The 2010 Kia Forte Koup wants to be a Honda Civic and it's pretty easy to understand why. The Civic has an image of fuel-efficiency that is supported by eye-catching styling and driving dynamics. The Kia Forte Koup so wants to be there.
Lots of cars have tried to become the Honda Civic — like the Chevy Cobalt, Mazda 3 and Scion tC — but Honda still sits on top of the sales pyramid. The Civic represented 339,289 sales in 2008, and when the recession began in earnest in June 2008, the Honda Civic was even the top-selling vehicle in the country.
But the 2010 Kia Forte Koup could change all that. It has the right look and the right driving dynamics. No challenger to the Civic has come with a 10-year/100,000-mile warranty like this Kia. No challenger to the Civic has ever come with standard Bluetooth and iPod integration like the Forte Koup. The Forte sedan will be the volume seller for Kia in this market segment, yet this 2010 Kia Forte Koup SX is not just the pick of enthusiasts like us but also the model most likely to really change the game for Kia.
Koup D'état
Yes, we said "Kia" and "enthusiast" in the same sentence. And we did it seriously. Gone are the days when Kia was a dirty word in the automotive game. "Oh, you got a Kia. Sorry. Couldn't qualify for a loan on a Daewoo?"
The new Kia Forte has a laundry list of goodies that starts with standard Bluetooth phone compatibility and moves into standard USB/iPod integration — all the stuff you expect from cars from Korea these days. Yet it also includes hardware like the choice of two different engines, each with a choice of automatic or manual transmission, not to mention stability control and four-wheel disc brakes with standard ABS.
This 2010 Kia Forte Koup SX is equipped with a five-speed automatic transmission ($1,000) instead of the standard six-speed manual, and for once we're glad to have a two-pedal setup. It's not that we've gone soft; it's just that in our First Drive of the 2010 Kia Forte, the manual transmission-equipped car proved to be tricky to launch, tricky to drive and otherwise impossible to live with unless you're a fan of frequent stalling. In comparison, the five-speed automatic is notable in two respects.
To begin with, 2nd gear winds out to a whopping 72 mph. This hyper-tall gearing means that every time you prod the 2.4-liter inline-4, you find a dead zone, a hesitation to respond. There's a brief pause as the engine fails to motivate the 2,919-pound coupe and then the transmission downshifts (often more than one gear), and the car sets off at last. The transmission is quick to shift and the programming is smart, but too frequently the process sends the 173-horsepower engine spinning wildly, and it sounds and feels like a blender full of smaller blenders full of speakers blasting white noise. As unpleasant as this can be at full throttle, top gear arrives very quickly during normal driving, so the engine loafs along below 2,000 rpm, which is its preferred state of being.
Stick it out through the unpleasantness long enough and the Kia Forte Koup SX will finish a quarter-mile run in 16.3 seconds at 85.8 mph. The 60-mph mark comes up in 8.4 seconds from a standstill (8.2 seconds with 1 foot of rollout like on a drag strip).
The second notable feature of the Koup's five-speed automatic is the shift action itself. There's an appreciable snick and thud as the lever clicks back through Reverse, past Neutral and into Drive and eventually thunks over to Manual mode. It's more like an Audi or a Mercedes-Benz than a Honda; it's that solid.
Koup de Grace
Mulholland Drive is one of California's super roads. It's famous and fun, tight and twisty, and spectacularly rough in places. This road is where reputations are made or broken. This is also where the 2010 Kia Forte Koup SX confused us to no end.
The steering proves precise and the feedback from the P215/45R17 Goodyear Eagle LS2 tires is excellent when this all-season rubber reaches the limits of adhesion. Trouble is, there is virtually no change in the feedback until grip is waning; there's no build-up in steering effort as you approach full lock, no lightness in effort at speed. There's a steady resistance that's effective, yet a little confusing.
The Koup leaves us with the feeling that it is a significant leap forward for the Kia brand.
What wasn't confusing were the overall driving dynamics. Solid. Precise. Well-damped. Grippy, even with all-season rubber. Fast. It takes a few warm-up passes through the corners to figure out just how well this chassis is dialed in. Off-camber, rough pavement, decreasing radius? It'll do it faster than any sane speed limit allows with virtually anyone at the helm. Each subsequent pass over the most challenging corners nets a higher speed, a higher confidence level and a higher respect for what Kia has accomplished here.
At our test track, without fear of police, deer or motorcycles, our driver chucked the Forte Koup through the slalom at 68.5 mph and buzzed the skid pad at 0.85g. It could be even better with summer performance tires. Of course, this aggressive suspension tune comes at a price, because there's plenty of road noise over broken pavement and sharp impacts are registered with a crash through the suspension.
Forte's Flown the Kia Koup
The 2010 Kia Forte Koup SX breaks some new ground in the way it looks, evidence of the money that Hyundai has poured into giving its performance-oriented division a distinctive identity that includes an elaborate design studio at Kia Motors America in Irvine, California. But there are some false steps here.
