Compare the2022 Kia K5VS 2022 Subaru Legacy

Both the K5 and Legacy have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The K5 EX Premium/GT-1 has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The Legacy’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.

The K5 EX Premium/GT-1 has a standard Surround View Monitor to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Legacy only offers a rear monitor.

Compared to metal, the K5’s plastic fuel tank can withstand harder, more intrusive impacts without leaking; this decreases the possibility of fire. The Subaru Legacy has a metal gas tank.

Both the K5 and the Legacy have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available all wheel drive, blind spot warning systems and rear cross-path warning.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Kia K5 is safer than the Subaru Legacy:

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

The K5 comes with a full 5-year/60,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire car and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The Legacy’s 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty expires 2 years or 24,000 miles sooner.

Kia’s powertrain warranty covers the K5 5 years and 40,000 miles longer than Subaru covers the Legacy. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Coverage on the Legacy ends after only 5 years or 60,000 miles.

There are over 20 percent more Kia dealers than there are Subaru dealers, which makes it easier should you ever need service under the K5’s warranty.

To reliably start during all conditions and help handle large electrical loads, the K5 has a standard 760-amp battery. The Legacy’s 620-amp battery isn’t as powerful.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2020 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Kia vehicles are better in initial quality than Subaru vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Kia first in initial quality, above the industry average. With 51 more problems per 100 vehicles, Subaru is ranked 27th, below the industry average.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2021 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Kia vehicles are more reliable than Subaru vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Kia third in reliability, above the industry average. With 28 more problems per 100 vehicles, Subaru is ranked 17th.

The K5 1.6T’s standard 1.6 turbo 4-cylinder produces 19 lbs.-ft. more torque (195 vs. 176) than the Legacy 2.5i’s standard 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder. The K5 GT 2.5T’s standard 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 30 more horsepower (290 vs. 260) and 34 lbs.-ft. more torque (311 vs. 277) than the Legacy XT’s standard 2.4 turbo 4-cylinder.

As tested in Consumer Reports the K5 1.6T 1.6 turbo 4-cylinder is faster than the Legacy 2.5i 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder:

On the EPA test cycle the K5 1.6T AWD gets better fuel mileage than the Legacy XT CVT turbo 4 cyl. (25 city/33 hwy vs. 24 city/32 hwy).

For better stopping power the K5 GT’s front brake rotors are larger than those on the Legacy:

The K5 stops much shorter than the Legacy:

For better traction, the K5 GT’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Legacy (245/40R19 vs. 225/55R17).

The K5 GT’s tires provide better handling because they have a lower 40 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Legacy Sport/Limited/Touring’s 50 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the K5 GT has standard 19-inch wheels. The Legacy’s largest wheels are only 18-inches.

The K5 has vehicle speed sensitive variable-assist power steering, for low-effort parking, better control at highway speeds and during hard cornering, and a better feel of the road. The Legacy doesn’t offer variable-assist power steering.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the K5’s wheelbase is 3.9 inches longer than on the Legacy (112.2 inches vs. 108.3 inches).

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the K5 is 1.6 inches wider in the front and .7 inches wider in the rear than the track on the Legacy.

The K5 GT-Line AWD handles at .86 G’s, while the Legacy Touring XT pulls only .78 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The K5 GT executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 2 seconds quicker than the Legacy Sport (26.3 seconds @ .69 average G’s vs. 28.3 seconds @ .59 average G’s).

For better maneuverability, the K5’s turning circle is .8 feet tighter than the Legacy’s (36 feet vs. 36.8 feet).

The Kia K5 may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 350 to 550 pounds less than the Subaru Legacy.

As tested by Car and Driver while cruising at 70 MPH, the interior of the K5 EX is quieter than the Legacy Sport (67 vs. 68 dB).

The K5 has .8 inches more front headroom, 3.3 inches more front legroom, 1.1 inches more front hip room, .5 inches more rear headroom and 1.8 inches more rear hip room than the Legacy.

The K5 has a larger trunk than the Legacy (16 vs. 15.1 cubic feet).

To make loading groceries and cargo easier when your hands are full, the K5 LXS/GT-Line/EX/GT’s trunk can be opened just by waiting momentarily behind the back bumper, leaving your hands completely free. The Legacy doesn’t offer a hands-free gesture to open its trunk, forcing you to put cargo down if your hands are full.

The K5 uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Legacy uses a prop rod to support its heavy hood. It takes two hands to open the hood and set the prop rod, the prop rod gets in the way during maintenance and service, and the prop rod could be knocked out, causing the heavy hood to fall on the person maintaining or servicing the car.

The K5 EX/GT’s optional easy entry system glides the driver’s seat back when the door is unlocked or the ignition is switched off, making it easier for the driver to get in and out. The Legacy doesn’t offer an easy entry system.

The power windows standard on both the K5 and the Legacy have locks to prevent small children from operating them. When the lock on the K5 is engaged the driver can still operate all of the windows, for instance to close one opened by a child. The Legacy prevents the driver from operating the other windows just as it does the other passengers.

Consumer Reports rated the K5’s headlight performance “Good,” a higher rating than the Legacy’s headlights, which were rated “Fair.”

The K5’s standard outside mirrors include heating elements to clear off the mirrors for better visibility. Subaru only offers heated mirrors on the Legacy Premium/Sport/Limited/Touring.

The K5 has a standard dual zone air conditioning allows the driver and front passenger to choose two completely different temperatures so people with different temperature preferences won’t have to compromise. This makes both the driver and front passenger as comfortable as possible. Dual zone air conditioning is only available on the Legacy Premium/Sport/Limited/Touring.

The K5 is available in both front-wheel drive and all-wheel drive configurations. The Legacy doesn’t offer a two-wheel drive configuration.

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Kia K5 and the Subaru Legacy, based on reliability, safety and performance.

Motor Trend performed a comparison test in its May 2021 issue and they ranked the Kia K5 GT-Line AWD higher than the Subaru Legacy Limited.