Most eyes agree that Kia’s new luxury flagship is smartly styled and presents a very professional, sharp and even fashionable appearance. The 2015 Kia K900 decidedly upscale looking and gets attention wherever it goes.
Stand out elements are its multiple cluster LED headlamps with 16 individual bulbs that follow your steering at night. Daytime running lights and fog lights are LED as well as the distinctive rear tail lamps out back.
It well fills up the parking space at Nordstrom because it’s wheelbase is long at 119”. That puts it up in the same category as the Lexus LS, BMW 7-Series, and Audi A8 in terms of size.
Where that stretch keeps the 2015 Kia K900 in keeping with those top-class cruisers is inside where the rear seat offers up legroom that is hard to beat. And pushing that envelope further at its price is how it coddles your rear passengers.
Our car as the VIP package offering them power reclining and sliding seats with heat and ventilation. There’s power lumbar support and adjustable headrests as well, all through an elegant control panel in the center armrest.
The driver gets their share of pampering too. Kia’s switchgear and design execution doesn’t come off pretentious or want to be at all. In fact, the wood trims, stitched leather and overall quality are the genuine article through and through.
Comfort of course is yours and the passengers with both getting memory settings. A panoramic roof lights up the otherwise dark black leather lined cabin, and the Lexicon sound system wakes your senses with sublime sound.
Using the UVO infotainment system through either the console mounted puck or center stack buttons took me about a week to learn. It’s not as intuitive as you might like for simple functions like setting your favorite stations in presets for example.
Once you get the hang of it, the system offers a lot of services, custom abilities for your settings, and the navigation directives work well. It’s just the learning curve that is a little steep.
Power from the 2015 Kia K900 5.0 liter V8 comes on with a refined and dignified purr. The V8 offers you 420 horsepower delivered through a smooth shifting 8-speed automatic transmission. It has direct fuel injection which means while its smooth as silk on the drive, it’s a little noisy at idle.
The power-train and chassis offer up drive modes Eco, Normal and Sport. Normal is best. Eco makes the car feel lethargic and Sport is almost a little overkill with the rev matched shifting and a high revving behavior that just doesn’t fit this car’s personality well.
Ride is exceptionally quiet and smooth. If I had a complaint is that it’s a bit more fluffy than I’d like with a tad bit of float at times. Steering also seems to pull and tug at road imperfections and undulations as if it needs a little more tuning.
With those drive mode abilities, you can stiffen up the steering feel too. But the Kia K900 seems to be best in its element in laid back cruiser mode. It delivers its best taking it easy and relaxing on the highway or about town making if feel more Lincoln or Lexus rather than BMW or Audi.
In that realm, its driver assistance aids which included adaptive cruise control, lane and blind spot minders, and forward collision warnings worked well. Best of all they could be turned off if you prefer not to have the nanny on your back at all times.
The EPA rates the 2015 Kia K900 at 15 mpg city and 23 mpg highway with a combined rating of 18 mpg. We actually achieved a bit higher at 19 mpg combined which didn’t take a lot of work to do.
