Overview
IT HAS been about 12 months since the K4 arrived to replace the Cerato, the all-new sedan offering a longer, wider body style, four trim grades, and a higher list price than the model it succeeds.
Dimensionally, the K4 measures 4710mm long (+70mm against the Cerato sedan), 1850mm wide (+50mm), and 1425mm high (-20mm), and rides on a 2720mm (+20mm) wheelbase offering more interior space and a larger boot, up six litres to 508.
Tested here in flagship GT-Line trim (from $42,990), the turbocharged 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol offering delivers 142kW/264Nm – down from the previous model’s 150kW/265Nm – to the front wheels via an eight-speed torque converter automatic transmission, said to return a fuel use figure of 6.7 litres per 100km.
The body is suspended by a Macpherson strut front and multi-link rear arrangement, the steering is electrically assisted, and the brakes all disc.
Of course, the K4 also offers a substantially upgraded safety inventory over the Cerato it replaces. Alongside a full complement of airbags, the model offers adaptive cruise control, autonomous emergency braking, blind-spot monitoring, driver monitoring, front and rear acoustic parking sensors, high-beam assist, lane keeping and following assistants, rear cross-traffic alert, speed sign recognition, tyre pressure monitoring, and a 360-degree camera system.
Sport, Sport+ and GT-Line variants of the K4 also have Kia’s latest highway driving assist (HDA 2), a technology that functions when driving on a freeway or motorway.
Kia says the technology builds on adaptive cruise control with lane-following assist to keep the K4 centred in its lane even when driving through a curve, whilst HDA 2 adds lane-change assist (LCA), allowing the K4 to autonomously change lanes when the required conditions are met.
Elsewhere, technologies include dual 12.3-inch instrumentation and infotainment screens, a separate 5.0-inch HVAC interface, dual-zone climate control, Kia Connect remote smartphone connectivity, over-the-air (OTA) software updates, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, Qi wireless smartphone charging, LED cabin lighting, a sliding sunroof, two-tone upholstery, and 18-inch alloy wheels to name but a few.
The K4 is offered in a choice of eight exterior colours including Aurora Pearl Black, Clear White, Fiery Red, Honeydew, Interstellar Grey, Snow White Pearl, Steel Grey, and Wave Blue (shown). All hues bar Clear White attract a $600 price premium.
Kia Australia backs the K4 with a seven-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty and up to eight years of roadside assistance when servicing through an authorised Kia service centre. Service intervals are pegged at 12 months or 15,000km (whichever comes first) and tally $2269 over a typical five-year ownership period.
That figure places the K4 as a more expensive ownership proposition to the likes of the Toyota Corolla ($1225 over the same period), but cheaper than a comparable Mazda 3 (at $2258).
Driving Impressions
We know the world is getting more automated – and more litigious – by the day. But there was a time when driving your car was something of an escape from that realm.
Not anymore…
Now, you must consent to a customer contract with each ignition cycle. You must look straight ahead at all times or face some form of robotised rebuttal. And you must not exceed the vehicular-determined speed limit by a single kilometre per hour, even if the car in question misrecognised a road sign on your course.
These issues seem to plague any number of vehicles currently on the market, including the Kia K4 GT-Line, detracting from what is an otherwise pleasant experience.
Sure, you can disable or dim-down many of these systems. But having to dive through multiple menu screens each time you drive your own car is infuriating – not to mention (arguably) more dangerous than rigidly fixing you gaze directly front and centre or wandering just over the speed limit.
Those points aside and the K4 is a very decent ‘small’ car. Its cockpit layout is straightforward with hard buttons for commonly accessed features like the climate control and various media interfaces.
The steering wheel buttons allow access to almost every function you require while driving without the need to take your eyes off the road, and become familiar quite quickly, suggesting logic has been applied to their design.
We found cabin space to be generally good and oddment storage excellent. The flexible options within the centre console are a particular highlight, offering space for drinks, keys, wallets, dog leads, and anything else you find yourself travelling with. Couple this with a decent-sized glove box and reasonable door pockets and its obvious Kia knows its audience.
The cabin layout is modern, rather crisp, but also somewhat monotone and plasticky.
Overall, the quality of the cabin is finished to quite a high standard – though we say that in noting that materials below the hip line are appreciably lower in quality than those above. The carpets are a little cheap, especially in the cargo compartment, and the plastics in the lower half of the door cards are rather low rent.
The black-on-black door cards and dashboard are a little dull when viewed against some of the high contrast options now offered in some rivals through the segment. However, we do appreciate the contrasting China White material on the horn button, around the steering wheel rim, and the seat bolsters.
The seating is well bolstered, comfortable, and offers a very good level of adjustment to find that ‘just right’ driving position.
Visibility is good, even to the rear, more so than you’d expect from a car of this shape. The high boot line does hinder some lower rearward vision, but the reversing camera assists here, offering very good optics when manoeuvring in close confines.
We enjoyed the driving experience, too. The steering is consistently weighted and quite direct, bordering on sporty in its feedback and communication.
Unfortunately, ‘sporty’ is also a descriptor we might apply to the K4’s ride characteristics. The vehicle is arguably too firm for daily driving, feeling almost as if the tyres are over-inflated (which they were not). This trait meant some graininess was felt through the cabin, as was a serving of road noise – a pity considering the quietened mechanicals and wind noise.
Performance though is pretty slick. The engine is quite sprightly and eager in its step-off response. The transmission keeps pace well with the engine, maintaining a fluid action across the rev range with no hesitation in shift.
Fuel economy reflected that linearity, the K4 returning 7.7L/100km through combined running, which we feel is good for a non-hybridised vehicle of this size and weight.
We found the pedal response and feedback acceptable and the braking action polished. The K4’s braking performance is terrific and gave us no cause for alarm on test, the braking assistance technologies providing a sensible and metered action when required.
It was also something of a relief to find both the dusk-sensing headlights and rain-sensing wipers to be well calibrated. We found the LED headlights to offer good spread and reach, making country driving less worrisome than in some entrants we’ve sampled in recent times.
And that kind of sums up the Kia K4 GT-Line rather well…
It’s a far better small segment car than many we have sampled in recent times, provided of course you can live with its obdurate ADAS technologies and grainy ride; and is one that feels considerably more modern than its dated segment rivals.