Compare the2025 Kia K4VS 2025 MINI Cooper Hardtop 4 Door

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Kia K4 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 MINI Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Kia K4 are height-adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages passengers to buckle up. The MINI Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer height-adjustable seat belts.

Both the K4 and the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front and rear side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front wheel drive, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, rearview cameras, driver alert monitors, available blind spot warning systems, around view monitors and rear cross-path warning.

The K4 comes with a full 5-year/60,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire car and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door’s 4-year/50,000-mile basic warranty expires 1 year or 10,000 miles sooner.

Kia’s powertrain warranty covers the K4 6 years and 50,000 miles longer than MINI covers the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Coverage on the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door ends after only 4 years or 50,000 miles.

There are almost 8 times as many Kia dealers as there are MINI dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the K4’s warranty.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2024 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Kia vehicles are better in initial quality than MINI vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Kia fourth in initial quality, above the industry average. With 19 more problems per 100 vehicles, MINI is ranked 11th.

The K4 GT-Line Turbo’s standard 1.6 turbo 4-cylinder produces 29 more horsepower (190 vs. 161) and 11 lbs.-ft. more torque (195 vs. 184) than the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door’s standard 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder.

On the EPA test cycle the K4 gets better mileage than the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door:

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Kia K4 uses regular unleaded gasoline. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door requires premium for maximum efficiency, which can cost on average about 84.9 cents more per gallon.

An eight-speed automatic is standard on the Kia K4 GT-Line Turbo, for better acceleration and lower engine speed on the highway. Only a seven-speed automatic is available for the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door.

The K4 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 Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer a CVT.

For better traction, the K4 GT-Line’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door (235/40R18 vs. 215/45R17).

The K4 has a standard space-saver spare tire so you can replace a flat tire and drive to have the flat repaired or replaced. A spare tire isn’t available on the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door; it requires you to depend on roadside assistance and your vehicle will have to be towed.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the K4’s wheelbase is 6 inches longer than on the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door (107.1 inches vs. 101.1 inches).

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the K4 is 3.1 inches wider in the front and 3.4 inches wider in the rear than the track on the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door.

The K4 has .9 inches more front legroom, .5 inches more front hip room, 5.3 inches more front shoulder room, 5.7 inches more rear legroom and 4.9 inches more rear shoulder room than the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door.

To make loading groceries and cargo easier when your hands are full, the K4’s trunk can be opened just by waiting momentarily behind the back bumper, leaving your hands completely free. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer a hands-free gesture to open its liftgate, forcing you to put cargo down if your hands are full.

The K4’s standard Smart Key allows you to unlock the doors from either front door handle, open the trunk, and start the engine, all without removing the key from the pocket or purse. start/stop switch standard on the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door only offers hands-free access for the ignition, none to unlock the car.

To shield the driver and front passenger’s vision over a larger portion of the windshield and side windows, the K4 EX/GT-Line has standard extendable sun visors. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer extendable visors.

Optional air-conditioned seats in the K4 GT-Line keep the driver and front passenger comfortable and take the sting out of hot seats in Summer. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer air-conditioned seats.

The K4 GT-Line has a standard center folding armrest for the rear passengers. A center armrest helps make rear passengers more comfortable and it can provide a boundary between children. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer a rear seat center armrest.

To keep a safe, consistent following distance, the K4 has a standard Smart Cruise Control, which alters the speed of the vehicle without driver intervention. This allows the driver to use cruise control more safely without constantly having to disengage it when approaching slower traffic. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer an adaptive cruise control.

Compared to the MINI Cooper Hardtop 4 Door, the Kia K4 eliminates the need for separate garage door openers and associated risks of losing, breaking, or having dead batteries with its optional integrated Homelink® universal remote controlled from the rear view mirror.

The Kia K4 outsold the MINI Cooper Hardtop 4 Door by almost 9 to one during 2024.