Kia, now with more "The Power to Surprise!"

In the eyes of many consumers, companies like Loius Vuitton, Maserati and Apple stand at the top of their respective industries.  Besides building premium products, their names seem to roll off the tongue, connoting more to buyers than the sum of their products’ parts.  Kia is not one of these brands.  Its name is more akin to a tribal battle shriek than something that brings to mind luxury and exclusivity.  Nonetheless, the South Korean upstart has come unimaginably far in the past decade and is poised for serious growth in the next.

Saltier than soy-soaked salo.

Under the microscope this week is the Forte, Kia’s newest compact sedan.  Taking over small car duty from the company’s middling Spectra, it doesn’t have to earn a Ph.D. to surpass the accomplishments of its predecessor; a GED is more than sufficient.  Bargain hunters can rejoice, the Forte has graduated from high school and is applying at in-state colleges.

Uncharacteristically for an Asian car, it exudes good taste from the moment you steal a glimpse.  Its body is cleanly chiseled and nicely proportioned, well, as nicely proportioned as a front-wheel-drive car can be.  In this segment the design is near poetry, especially compared to rivals like the Honda Civic, which looks like it was sketched on the back of a Wendy’s receipt during a bad acid-trip.  It’s a shame though that the Forte’s eloquent verses turn into restroom graffiti when you put it in motion, but more on that later.

The car owes its look to Peter Schreyer, a former Audi designer.  How Kia was able to wheedle him away from the Germans is not known, but it probably involved promises of fame and fortune, and maybe hunks of cheese.  Hell, I’d make the move for some good Muenster.  Either way, he’s injected the company’s c-segment offering with perhaps a little more style than it deserves.  The Forte is a damn-fine looking compact car, especially in corsa blue.  It reaches a level of design harmony the Japanese have yet to achieve.  Go Kia!

Killed In Action. Count 'em up, there are half a dozen.Inside the story’s much the same.  Understated elegance is the theme.  It’s comfortable front and rear and the ergonomics are good, as is the view out.  Nothing’s fancy, but everything works well and is solid – the operative word being solid.  The dashboard and doors are all made of of rigid plastic that’s harder than New Hampshire Granite.  This is typical for the class so you can’t really knock it, but something soft on top of the doors would be nice.  Overall the assembly and materials quality is good.

Unfortunately when you put the works in motion the blossom withers.  My test car was equipped with the up-level 2.4-liter inline-four.  It delivers an impressive 173 horsepower and 168 pound-feet of torque.  Wed to a six-speed manual transmission it has all the trappings of a fun little car, but someone dropped the recipe card in a rain puddle on their walk back from the mailbox and the ink ran.  Kia improvised the illegible parts of the formula and got things terribly wrong.

Mediocrity at its finest.The powertrain is fine from NVH, fuel economy and output standpoints.  It’s not a world-beater, but it’s by no means crap, either.  The problem I had with the engine is that it’s absolutely the slowest to build revs that I’ve ever driven.  Don’t even think about speed-matching a downshift; the Forte will have none of it.  Even with a massive jab of the accelerator pedal – like pushing your foot through the fire wall and holding it there – the engine’s always spinning waaaaaay too slow for a smooth gear change.  Here’s my assessment of the problem:

A)   The flywheel is too heavy (around 700 pounds in my estimation).

B)   Kia got a screaming deal on concrete and decided to make pistons out of it.

C)   Aware of Toyota’s electronic throttle problems, the company wanted to make sure no one ever had an issue with unintended acceleration in the Forte.

D)   Vis a vis fuel economy and/or emissions, engineers decided to make the engine unwilling to cooperate in rowdy behavior.  The 8,000 RPM tachometer is hopelessly optimistic.

If I were a betting man I’d wager on number “D,” but “B” seems like a distinct possibility.  As maddening as I found the throttle response there was something even more infuriating about driving the Forte.  I could not, for the life of me, execute a smooth up shift.  I can absolutely rip through the gears in my Focus, shifting smoother than clotted cream, but no matter what I tried in the Kia, I couldn’t do it.  I tested every combination I could think of, shifting slowly, shifting quickly, varying my use of the accelerator and clutch pedals.  But it didn’t matter; the result was always the same, embarrassing whiplash and a bruised ego.  Here’s my assessment of this problem:

A)   A massive temporal disturbance ripped through space-time and I was transported to a bizarre, yet familiar parallel universe where up is down, left is right, penguins can fly, yesterday is purple and I can’t drive a stick.

B)   The car is suffering from some sort of mechanical malady, possibly a glitch in its electronic throttle.

C)   In a misguided attempt to quell noise, vibration and harshness, engineers fitted it with motor mounts that are waaaaay too soft, leading to enormous amounts of driveline windup as the engine and transmission flop around under the hood. 

D)   I really can’t drive a stick.

I’m leaning toward “B,” but I haven’t ruled out “A” yet.  Aside from the powertrain, the rest of the Forte’s on-road manners are very agreeable.  The steering is hefty and the on-center response is sharp. There’s no delay from when you crank the wheel to when the car starts turning.  Alert handling like this usually translates to twitchy and darty, but the Forte is neither.

See, what'd I tell you? It looks nice in there.As for the suspension, it provides a very middle-of-the-road ride, falling evenly between firm and flabby.  It absorbs impacts from Michigan’s Belarus-grade roads like a luffa, but surprisingly the car doesn’t float around while hustling through turns.  One downside to the chassis though is that larger impacts can cause the backend to shimmy from side to side.  Bumbsteer is a consequence of the crude torsion beam supporting the rear of the vehicle.  Stepping up from this rickshaw-grade piece of hardware would probably make the car even more fun to drive but add to the bottom line.  One final gripe has to do with the brakes.  They work just fine, but the pedal is touchier than Father Flannigan after choir practice.  Be careful when reining her in or you’ll find yourself stopping car lengths short of where you intended.

One thing that impressed me about this test car was its solidity.  It was free of squeaks, rattles or other extraneous noises.  Several months ago I drove an entry-level Forte that was fitted with the base 2.0-liter engine and a four-speed automatic transmission – an absolutely dreadful combination by the way.  It vibrated like a wand massager and could barely outperform a half-charged supermarket mobility scooter.  But worse than the acceleration, the assembly quality of the car was atrocious.  The suspension clunked, the exhaust rattled against the underbody Why yes, those tires do suck in the snow.and various interior panels delivered a symphony of creaks and squeaks.  Fortunately this time around the Forte was rock solid.  FYI, if you’re picking one up double-check that it’s screwed together properly.

Speaking of buying one, the base model starts around $14,000.  With power everything and leather seats, my SX test car stickered for right around 20 grand – not a bad deal for one of the sharpest-looking cars in its class.  If the Forte fits your budget and suits your style, there are no glaring reasons not to get one.  It’s fine basic transportation, but even though I’m a relentless advocate for the manual transmission I implore you to get the automatic.  You’ll sidestep untold aggravation and trips to the ER for whiplash injuries.

- Craig

Photos: Ben Sanders