It’s no shame to admit just how far some brands have come these days and none of them seem to be as ambitious as the Hyundai-Kia group. Despite their previous reputation for building economy cars, the company is now making premium cars capable of hanging with the best of them. Their efforts are showing too, sales being rather good for both companies. Now, models like the Kia K5 GT can finally take on established cars, like BMWs and Mercedes-Benz models and you might be surprised of the results.
The video below shows how a Kia K5 GT and a BMW 330i xDrive compare on a drag strip. It may not be the most exciting drag race we’ve ever seen but it may be more relevant to a wider audience than the classic M5 vs E63 AMG comparison. That’s because these cars are actually affordable. So, how do the two compare, spec-wise.
Well, the BMW 330i xDrive comes with a 2-liter, four-cylinder turbocharged mill under the hood, good for 255 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque. That power is then sent to all four corners of the car via an eight-speed automatic gearbox and this combo should allow it to reach 60 mph from standstill in 5.3 seconds. That’s fast enough for most days and needs, but the Kia K5 GT has even better specs. It uses a 2.5-liter four-cylinder turbo engine good for 290 horsepower and 311 lb-ft of torque. It also uses an eight-speed gearbox but a dual-clutch one and has only front-wheel drive.
That may give the BMW the upper hand from a standstill but, the Kia K5 GT is also lighter by some 200 lbs and the extra power should turn it into a proper challenger for the BMW, right? Well, we’d say challenger might be right, as the Kia actually manages to beat the BMW on several occasions, especially in the rolling runs, where the all-wheel drive advantage of the 330i is nullified.
