2015 Kia K900: For Whom The Bell Tolls

It takes courage to go against the grain, and when it comes to the automotive business it requires even more guts to spend a substantial amount of money in the process.  After decades of well-heeled customers being told how much they should spend to achieve vehicular nirvana, Kia has dared to drop the bomb that maybe top-level luxury doesn’t have to come with a price tag reflecting one hundred years of carefully-groomed marketing heritage.  The name spray-painted on the side of the bunker buster in question?  The 2015 Kia K900.

This full-size sedan dares to position itself alongside established European offerings from Mercedes-Benz and Audi and simultaneously crow its dominance over the likes of Lexus and Acura, all while bearing a sticker that dramatically undercuts every other player.  The K900 isn’t intended to be an overnight success, either – think of this Kia as the nicest set of training wheels you’ll ever see, guiding the collective unconscious towards a very different luxury future.

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Ready For Prime Time

That’s not to say that the 2015 Kia K900 hasn’t come out of the gate hard.  From its long and wide exterior proportions, to its finely-jewelled headlights, to its spaciously-carved passenger compartment, the K900 fits every inch of the modern luxury sedan mould.  The car’s attention to detail and ability to ride the outer edge of the conservative design languages that dominate the large car sphere make an excellent first impression, but you’ll be even more delighted by what’s waiting inside.  Kia has clearly spared little expense in putting together a cabin that features fine-quality materials throughout, particularly when examining the leather on the seats as well as the plastics used on the vehicle’s various buttons and dials.  There’s also hectares of leg room to be found at the rear of the car, accented by the ability to order a reclining feature for the aft section.

Swag For The Buck

The version of the car I drove also featured a full load of features, although to be honest the Kia K900 is generously equipped even when discussing the base model.  Standard gear includes items such as heated seats front and rear (with cooling for those riding in the first two positions), three zones of automatic climate control, and a front and rear camera system.  An LCD gauge cluster that offered different display modes depending on whether the car was set to Sport or Normal via the console-mounted button was well-executed, and the car’s large LCD display on the center stack provided a high resolution look at the navigation screen and entertainment features.  Unfortunately, the rotary dial used to interact with the radio and stereo system wasn’t nearly as responsive as I would have preferred – a rare ergonomic misstep for Kia.  Safety is of course a going concern in the sedan, with lane departure warning, a blind spot monitoring system, and forward collision warning all present and accounted for in the model I piloted.

Power To Spare

The 420 horsepower, 5.0-litre V8 engine found under the hood of my tester will be familiar to anyone who has driven the Hyundai Equus or Hyundai Genesis full-size sedans, each of which share the same basic platform as the K900.  With 376 lb-ft of torque also on tap from this motor, there’s no doubting the Kia’s credentials with the go-pedal down, and the car answered the call of my right foot with impressive acceleration in all situations.  Nearly transparent is the vehicle’s eight-speed automatic transmission, a gearbox that is well-suited to managing the K900’s output with speed and efficiency.  Rear-wheel drive is standard with the sedan, which helps inform its stable and smooth driving dynamics, but the absence of an all-wheel drive option will no doubt send some luxury customers looking elsewhere.  If performance is less of a concern, there’s a 3.8-litre V6 (311 horsepower) available with the base edition of the automobile.

Comfortable Competence

It would be a mistake to assign the 2015 Kia K900 any sporting qualities it simply doesn’t posses.  The full-size sedan has been tuned to provide comfort first and stability second, and while the previously-mentioned Sport mode does offer crisper gear changes along with increased steering effort, the K900 is a car that is best enjoyed for the relaxing and confident way it smoothes over rough pavement like a knife spreading creamy peanut butter on your morning toast. I was quite taken with the ride delivered by the Kia, and it’s clear that cars like the Lexus LS are now playing catch-up when it comes to refining their respective road-going isolation bubbles.

Blue Chip Leanings, Blue Plate Pricing

The Kia K900 isn’t going to set sales records, nor is its $50,000 entry-level price tag likely to scythe its way through a premium car scene littered with full-size sedans costing more than twice as much.  What it is going to do, however, is plant a seed in the minds of premium car shoppers that this Korean company is capable of marrying the words luxury and value together without producing crassly-executed offspring.  From the smallest acorn grows the mightiest oak, so they say – and the K900 shows just how willing Kia is to play the long game in its bid to break into the high end segment.