. The McPherson strut and multi-link rear suspension are tuned differently, too, though you still don't get adaptive dampers on the GT.

Honestly, all K5 trims look pretty aggressive these days, though the K5 GT goes a little further than the rest. The gloss black machine-finished wheels are 19-inches, rather than 18-; the side mirrors are finished in black, as on the GT-Line too. There's similar overlap there for the sport radiator grille design, and the front bumper, though only the GT gets a satin chrome skid plate for the gloss-black rear bumper, quad-tip exhausts, and green GT-badged brake calipers.

With the neon-esque lighting squiggles and handsome wheels, it leaves the K5 GT looking purposeful beyond its price tag. Kia offers a matte gray paint option, too: a devil to keep clean, certainly, but at $695 it's a tenth of the price some luxury rivals would charge for the same look.

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Kia's GT1 Package — for $4,400 — switches the wheels to an all-black finish. Its impact is more noticeable inside, however, where it adds a 12.3-inch curved digital instrument display, Bose 12-speaker audio, adds power adjustment to the front passenger seat, ventilation to the front seats and heating to the steering wheel, and includes power-folding side mirrors. It also adds a 360-degree camera, blind-spot view monitor — that beams a view alongside the car to the driver's display when you hit the turn signal — and side parking sensors, along with reverse parking collision avoidance.

Without the GT1 Package, the K5 GT gets a mix of analog gauges with a small 4.2-inch embedded display, five USB-C ports, heated front seats, and a power-adjustable driver's seat. Black leatherette upholstery — with green contrast piping — is standard; the front bucket seats are comfortable and supportive, but another color option would be welcome. Generally, though, the interior feels far more upscale than the price tag suggests; this well-equipped example still lands at just shy of $40k all-in.

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Dual-zone climate control is standard, along with a 12.3-inch center touchscreen. Happily — unlike Kia models of not all that long ago — both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connect wirelessly. There's a wireless charger, and push-button start; all trims get blind spot warnings together with rear cross-traffic collision avoidance assist, front and rear parking sensors, and forward collision avoidance assist with junction-turning detection.

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Adaptive cruise control with lane-keeping and lane-following assist is standard across all trims; all but the base trim get navigation integration, automatically adjusting speed according to upcoming turns, and Highway Driving Assist (HDA), Kia's hands-on driving assistance system.

On the highway, with the drive mode — controlled with a sizable, easy-to-locate dial in the center console — set to Normal, the K5 GT hums along happily. Not too loud, not too firm; things are definitely stiffer than the non-GT versions, but passengers shouldn't complain. The 2.5T engine is quick to perk up, making taking advantage of overtaking maneuvers simple.

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Notch around to Sport — Kia keeps things simple, with just two preset drive modes and a customizable Individual setting — and the fun quotient cranks up. The K5 GT isn't raucous, and those who want giggle-inducing silliness should probably head over to the Hyundai dealership and test drive the Elantra N (which, though smaller, also has a stick-shift option), but there's a fluidity to the Kia's speed delivery which nudges it far further into sport sedan territory than you might expect.

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I'd go so far as to say that there's something vaguely BMW-esque about how the K5 GT drives: just that sense of solidity, smooth power, and generally being unruffled. With front-wheel drive, of course, there comes a point where your enthusiasm can exceed the Kia's ability to put that power down, and the automaker doesn't offer an official summer rubber alternative to the standard Pirelli P-Zero all-season tires.

That suits Kia's pitch for the K5 GT just fine, though. Nimble, perky, and easy to live with, it needn't be ruinous to own, either. 27 mpg on the combined economy cycle isn't dire, and nor is the 15.6 cu-ft trunk. A 2025 Camry has slightly less storage space, but Toyota's switch to a hybrid-only line up means the potential for almost double the Kia's combined mpg, trim-depending.

Nobody is going to confuse the Toyota for anything close to as fun to drive as the K5 GT, mind. Do I wish Kia would offer an all-wheel drive option on the K5 GT? Certainly, especially since you can have that as a $1,600 upgrade on the less powerful GT-Line. I'd not argue with a manual transmission option, too, though at that point we're getting into seriously diminishing returns. At the risk of peeving purists, the eight-speed DCT is perfectly okay.

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Look, I get it. You want a BMW M3, or an Audi RS 3, or something similarly spicy and fun, but that doesn't send you to the chiropractor simply for having the temerity to drive it to the grocery store. But that sort of duality demands a serious budget, and while I certainly appreciate those high-power Germans, I suspect most of us would find just as many smiles from behind the wheel of the K5 GT. It's much more upscale than its price (and, frankly, badge) might suggest, and more entertaining too.