Is the 2025 Kia K4 GT-Line Turbo the BEST new compact sedan to BUY? 

Tiger Nose is cool. I Still have a 2014 Optima as a daily commuter. 188K miles. After the engine replacement recall, she's been reliable. Plus I get a lifetime warranty on the engine. Cars handle very well. 💙✌️

I think kia nailed it in terms of design. Specially the wagon, Kia should bring GT with manual & better powertrain. Thank u for great review.

Being the owner of a 2022 Forte (again I give you credit for your videos helping me with my research when buying it), I am impressed and excited about what they are replacing it with. I agree with the zonks given on the side grill "openings", heavy gloss black usage at lower end of the vehicle and lack of behind the seat pockets. My bonus zonk would be not having electric adjustable passenger seat controls, for a top trim

Love the all new K4. Tks for sharing this one Joe.

My OCD really wants that rear passenger door handle!!

K4-Forte K5-Optima K8-Cadenza

Just the guy I was looking for to see the new K4!

Joe, you are the best in the business. I bought a ‘24 Forte GT over the phone without even having driven one (dealer 2 hrs. away over snowy mountains) based partially on your review, and I love it. I’ll have a Twinkie on you.

Making it a liftback and hiding BOTH sets of door handles in the pillars would've made this car more enticing. They nailed everything else though.

Coming from a guy who owned a 2022 Forte GT I really wanted to like this car. BUT it's longer, wider, Less HP and no more DCT. The look over all is not doing it for me. Great showcase Joe thank you.

Your videos never fail to make me laugh and are always well informed. Keep being awesome!

Hey Joe..thought it was a K5 for a min.. nice work as always also Lori with the camera 📸... Needs some exhaust exposure and more horsepower.. I really miss the K900 aka K9..is that completely dead or they making something new sooner or later?...

Is this sedan Kia Boys approved??

Damn this makes me so happy I got my 23 Forte GT. If they come out with a full blown GT model with the Elantra N goodies and in a hatch, I’d be sold. If not I’ll just wait for the EN to get the 2.5t engine in the next couple of years.

I owned a 2009 Kia forte, and I currently own a 2019 Forte EX launch edition. I'm a big fan of my current car, it offers so much tech, and so many features for the money. I...don't love this design. I don't love the shifter, I don't love the lack of a rear door handle...I don't love the fact that it should be a hatchback, considering how this car looks. No exhaust tips?!? ... Should I trade my 2019 in for a 2023 GT BEFORE this becomes the new model?!? I REALLY don't like these choices.

My zonk is their front door handle, i think they should've done a flush handle. This way it kind of looks odd.

I agree with u that the front grill should have functional vents and fog lamps. Also not liking the hidden door handles on the rear doors. Really missing my 2020 Stinger GT1.

I look forward to your videos. You give great reviews ✅

I like the blended door handle for rear passenger door... it keeps design clean.. and I like coupe look it gives the K4

I think the black trim over the wheels is a good thing. Keeps it from looking slab sided.

Joe another thing that is not speaking to me is they could have expanded the black roof towards the rear make the shark fin antenna black on top and they could have added led foglights

Sleek and classy but I will miss the aggressive front of the current forte. Just seeing that car in my rear view mirror makes me feel something 🥲

I like it, engine has been around for awhile, should be good to go, now 8 speed auto, good things. Definitely interested.

Seems like a good value for the money. The tryhard overstyling is a bit much though. I hope they can sell the new hatchback line to get the Japanese manufacturers to step up and compete with better next-gen hatchbacks.

Ever since I started watching Raiti's I am a sucker for fog lights... don't even get near my wallet if you don't got no fog lights!

Sharp looking compact

I don’t like how this is the turbo version but it doesn’t have the dual sport exhaust or DCT transmission and has 11 less hp. It looks like a lot of new cars are hiding their exhaust with these little tiny pipes hidden under the bumper, which i hate. I’m so glad I got the Forte GT.

I really love the kia forte gt interior, sad its gone here.

I'm definitely going to wait till the hatch and trade my 19 Forte for this, because this looks amazing. My forte has around 80k miles on it worry free so I'm confident in Kia

I like the gloss black around 🛞

I know as of about a week ago, redline reviews was able to spend some time with the k4 turned on. So you can see what the dash looks like. . It actually seems like a very impressive vehicle for the price. They put alot of effort into that interior and FINALLY rear AC vents on a "compact sedan". This should be standard accross the freaken board.

