Kia K2500

As expected, there are not many surprises in the cabin of the Kia K2500, which looks as simple and basic as its exterior. The cabin here gets an all-black layout for the dashboard and inner door panels, with decent fit and finish levels all over.

Behind a two-spoke steering wheel, the Kia K2500 has a very basic instrument console with an all-analog layout, which houses only the basic dials. The wraparound design of the dashboard, which also engulfs the instrument console, feels practical to live with, as all the controls are placed in easy reach of the driver. The centre console of the dashboard of the Kia K2500 misses out on a proper audio system, though there is a provision where one can retrofit an aftermarket unit. There are three rounded dials for the AC controls below the provision panel of the audio system.

Despite being a small cabin, the front row of the Kia K2500 has decent room for three people abreast, as the centre armrest also folds up to become an additional seat as and when needed. While there is no factory-fitted audio system, the Kia K2500 does come with two speakers, apart from power windows and a glove box.

The Kia K2500 has been on sale in the global markets for a very long time now, and in all these years, the basic design of this compact pickup truck has remained more or less unchanged. The design of the Kia K2500 looks basic and old-school and might appear dated to many people. However, for the purpose it has been designed and engineered, the Kia K2500 looks decent and easy to the eyes.

The simplistic-looking front profile of the Kia K2500 has a slim design for the Kia’s trademark ‘tiger-nose’ grille, which has slim chrome surrounds and is flanked by large trapezoidal headlamp clusters with rounded outer edges. The headlamps placed on the lower corners of the front fascia have a blacked-out theme. The front bumper has horizontally-wide air dams in the middle, while also having provisions for the fog lamps on the corners.

The simplistic approach in the design is carried forward in the side profile of the Kia K2500 too, with this small pickup truck having a prominent curve over the front wheels. Here, the steel wheels on offer do not come with plastic wheel caps. The Kia K2500 also has curved shoulder lines with pillar-mounted blacked rearview mirrors and blacked-out door handles with a unique vertical arrangement. While the single cab versions have a larger open deck at the back, the double cab version gets additional doors with black door handles, with both versions having rectangular tail lamps placed on the corners of the rear bumper.

Like the overall design, the mechanical setup under the skin of the Kia K2500 also looks very plain but purposeful. This rugged small pickup truck has a suspension setup of a torsion bar spring at the front and a multi-leaf spring setup at the rear. With R15 tyres having 195mm section width, the Kia K2500 is a proper workhorse with appreciable load-carrying capacity, though body roll and bounciness in the ride quality are concerns one has to deal with while driving it.

Powering all the variants of the Kia K2500 is a 2.5-litre four-cylinder diesel engine, which is one of the most old-school and reliable engines on offer from Kia. Paired with a 6-speed manual transmission, this four-cylinder diesel engine produces a maximum power output of 130 PS and a peak torque output of 255 Nm.

The Kia K2500 misses out on modern safety features like airbags and ABS but is equipped with basic three-point seat belts which help the cabin occupants to remain safe in the event of a crash.

For its purpose as a load-carrying vehicle, the Kia K2500 has a very impressive diesel engine, which is reliable and tractable, while the rugged mechanical underpinnings further make it a heavy-duty vehicle for its size.