Compare the2024 Kia K5VS 2023 Honda Civic

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Transmission
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Servicing Ease
Ergonomics
Recommendations

Safety

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Both the K5 and Civic have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The K5 EX/GT offers optional 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 Civic’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 1.6T offers all-wheel drive to maximize traction under poor conditions, especially in ice and snow. The Civic doesn’t offer all-wheel drive.

The K5 EX/GT offers an optional Surround View Monitor to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Civic only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the K5 has standard Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Warning and Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist automatically engages the brakes to help avoid a collision. Only the Civic Touring/Sport Touring offers Cross Traffic Monitor and the Civic’s Cross Traffic Monitor does not include automatic braking.

The K5 offers optional 911 Connect, which uses a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver and a cellular system to send emergency personnel to the scene if any airbags deploy. The Civic doesn’t offer a GPS response system, only a navigation computer with no live response for emergencies, so if you’re involved in an accident and you’re incapacitated help may not come as quickly.

Both the K5 and the Civic have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front and rear side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras and driver alert monitors.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Kia K5 is safer than the Honda Civic:

	K5	Civic
	Driver
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	295	325
Neck Injury Risk	21%	30%
Neck Stress	180 lbs.	241 lbs.
Neck Compression	21 lbs.	23 lbs.
	Passenger
STARS	4 Stars	4 Stars
HIC	373	444
Neck Stress	147 lbs.	189 lbs.
Neck Compression	58 lbs.	61 lbs.
Leg Forces (l/r)	20/31 lbs.	275/164 lbs.

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

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 Honda Civic:

	K5	Civic
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	110	195
Abdominal Force	190 lbs.	286 lbs.
Hip Force	264 lbs.	286 lbs.
	Rear Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	202	268
Spine Acceleration	75 G’s	79 G’s
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Spine Acceleration	32 G’s	51 G’s
Hip Force	589 lbs.	805 lbs.

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

Warranty

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 Civic’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 Honda covers the Civic. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Coverage on the Civic ends after only 5 years or 60,000 miles.

Reliability

To reliably start during all conditions and help handle large electrical loads, the K5 has a standard 760-amp battery. The Civic’s 500-amp battery isn’t as powerful.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2023 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Kia vehicles are better in initial quality than Honda vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Kia above average in initial quality. With 20 more problems per 100 vehicles, Honda is rated lower.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the statistics that show that Kia vehicles are more reliable than Honda vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Kia first in reliability, above the industry average. With 85 more problems per 100 vehicles, Honda is ranked 24th.

Engine

The K5 1.6T’s standard 1.6 turbo 4-cylinder produces 22 more horsepower (180 vs. 158) and 57 lbs.-ft. more torque (195 vs. 138) than the Civic Sport’s standard 2.0 DOHC 4-cylinder. The K5 1.6T’s 1.6 turbo 4-cylinder produces 18 lbs.-ft. more torque (195 vs. 177) than the Civic EX/EX-L/Touring’s standard 1.5 turbo 4-cylinder. The K5 GT 2.5T’s standard 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 110 more horsepower (290 vs. 180) and 134 lbs.-ft. more torque (311 vs. 177) than the Civic EX/EX-L/Touring’s standard 1.5 turbo 4-cylinder.

As tested in Car and Driver the Kia K5 is faster than the Honda Civic:

	K5 1.6T	K5 GT 2.5T	Civic Sport	Civic EX/EX-L/Touring
Zero to 60 MPH	7 sec	5.1 sec	8.8 sec	7.5 sec
5 to 60 MPH Rolling Start	7.4 sec	5.5 sec	9.1 sec	8.1 sec
Quarter Mile	15.5 sec	13.7 sec	16.9 sec	15.8 sec
Speed in 1/4 Mile	92 MPH	106 MPH	86 MPH	91 MPH
Top Speed	128 MPH	12 MPH	125 MPH	126 MPH

Fuel Economy and Range

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Kia K5 uses regular unleaded gasoline. The Civic EX/EX-L/Touring requires premium for maximum efficiency, which can cost on average about 82.8 cents more per gallon.

The K5 has 3.4 gallons more fuel capacity than the Civic (15.8 vs. 12.4 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

Transmission

The K5 offers an available sequential manual gearbox (SMG). With no clutch pedal to worry about and a fully automatic mode, an SMG is more internally efficient than a CVT but just as easy to drive. The Civic doesn’t offer an SMG.

