Kia News: Kia Optima To Get Name Change, Two Turbo Engines

[Drew Dowdell]

The Kia K5 was unveiled in South Korea last month, but now we have some technical details to go with it. It sounds like Kia will ditch the Optima name in the U.S. and go with the K5 name used in South Korea going forward.

The engine selection is similar to that of the Hyundai Sonata.  There will be a 1.6-liter turbo 4-cylinder with 178 horsepower and 195 lb.-ft of torque. There will also be a 2.5 liter naturally aspirated and direct injected 4-cylinder that produces 191 hp and 181 lb.-ft of torque. The bigger news is that the Kia K5 GT will also get the 2.5-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder going into the Sonata N-Line, that motor produces 286 hp and 311 lb.-ft of torque. That final engine is paired with an 8-speed dual-clutch transmission and should get the sedan from 0-60 in 6.6 seconds. Sometime in the future, a hybrid version of the car will be released, but Kia isn't going into detail on that just yet.

Probably the biggest news for the K5 is that it will gain an all-wheel drive system that can shift power to the rear axle based on road conditions and driver input. It should be noted that the Sonata doesn't get an all-wheel drive option, so this gives the Kia a point of distinction over its cousin.

The K5 has a sporty exterior with a wide tiger nose grille running the entire width of the vehicle. New headlights with a 'heart beat' daytime running light feature flank both sides. The stance of the K5 is said to lean forward with a rakish windshield and sloping roof.  In the rear is a dual exhaust system and integrated spoiler along with a LED light bar.  Wheels start at 16-inches and range up to 19-inches on the GT.

The K5 is 193.1 inches long, longer than its predecessor, it's also lower and wider.  Wheelbase grows by 1.8-inches. 

The cabin is all new with fancy new seats and a flat bottom steering wheel. There is an availabe infotainment system that sports a 10.25-inch screen while an available gauge cluster is fully digital and 12.3 inches complimented by an 8.0-inch heads up display. Some models of K5 will get a rotary gear selector while others get a more traditional T-Shifter.

The K5 will have a bunch of driver assistance technologies including forward collision avoidance assist, blind-spot monitoring and assist, smart cruise control, driver attention warning, and highway driving assist.  Also available is a Level 2 semi-autonomous driving system and a remote park assist that will allow users to move their vehicle forwards or backwards with a key fob in order to get into or out of a tight parking spot.

The 2021 Kia K5 goes on sale in the first half of 2020.

 

 

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[frogger]

Seems nice but 0-60 in mid six second range seems a bit slow for those power numbers with a dual clutch.  I wonder if the AWD will be available with the new 2.5L turbo.

 

[smk4565]

Looks great inside and out.  I hope they don’t start calling cars K5, K4,K3, etc

[surreal1272]

38 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

Looks great inside and out.  I hope they don’t start calling cars K5, K4,K3, etc

Or A, B, C, E, G, S...

...Oh wait. 

[Robert Hall]

50 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

Looks great inside and out.  I hope they don’t start calling cars K5, K4,K3, etc

Does seem silly...the Forte is the K3 in SK, and the Credenza is the K9 I believe...

[surreal1272]

1 hour ago, Robert Hall said:

Does seem silly...the Forte is the K3 in SK, and the Credenza is the K9 I believe...

The K9 is a K900. The SK K7 is the Cadenza sold here. 
 

 

[Robert Hall]

8 minutes ago, surreal1272 said:

The K9 is a K900. The SK K7 is the Cadenza sold here. 
 

I forgot the K900 was sold in the US...Kia has a lot of sedans in the US...

[riviera74]

This will be interesting.  Non-luxury makes have names, not alphanumeric designations.  I understand that KIA already has them and wishes to import the alphanumerics used in SK to the USA.  NOT SURE this will sell.

[David]

Interesting as I wonder what Marketing was done to justify this change especially when we seem to see auto companies go back to names and ditch the alpha numeric's.

[Robert Hall]

8 minutes ago, dfelt said:

Interesting as I wonder what Marketing was done to justify this change especially when we seem to see auto companies go back to names and ditch the alpha numeric's.

Peter Schreyer and Luc Donkerwolke both came to Hyundai/Kia from Audi, so....