It looks very good, i'm happy it got an Auto instead of the DCT.

7:12 I prefer the gloss black on that rear window. That's where I put a couple of stickers. Where the stickers no longer impeded on the rear window real-estate. Plus on the design side, it makes the rear deck lid seem shorter than what it is.

Kia K4 5-door is beatiful

Beautifully designed two toned steering wheel, love the Kia lettering on it and the design and the solid looks of the switch gear.

12:12 Rear door cut out goes unnecessarily towards the rear and its shape does not match with this 3/4 window which has a totally vertical line.

$33k 🥲 I remember when the mid size sedan class was that price for just about a fully loaded trim

Kia Hyundai must've won a bunch of lotteries, they are releasing facelifts and new gens every 2-3 years. Definitely a strong challenger to the auto market as they are pushing out good products for the past few years when they acquired the BMW engineer.

I won't be letting go of my '23 Forte GT for this... only way I'd consider it if Kia were to up the horsepower and finally give it a limited slip differential (which they aren't on the new K4). So nope. Sticking with what I have and saving cash doing so.

Good review Joe but I agree with you about the hidden rear door handle. Why bother, does it really clean up the overall design if you still have a conventional door handle on the front doors? And why the 11 hp decrease from the previous model year? Probably not enough to seriously impact performance but why go backwards? Was it emission related or a result of the new design? I doubt the latter as the engine bay must be the same as the previous model. Great job as always Joe. I do like the styling better than the Forte except for the weird thing you pointed out w/ the front bumper design.

Like the hid rear door handle. Looks like a 2 dr sports coupe!👍👍

Hi joe & Lori Great Review 😊

I’m sticking with Mazda.

Looking at it the only thing that doesn't jive with me is the wheel well is the transtion between the roof into the rear window. It looks incredibly weird not having any color connecting the back pillar into the roof.

Im curious to see if this will be offered in awd

Love the new design. A shrunk down K5, but the loss of HP has me wondering what they’re thinking and if your price estimate is correct at 33k, that’s 5k more than a 24 Forte GT. Not good. Thanks for bringing it to us.

Proud (mostly) owner of a 2021 Kia Forte GT with GT2 package here, and I can say that I will not be considering this for my next car. At first I thought I’d love it due to the exterior design but upon further inspection my opinion has changed. They did fix/add some things I wanted like a front camera/parking sensors in front and USB-C ports (which my 2021 should’ve already had), but there are other things I don’t like such as the reduction of power and a CVT transmission. To be honest I might be more interested if Kia had turned the car on and let Joe… ya know… review the tech, but as of now I’m looking at other options from other brands.

Amazing review SIRyour truly the best in the business

This car is beautiful, especially for the segment!! The US needs to bring sedans back and start to competing again. It’s not all about SUVs. Kia and Hyundai keep breaking the mold with these original designs. Even though this has a rear quarter panel/C pillar of a Volvo Polestar 2 going on.

Video just in time, as my TV dinner finished in the microwave

The side profile towards the rear wnere the quarter window and black glass touch looks so strange.

We need a Full GT. But. Thank you Kia

Some people complain about kia reliability at least your warranty is 100k, try Buying a brand new $100k Mercedes Benz S Class or BMW 7 series, when your Engine hits around 40k miles, it starts leaking Oil and Rod Bearing starts going bad Turbos also those vehicles has real bad Reliability.

When Redline reviews did their first look at the auto show, the dash was lit up.

This car is sporty but I agree that some things kind of don't add up like the lower HP and the shiny black plastic all over the outside including the plastic wheel well trim and some other aspects. Shouldn't be black cladding or shiny black plastic similar to an SUV.

Big improvement! Will definitely check it out when at dealer’s!

Will definitely trade-in my GT2 for this. The difference in 11 horses, is probably purely in the tune & not a smaller turbo like the pre-facelifted K5, everything else, the upgraded technology inside & out, which was already ahead of it's competitors & then some, is worth that small dip, that again, will easily be rectified by affordable aftermarket tunes. I predict sometime in 2025, they'll introduce a full-on GT, that'll be more closely related to the Elantra N (not N-Line). That's the same kind of sunroof, the Stinger had btw & those rear door handles are reminiscent of the Veloster's rear door.

