3rd Place: Kia Forte
Introduced as a replacement for the forgettable Spectra, at the time, the Forte was a dramatic leap forward for the Korean contender. The formerly bold styling of the Forte has been overshadowed by more radical looks from Kia (in particular the new Optima and the freshly redesigned Rio). However this car still has a lot to offer. (In fact, on Top Gear, this is their current "Reasonably Priced Car", which Kia sells in the UK as the Cee'd).
While the baseline car starts off at $15,200, you do get quite a lot for your money.
A 156 horsepower, 2.0 liter engine, for example.
A digital radio that is XM ready.
USB and Aux input jacks, and Bluetooth for those of us who live in hands-free states.
Plus, I am a big fan of how the cockpit is laid out.
Seen here in EX trim guise (mid-range, in Kia Marketing parlance), the interior has a contemporary, if slightly busy layout. Most of the steering-wheel mounted controls are thumb mounted, which is handy (see what I did there?). Plus, the Aux and USB mounts I mentioned earlier are mounted on a shelf directly in front of the shifter, as well as two cigarette-lighter/power outlets.
One important thing any car company needs to work out is how they lay out their interior controls and gauges. Yes it's one thing to add mountains of horsepower to a car and give it a good suspension, but if your controls are unfathomable and difficult to operate, your average driver is going to have a hard time driving when they have to take their eyes off the road to see which button changes the radio.
One thing that I do like about this car is that it does seem to be made for the modern consumer in mind, and is planned out as such.
Plus, you have options as a buyer, and options are good. In addition to the regular sedan, the Forte is also available as a coupe (also, kleverly kalled the Koup) or a 5 door hatchback. Plus, the SX trim in all three boosts your horsepower up to 177, has optional leather, push-button ignition, smart key, sat-nav, and that starts at under $20k. With Leather (and heated front seats) and the sat-nav, you should ring the registers around $23k without incentives.
Having driven the EX, the car feels composed on the road, and road noise is fairly minimalistic. Cornering is relatively flat with little body roll. The shifter is a little sluggish, and online, a manual is only offered with the base LX trim (though the high-end SX trim has paddle shifters).
All in all, the Forte in all its iterations is a fairly solid buy for the average consumer, and bakes a lot into its value proposition for around $20k.
So why did it finish in third place?
I have to admit, it was really close for this. All of the Forte's aforementioned advantages really helped it move to the top three. However, its faults are what kept it from advancing higher.
For starters, the base trim doesn't come with power windows, locks or mirrors. I'm sorry, but this is 2012, for pity's sake. Is it that hard to put power windows on a car that is XM ready?
Second is the interior.
"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat?" I can hear you all asking, as you scroll up a few paragraphs to see where I praised the interior layout. "What is this madness?" you say, trying to see how I'm going to square this circle.
Well, just as important with the interior layout are the materials used, and I'm sorry, but there is nothing but stiff, hard plastic everywhere in this interior. Very little cloth abounds, and the plastics all have the consistency of a Rubbermaid trash can. Sadly, as well laid out as the interior is, it's not laid out well enough to disguise the fact that you're driving around in a tupperware container.
The fuel economy isn't much to write home about either, sadly.
In the end, what Kia have made is a well performing, handsome, and reasonably priced car. However, the car's faults kept it out of the top two. Still, it is definitely worth your time to look at.
Driver's Pick: Forte Koup SX. Avoid the LX trim, unless a stripped down version is your thing.
Can't argue with the Forte in this slot. I'll give 'em an A for effort, unfortunately that doesn't count for much when the execution only gets a C+.
ReplyDeleteThe saving grace is that KIA and Hyundai both seem to be pretty receptive to consumer comments. IF they can step up their game, they could have a pretty solid contender here.
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