Kia K4 2026 review: Sport+ Hatch

The Kia K4 was a massive shakeup for the South Korean carmaker when it launched in Australia last year as it ditched the popular Cerato nameplate.

Launching initially in sedan guise only, the K4 hasn’t been the sales hit the Cerato was, at least yet. The K4 Hatch has now arrived and it could help correct the course.

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Another benefit of the shorter rear hangover is it's easier to park in tight parallel car spots. This can make a world of a difference to small car buyers.

While shorter overall, the K4 Hatch’s wheelbase remains unchanged from the sedan. This means the almost tardis-like interior space carries over, especially for second-row passengers.

Overall boot space (438L) is down slightly on the sedan (508L) but the boot opening is much larger and the space itself is squarer and usable for big, bulky items. It’s also great to still see a space-saver spare wheel under the boot floor.

Another big shakeup that coincided with the introduction of the hatchback body style was a slight change to what powers the non-GT-Line K4 trims.

It’s still a 2.0-litre naturally aspirated four-cylinder engine but produces slightly less power and torque (110kW/180Nm vs 112kW/192Nm). It’s also mated to continuously variable transmission (CVT) rather than a torque-converter automatic. The same set-up can be found in the Kia Seltos and Hyundai i30 Sedan, among others.

While this engine has never been an outright performance beast, the CVT does make the most of what it has to offer. It’s happy to flare the revs when required to get up to speed, but you get that monotonous engine drone as there's no gear changes.

At higher speeds the engine does run out of puff and it frequently needs to dip above 3000rpm in order to maintain highway/freeway speeds.

Despite this, fuel consumption has improved dramatically thanks to the CVT. Kia claims it consumes an average of 6.1L/100km, versus 7.4L/100km for the MY25 K4 Sedan. In the real world I saw an average of 6.9L/100km across 350km of urban/highway driving, which is considerably better than what I got in previous testing of the K4 Sedan with the six-speed torque-converter auto.

It’s disappointing the K4 still only has a 47L fuel tank which is small for the segment and means you’ll need to be refuelling more frequently.

Another redeeming factor for the lack of engine power is how comfortable and dynamic the K4 Hatch is to drive. Like the sedan it has received a local ride and handling tune and that is evident in and around town, as well as on the open road.

The car reacts to pimply urban roads with suppleness and even larger bumps at higher speeds don’t unsettle the ride.

This is complimented by the steering which is direct and has a nice weight to make the car feel fun to drive on the open road but not too unwieldy in tight, urban streets.

The K4 Sport+, which is the penultimate trim level in the line-up and the highest trim with the 2.0-litre non-turbo engine, is priced from $39,090 before on-road costs, regardless of the body style. This is getting up there in terms of price compared to similarly specced rivals like the Toyota Corolla Hybrid and Subaru Impreza.

Standard equipment includes 17-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights, a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, 12.3-inch touchscreen multimedia system with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a 5.0-inch climate control screen, synthetic leather upholstery and heated front seats.

However, for almost $40,000 before on-road costs this K4 misses out on a wireless charger and it has a plastic steering wheel instead of a leather- or synthetic leather-wrapped unit.

Beyond this, the K4 Sport+ comes with the entire active safety suite including autonomous emergency braking (AEB), blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, adaptive cruise control with lane centring and lane change assist, plus front and rear parking sensors and a reversing camera. Strangely a surround-view camera isn't offered across the line-up.

There are also seven airbags, an emergency SOS calling function, plus ISOFIX child-seat anchorages on the two outboard rear seats and top-tether points on all rear seats.

Like all Kias, the K4 is covered by a seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty. This is now becoming standard among mainstream carmakers.

Servicing is required every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever comes first. The first seven services cost a total of $3883, which averages out to $554 per service. This isn’t cheap and you’ll pay less for servicing an equivalent Hyundai i30 or Toyota Corolla Hybrid.