I prefer the design of the K4 and am planning on test driving it when it comes to my area! Hopefully in the coming years they can add AWD 🤞

its just to much going on with this Kia.

Kia is just in a roll man. Nice cars

I was waiting on your thoughts on the new release!! In the future, can you do a video comparing 2025 K4 to the 2025 K5?

I'm hoping that there will be a GT trim with more power

Loving the K4…Kia hit this one out of the park. Awesome style and technology…leaving the competition in the dust. 😊

KIA is doing it, outstanding job on this the K4 and the K5. BEAUTIFULLY DONE

I own a 2023 Forte GT, love that they brought the 1.6T engine back but wonder why they dropped the Horsepower rating for this one. Black trim on the fender liner seems out of place on a compact. Hate that theres no exposed exhaust for at least the Turbo version, less sport qualities than last year

I wanna see the lights! Headlights, tail lights, blinkers!

Those headlights look like a poor rip off of Cadillac’s current design language.

So the tail light doesn't go all the way across the back? So close :(

I really hope it has full led break lights and turn signals.

From the rear center, the tail lights look horrible. Looks like it sticks out over the body

I hope they make a GT model around 225 HP. That would be perfect as a daily driver.

One problem that Kia/Hyundai have is a brand problem. They constantly change their designs..that the vehicle you just bought is already obsolete.

It does look like something from a galaxy FAR FAR away,!!!

All videos are titled and begins the same way Is this xxxx the best xxxx ? All cars are amazing to you !! Nothing short, no car looks terrible!

Was gonna get this but the buttons in the door just dont care for seems they could have done better for a top model it should look more refined and polished so will likely get the k5 gt line

Joe: this car is locked, we can't open trunk Proceeds to go inside by opening driver's door

Black gloss makes wheel wells look bigger

All your zonks are legit. Not a bad offering as a K4 brand but definitely I'd like to see those changes as you pointed out. Excellent first review. Low $30k could be a keeper.

K4 looks pretty good, wish it had a little more horsepower though. Excited to see how the hatchback turns out (V6 Turbo would be a dream)

Another great video Joe.

Really liking the design and I think the steering wheel is spot on! I just wish it was a Sportback like I first thought it was going to be in the beginning of the video.

the door handles remind of the first 3 generations of the Nissan Pathfinder where the back 2 doors were up by the windows as well

They need a GT trim with the engine from the Elantra N

Wake me when the Stinger returns or gets a true spiritual successor. Although KIA has been knocking it out of the park, at least design-wise.

Something just looks off in the rear like a Tiajuana gluteal augmentation.

Do you have confirmation of ac vents on the back coming to the us maket?

The turbo loses the dual clutch - so one would assume and adjustment needed to optimize with the 8 speed automatic.

Hi Joe nice to see a compact sedan with rear vents & usb ports

I like the design. The only zonk for me is the old school gas engine. This with some better packaging underneath the skin for a large front trunk and dual motor setup would be awesome.

The K4 Wagon is growing on me. Not crazy about the C pillar and overall rear end design on the sedan.

I love that he says zonk😭

Very nice replacement for the Forte!...Would really consider this vehicle!

Nice!!!!! 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥. I have a 2020 Kia Forte GT Line that’s burnt orange i would like the k4 in the same color it would look dope

those many little changes really look appealing!

Does anyone else think they’ll release a gt trim with a manual later on in the year? I wanna believe so, because of the positioning of the shift lever in the current models. It’s the perfect spot for a manual transmission.

As an owner of a '23 Forte GT, I can't help but feel a lot of "zonks" with the K4. Less power, losing the DCT option, losing the dual exhaust (which has a really nice tone stock, and sounds incredible with an axle-back aftermarket exhaust). Quite a few cosmetic..."huh" moments.

I like everything I see, but if your MSRP projection is on point, there’s nothing to like anymore. If this trip was in the 27-29 range, I think that would be the sweet spot. For a couple more grand, a Sonata N Line blows this away. Different class, of course, but there’s no value at $33k

This guy does a car interview right

was kinda wishing kia would have given this a power bump go compete with its sporty sedan rivals like the wrx , the gli/gti , the 235 the a3/s3. kia could have easily gone over to hyundai and grabbed the team from the N division and made this a 225+ hp car , looks great but the lack of power sucks , hopefully the US market will get the wagon version

Loved the review! How long will you be at the auto show?