Kia K5-GT LINE Parts By Evilla Motorsports

 

Due to the Pandemic causing so many issues in manufacturing, supplies, and overall delays across the board we have been on pause in terms of development. Happy to say we are now back at it, starting with the new 2022 Kia K5 GT-Line.

The model we are using for development is unfortunately not the GT but we are happy to to at least start with the K5 Chassis as both the base and GT models share the same chassis overall minus a few changes here and there. This model carries the 1.6 Turbo model which is the same power plant for the Kia Forte GT. It offers good power, good mileage, overall we are happy with it but noticed it was a little too quiet. We inspected the vehicle and looked for opportunities of improvement and here is what we found.

Kia K5 GT-Line Engine bay

One of the most common areas that the car flexes is the engine bar and particularly the strut towers since they absorb a majority of the load from the suspension. To help reinforce this area we made a strut bar that connect both points and positioned it were there is access to the intake and brake filler reservoir. Kia thankfully left good room for a strut bar in the K5 as some other model the fitment car be very tight or require trimming of the plastic. In this case its very similar to the Forte Gt where it drops right in and bolts right up.

Kia K5 GT-Line Rear Suspension

One of the normal engineered areas that are always great for normal driving but not for sport is the rear suspension. Often times it came be too soft if not too and feel like floaty during hard cornering. For the K5 the immediate solution is an upgraded rear sway bar. The OEM bar is measured at 17mm which is a good standard rate but too soft if you are looking for a little more. So we upgraded the rear bar to solid 19mm bar with dual adjustments to maximize the bars efficiency and offer a little more stiffness than just one setting.

Kia K5 GT-Line Exhaust

Kia has always had a quiet exhaust, and the K5 is no exceptions. Unfortunately they have made their designs a little difficult for those that want to add a little more noise to their ride. After careful observation we found the Kia Made the exhaust into 3 pieces. The standard downpipe followed by what seems like a smaller midpipe almost like a test pipe and lastly the axleback which extended all the way towards the center of the car. The axle back is all one piece so unlike our standard approach we will be needing to make some changes which will be similar to our midpipe design. Although we wont be offering tips for the GT-Line because of the over all design, we can add additional muffler options which so far are Our Sport Series, Magnaflow, and Flowmaster. Overall, we expect a good sound, while not affecting emissions, and not breaking the bank as we estimate similar exhausts will run around $450-USD easily while ours will be well below that.

Overall, the Kia K5 GT-LINE is a good looking car with a lot to offer in terms of tech, comfort, for a reasonable price. We took a quick peak and upgraded things that we ourselves would enjoy on the car to give just a little more fun factor for the driver in us. We added a Strut bar to help with chassis flex and steering feel, a rear sway bar for better handling and an axle back for some good sound while not causing a check engine light. Depending on how customers feel and respond to our parts may decide if we will continue to build fun stuff like a full cat back, and other bracing that we found would be a plus for the car.