Brakes and Stopping

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

	K5	K5 GT	Civic
Front Rotors	12 inches	13.6 inches	11.1 inches
Rear Rotors	11.2 inches	12.8 inches	10.2 inches

The K5 stops shorter than the Civic:

	K5	Civic
70 to 0 MPH	172 feet	176 feet	Car and Driver
60 to 0 MPH	116 feet	124 feet	Motor Trend

Tires and Wheels

For better traction, the K5 GT’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Civic (245/40R19 vs. 235/40R18).

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

Suspension and Handling

The K5 has standard front and rear gas-charged shocks for better control over choppy roads. The Civic’s suspension doesn’t offer gas-charged shocks.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the K5’s wheelbase is 4.5 inches longer than on the Civic (112.2 inches vs. 107.7 inches).

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the K5 is 3.1 inches wider in the front and 2.3 inches wider in the rear than the average track on the Civic.

The K5 GT-Line AWD handles at .86 G’s, while the Civic Touring Sedan pulls only .82 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The K5 GT executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 1.6 seconds quicker than the Civic Sport Sedan (26.3 seconds @ .69 average G’s vs. 27.9 seconds @ .6 average G’s).

For better maneuverability, the K5’s turning circle is .1 feet tighter than the Civic EX/EX-L’s (36 feet vs. 36.1 feet). The K5’s turning circle is 2.1 feet tighter than the Civic Sport/Touring’s (36 feet vs. 38.1 feet).

Chassis

As tested by Car and Driver, the interior of the K5 EX is quieter than the Civic Sport Sedan:

	K5	Civic
70 MPH Cruising	67 dB	72 dB

Passenger Space

Because it has more passenger and cargo room, the EPA rates the K5 a Large car, while the Civic is rated a Mid-size.

The K5 has 6.3 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Civic (105.3 vs. 99).

The K5 has .9 inches more front headroom, 3.8 inches more front legroom, 2.3 inches more front hip room, 1 inch more front shoulder room, .7 inches more rear headroom, 7.7 inches more rear hip room and .1 inches more rear shoulder room than the Civic.

Cargo Capacity

The K5 has a much larger trunk than the Civic Sedan (16 vs. 14.8 cubic feet).

The K5’s standard folding rear seats are split to accommodate bulky cargo. The Civic Sport Sedan’s standard single piece folding rear seat is not as flexible; long cargo and a passenger can’t share the rear seat.

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

Servicing Ease

The K5 uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Civic 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.

Ergonomics

When two different drivers share the K5 EX/GT, the optional memory seats and mirrors make it convenient for both. Each setting activates different, customized memories for the driver’s seat position and outside mirror angle. The Civic doesn’t offer a memory system.

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 Civic doesn’t offer an easy entry system.

The power windows standard on both the K5 and the Civic 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 Civic prevents the driver from operating the other windows just as it does the other passengers.

The K5 EX/GT’s optional front and rear power windows all open or close fully with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside the car. The Civic’s rear power window switches have to be held the entire time to open or close them fully.

The K5’s power window, power lock, power mirror and cruise control switches are lit from behind, making them plainly visible and easier to operate at night. The Civic’s passenger power window switches are unlit, making them difficult to find at night and operate safely.

The K5’s variable intermittent wipers have an adjustable delay to allow the driver to choose a setting that best clears the windshield during light rain or mist. The Civic Sport’s standard fixed intermittent wipers only have one fixed delay setting, so the driver will have to manually switch them between slow and intermittent.

The K5’s standard outside mirrors include heating elements to clear off the mirrors for better visibility. Honda only offers heated mirrors on the Civic EX/EX-L/Touring/Sport Touring.

Optional air-conditioned seats in the K5 (except LXS/GT-Line) keep the driver and front passenger comfortable and take the sting out of hot seats in Summer. The Civic doesn’t offer air-conditioned seats.

On extremely cold winter days, the K5’s optional (except LXS) heated steering wheel provides comfort, allowing the driver to steer safely and comfortably before the car heater warms up. The Civic doesn’t offer a heated steering wheel.

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 Civic EX/EX-L/Touring/Sport Touring.

Both the K5 and the Civic offer rear vents. For greater rear passenger comfort, the K5 EX/GT has standard rear air conditioning vents to keep rear occupants cool in summer or warm in winter. The Civic doesn’t offer rear air conditioning vents, only heat vents.

Recommendations

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

J.D. Power and Associates rated the K5 first among midsize cars in owner reported satisfaction. This includes how well the vehicle performs and satisfies its owner’s expectations. The Civic isn’t in the top three in its category.

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