[David]

2 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

Peter Schreyer and Luc Donkerwolke both came to Hyundai/Kia from Audi, so....

That explains allot since they FAILED at Audi, Cadillac, so many attempts to copy German way of naming auto's and ended up with declining sales. Sad, so sad!

[regfootball]

FIRST EVER K5!!!!!!

i thought Kia threw a shitload of market cred out the window when they ditched the Spectra name and went to Forte.

Kia hit jackpot on the Sorento and Sportage and Soul names, and also THEY HIT JACKPOT on the Optima name.

Cadenza (CREDENZA) not such a good name.

WHY WOULD THEY BE SO STUPID TO DITCH ALL THAT?  IS KIA GM?

[smk4565]

Do you know what Corolla and Camry sell  Because those names have been around for 50 year, people know what they are like Pepsi and Coca-Cola.  No one will know what a K5 is or what brand even sells it.  

[regfootball]

31 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

Do you know what Corolla and Camry sell  Because those names have been around for 50 year, people know what they are like Pepsi and Coca-Cola.  No one will know what a K5 is or what brand even sells it.  

so has Chevy Blazer!!!!!   now admittedly, what a Blazer is, is slightly different now.

[riviera74]

2 hours ago, regfootball said:

FIRST EVER K5!!!!!!

i thought Kia threw a $h!load of market cred out the window when they ditched the Spectra name and went to Forte.

Kia hit jackpot on the Sorento and Sportage and Soul names, and also THEY HIT JACKPOT on the Optima name.

Cadenza (CREDENZA) not such a good name.

WHY WOULD THEY BE SO STUPID TO DITCH ALL THAT?  IS KIA GM?

Apparently nobody at KIA has learned that the American market requires certain things and that switching to alphanumerics HERE once you already are currently using names is generally a bad idea.  GM changed names (and dumped them from Cadillac) because some of the products associated with the names either had poor reputations or were just bad cars.  Chevrolet cars went through this the most.  Oldsmobile went through that about 25 years ago.  Often it did not go as well as hoped.  KIA's perceived problem is that they seem to only want all KIA products to be named exactly the same everywhere around the world.  American consumers are far too parochial to own a world car unless it is exceptional.

Now if only GM could take market share away from Hyundai/KIA for several years . . . . . .

[daves87rs]

Well, you can’t get attached to a K5......

[ocnblu]

6 minutes ago, daves87rs said:

Well, you can’t get attached to a K5......

Hold up Uncle Dave!  This trailer begs to differ!

 

Pretty car!  Why is my perception of Kia so much more positive than Hyundai?  They're like the Korean Chevy and Pontiac of yore, but I would own a Kia and feel good about it much sooner than I would its sister brand.

[Robert Hall]

I like the K5's styling...some of the details are weird--I don't like the large vents on the sides of the bumper, from the side, but they are less noticeable on dark colored cars...like that blue and gray.  The roofline reminds me of the MKZ.  I like the lighting details and the small upper grille..

[Drew Dowdell]

I think the interior looks fantastic, and if they pull it off as well as they did the Telluride interior it very well could be a luxury car feel at a family car price point. 

[regfootball]

10 hours ago, Robert Hall said:

I like the K5's styling...some of the details are weird--I don't like the large vents on the sides of the bumper, from the side, but they are less noticeable on dark colored cars...like that blue and gray.  The roofline reminds me of the MKZ.  I like the lighting details and the small upper grille..

i thought MKZ also.  so then my next question to myself would be why not just find a good CPO low mileage MKZ.....

(with the 400hp turbo v6)

[daves87rs]

16 hours ago, ocnblu said:

Hold up Uncle Dave!  This trailer begs to differ!

 

Pretty car!  Why is my perception of Kia so much more positive than Hyundai?  They're like the Korean Chevy and Pontiac of yore, but I would own a Kia and feel good about it much sooner than I would its sister brand.

How that is one I can get behind... 🙂 

Yeah, KIa is kinda growing on me......

[Paolino]

I would have thought with those power numbers the 0-60 would be much quicker... is it very heavy? The car in my opinion is beautiful inside and out.  I prefer this to the Sonata.  The lighting treatment for ambient inside and accent outside is tastefully done.