People have been asking me the same question for years - What are you driving this week? Well, it's time I start answering that question right here. Today is my first day behind the wheel of the Kia Forte. The Forte was introduced as a 2009 model to replace the Spectra in Kia's lineup. My tester is a 20110 EX.
The Forte is Kia's newest sedan and competes in the compact class against, among many others, the Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, Mazda Three and Ford Focus. Kia's strategy here is to offer a package with crisp, distinctive styling on the outside, an abundance of room for four adults inside, a lengthy list of desireable standard features, and decent performance with excellent fuel economy, all at an iminently affordable price.
My daily commute is 38-miles each way, with a combination of two-lane rural highways, crowded suburban four-lanes, and Washington, D.C.'s downtown drive-time rumble-on-the-road. There are 86 stop lights (I know because I counted them early on, out of frustration), and lots of left-lane hoggers.
First impression of the Forte is that it has adequate power from a 153 horsepower, 2.0 liter four mated to a four-speed automatic tranny (some cost-saving there), but there is a fair amount of engine thrash. It's muted, but it's there.
The interior is spacious for a compact sedan, but the EX leather package on the option sheet lists for a thousand smackers, which seem steep. The exterior shape is attractive, though perhaps a bit anonymous, with obvious Mazda and VW design influences.
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