Compare the2025 Honda CivicVS 2025 Kia K5

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Honda Civic have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Kia K5 doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

The Honda Civic has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The K5 doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.

Using vehicle speed sensors and seat sensors, smart airbags in the Civic deploy with different levels of force or don’t deploy at all to help better protect passengers of all sizes in different collisions. The Civic’s side airbags will shut off if a child is leaning against the door. The K5’s side airbags don’t have smart features and will always deploy full force.

Both the Civic and the K5 have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front and rear side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, 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, driver alert monitors, available blind spot warning systems, rear parking sensors and rear cross-path warning.

The Honda Civic has achieved the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) highest rating of “Top Safety Pick Plus” for the 2024 model year. This distinction is based on its exceptional performance in IIHS’ rigorous battery of safety tests. Specifically, it earned an “Acceptable” rating in the latest, more stringent moderate overlap front crash test, a “Good” result in the updated side impact test, and an “Acceptable” score in the revised pedestrian crash prevention test. The K5 has not yet been evaluated by the IIHS for 2024.

The Civic’s 5 year corrosion warranty has no mileage limitations, but the corrosion warranty on the K5 runs out after 100,000 miles.

There are over 35 percent more Honda dealers than there are Kia dealers, which makes it easier should you ever need service under the Civic’s warranty.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2024 Auto Issue reports that Honda vehicles are more reliable than Kia vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Honda 5 places higher in reliability than Kia.

The Civic Hybrid’s standard 2.0 DOHC 4-cylinder hybrid produces 9 more horsepower (200 vs. 191) and 51 lbs.-ft. more torque (232 vs. 181) than the K5’s standard 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder.

On the EPA test cycle the Civic Sedan gets better mileage than the K5:

On the EPA test cycle the Civic Hatchback gets better mileage than the K5:

Regenerative brakes improve the Civic Hybrid’s fuel efficiency by converting inertia back into energy instead of wasting it. The K5 doesn’t offer a regenerative braking system.

Regardless of its engine, the Civic’s engine automatically turns off when the vehicle is stopped, saving fuel and reducing pollution. If the conditions warrant or the driver wishes, the system can be manually disabled at any time for the duration of a trip (not available Hybrid). Kia only offers an automatic engine start/stop system on the K5 LX, and doesn’t offer a disable button.

The Civic has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The K5 doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

The Civic has a standard continuously variable transmission (CVT). With no “steps” between gears, it can keep the engine at the most efficient speed for fuel economy, or keep it at its peak horsepower indefinitely for maximum acceleration. The K5 doesn’t offer a CVT.

The Civic stops shorter than the K5:

For better traction, the Civic has larger standard tires than the K5 (215/55R16 vs. 205/65R16).

The Civic LX Sedan’s standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 55 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the K5 LXS’ standard 65 series tires.

The Civic Sport Sedan handles at .87 G’s, while the K5 GT pulls only .86 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

The Honda Civic may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 300 to 350 pounds less than the Kia K5.

The Civic Sedan is 1 foot, 2.1 inches shorter than the K5, making the Civic easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The Civic Hybrid uses computer-generated active noise cancellation to help remove annoying noise and vibration from the passenger compartment, especially at low frequencies. The K5 doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

The Civic’s front power windows 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 K5’s standard passenger windows don’t open or close automatically.

The Civic Sport Hybrid’s standard wipers speed up when the vehicle does, so that the driver doesn’t have to continually adjust the speed of the wipers and the Civic Sport Hybrid Touring’s standard wipers adjust their speed and turn on and off automatically according to the amount of rainfall on the windshield. The K5’s manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

The Honda Civic comes in sedan and four door hatchback bodystyles; the Kia K5 isn’t available as a four door hatchback.

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

The Civic was chosen as a Car and Driver’s “Top Ten” for 2024 and 9 more times in the last 40 years. The K5 has never been chosen by Car and Driver in their “10Best” issue.

The Honda Civic outsold the Kia K5 by over three to one during 2023.