A Layman Point of View

Had the K5 for about a month now and here are my thoughts.
EXTERIOR LOOK: At a glance, the K5 looks stunning. At close observation, it looks spectacular as well. However, from the side view the rear seems crowded with connecting lines between the bumper, the booth and the rear doors. With fewer lines it would probably look grander. The smaller windows do make the car look sportier. However, my wife criticizes that the small windows blocks her view in the passenger seats (front & rear). Be that as it may, the smaller windows give more privacy to the passengers and also a sense of security as the passenger is cocoon in by the solid body of the K5.

CAPACITY: It is without a doubt that the K5 is a huge car. The intelligent interior design simply expands the interior space further. The low seats give more head room to the car as well as comfort to passengers who sink in with the seats. The long nose of the car also provides space for the driver and front passenger additional leg room. My wife who sits at the rear with my daughter will have to literally CRAWL to the driver’s seat to lock and unlock my car whenever I’m out doing my errands. That’s how big it is. There are also ample of pockets here and there for storage. The booth space is also huge. It may not be as deep as a Passat, it is definitely wider. It measures 15.4 cubic feet in size. The Passat has only 14.2 cubic feet.

COMFORT: The seats are really well built. My experience with leather seats is that during a hot day the seats will heat up. Thanks to good quality leather used in the K5 and the UV cut glass, the seats aren’t that hot at 12noon. The sinking seats also provide a luxury pose which makes sitting (especially at the rear) very civilize. I bet the Queen of England wouldn’t mind sitting in a K5. In fact, it is even more comfortable than the Camry’s. The slightly tilted centre controls and buttons on the steering give an easy to reach/luxury feeling to the driver when driving, which makes driving effortless.

INTERIOR LOOK: I must be honest. Before buying this car I was also considering the Sonata. The Sonata has a better interior design compared to the K5. For the K5, the dashboard doesn’t flow with the doors. It’s as if the dashboard and the doors were designed by different people without any form of communication. In any event, the interior is still better looking compared to a lot of the other D segment cars. It looks better in real life than what is shown in pictures.

DRIVING EXPERIENCE: The handling of the car seems pretty good except for the slight pull to the left on the steering. I’m no speedster. I usually cruise my way from point A to point B. The gears shift very smoothly and the fuel consumption is very impressive especially with ECO mode. I usually get 10.2-10.5L/100km for 80% city drive and 20% highway drive. For outstation trips (40% highway 60%) I get about 8.8-9.0L/100km. There was once I got 6.9L/100km on highway.
Noticed there are 2 red lines at the 30km/h and 50km/h speedometer? They seemed to be guidelines for shifting to the 3rd and 4th gear. If you place your gear at manual and allows the K5 to cruise and slow down, the gear will automatically change from gear 5 to 4 when it hits the 50km/h and changes from gear 4 to 3 at 30km/h. Interestingly, as the car comes to a halt, the gear shifts from 3 straight to 1.

GADGETS: This is definitely a ‘bang for the bucks’ car. 6 airbags, reverse camera, auto dimming mirror, dual zone climate control air-con, 5 18inch alloy wheels, 6CD audio system (Infinity), electric stability control, traction control, antilock brakes, front & rear fog lamps, auto wiper, auto lights, moon roof…etc. What else can you ask for at RM143K. You can even switch on the lights remotely by setting the lights at auto and unlocking your car remotely.

SURPRISE: The rear fog lights were a surprise to me. I bought the car without even knowing that it has that feature. There are times when I reverse out of my house I scratch the front bottom of the car when coming down from a slope. That hurts. It is to my surprise that the material used (the black part) is softer (like rubber), which absorbs the impact when scratches. Kudos to the designers.

AFTER SALE SERVICE: Had my 1st service after a week I had the car. With so many nightmare stories about Kia’s after sales service, it is a breather to me that they are no longer true. I had mine at Glenmarie. They were quite helpful and professional. They gave me a free alignment and car wash. I guess Kia is really working hard to impress their customers.

IMPROVEMENTS: It would be good if the K5 comes with front sensors. It would also be good if the ‘TRIP’ button on the steering has a ‘forward’ and ‘backward’ button. I’ll normally flip through the ‘TRIP’ menu just to see how my driving performance is. It is a breeze to flip from the ‘AVG Fuel Economy’ screen page to the ‘INST Fuel Economy’ screen page. However to go back to the ‘AVG Fuel Economy’ screen page I had to press the button 8 times. That can sometimes be a distraction.

LIKES AND DISLIKES: The problem with this car is that its long nose makes it difficult to estimate driving into small spaces. I scratched my rear right rim because of that. Actually that’s not the real problem, just need getting used to the size. My only dislike with this car is its rear seat belts. Whenever a passenger tried to push the tongue into the buckle, the buckle slides in to the pocket of the seat (hope I’m not confusing anyone). The strap attached to the buckle is too short. So short that it is difficult to remain holding the buckle when trying to push the tongue into it. May be it applies only to my car.
What is there to like about this car? Everything else.

CONCLUSION: Overall It is a d**n good car. Love it to bits. However, as the saying goes ‘new broom sweeps clean’. Only time will tell whether this is a great car.