The style and energy expressed in the sheet metal never permeates the cabin in the way that Honda has properly stylized the interior of the Civic. It's the same bland design language we've seen from Hyundai and Kia before. The center console might be equipped with standard satellite radio, but its look leaves something to be desired. Buttons are large and clearly labeled and the HVAC knobs are where they should be; it's just that they don't feel good. Want to remind yourself that the Forte Koup is a cheap car from Korea? Adjust the air-conditioner or turn up the radio.
Even so, the 2010 Kia Forte Koup leaves us with the feeling that it is a significant leap forward for the Kia brand. No longer content to be the maker of cheap cars with great warranties, Kia has put together a world-class offering here. Every box has been checked: horsepower, warranty, standard features, fuel economy (23 mpg city/31 mpg highway). Even the rear seats are spacious enough for full-size adults. Plus the Koup wears sheet metal drawn by a former Audi designer.
Building a sound brand is harder than building a sound car. Reputations take time, and Kia's clock has just finally started ticking. So it's a little soon to anoint Kia as the new Honda. But when you're driving the 2010 Kia Forte Koup on Mulholland Drive, you can't help feeling that you've got a windshield full of Honda Civic in front of you and you're just about to pull out and pass.
The manufacturer provided Edmunds this vehicle for the purposes of evaluation.
Add A Comment »
mml1 says:
09:16 PM, 11/11/2010
Gotta love the naysayers here. I didn't buy a Forte SX because I wanted a racecar... I bought it for the performance/quality/price point and WARRANTY, which (incidentally) Honda can't touch (3/36 and 5/60? Give me a break, Honda!) The Civic in all its trims is an ugly, overpriced beast.
This car replaces a 2001 Impala, bought new, that was nothing but a rolling repair bill. The first transmission lasted 37,000 miles, not covered by warranty. SO... you'll understand why I value warranty so highly nowadays.
Give Kia time, and I'm sure they'll come out with a Forte that is a Civic Si killer. This is just the start--the car hasn't even been for sale in the U.S. for a year at this point! Already seeing many on the roads.
jscion says:
08:25 PM, 08/03/2010
The author of this wouldn't by chance be a Honda Civic fan would he?!?!? Yeah, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, the Honda Civic is one of the best compacts on the market in the world. But not everyone LOVES the Honda Civic!!! I've had two of them....great cars? ABSOLUTLEY! But I like variety and this Kia Forte Koup certainly does alot more style wise. The Civic interior looks sort of cheap and has a space ship-like quality to it. This Kia sports a Euro-look that is quite catchy. And the automatic transmission in a test vehicle??????? The manual was too hard to deal with??????? Sure, we all get tired of driving stick but you don't really get to know a car unless it has a manual transmission so what the hell kind of test was this exactly???
corytate says:
11:29 AM, 04/27/2010
@firstclass I've read on the forums that the six speed actually is pretty difficult to launch, but the 5 speed manual only took me an hour or two to get the hang of. Clutch is very light, but you get used to it. this is only my second car wit ha manual transmission, but it's pretty easy to drive. Can't say the same for the 2.4l with 6 speed, I've got the 2.0 sedan and I love it. Here's a decent launch with the 5 speed though: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xESKDGXrISY
hannulla says:
10:30 AM, 04/13/2010
who did this road test your grandad ?
that was the absolute worst road test i have ever seen ! you people really need to learn how to drive ! and as for 'happily it had an automatic ' WHATTTTT!!?
n2guru says:
02:23 PM, 01/15/2010
I applaud Kia on it's first attempt at an econo sport coupe. While others are quick to point out that this variant is a direct competition to Honda's SI. I think it's just the beginning. Word is that Hyundai is contributing the turbo 4 that is currently in the Genesis Coupe. I once owned a 1995 Honda Civic Coupe. It was a great car because it had a great design, inside and out, a good reputation, and it was relatively inexpensive at the time. Now, Kia is replacing what Honda once was. I think the only cloned sheep here is all the people that are drinking the Honda Kool Aid. Honda is now ugly and expensive. The Civic design element is unbalanced....can you really tell the difference between the front and the back? And the "beam me up, Scotty" digital speedometer, two tier design is also gawd awful. Hyundai/Kia is on it's way as being the value/quality leader that now. Just take a look at the new Hyundai Sonata. I test drove a Forte, and it's just as good or dare I say, even better than a Civic. It's more of a car than a spaceship. Unless a Civic starts to fly, I'll consider buying one again.
kimosi says:
11:52 PM, 01/12/2010
While I think many of us appreciate Kia's attemt to bring something worthwhile to the table, this Koup just doesn't cut the mustard. It kind of reminds me of the story of the first successfully cloned animal; you remember ... Dolly the sheep from about nine years ago. Dolly seemed great until scientists found out that she had all kinds of health issues, cancers, and various other terminal illnesses. In the same sense, the Kia Koup is a botched clone job of the Civic Si.
Although the Koup has stolen basically its entire interior concept from the Si (ie; red stitched seats, identical placement of all buttons, etc.) the Kia falls very ... very flat in the execution. Interior quality is literally piss poor. Meanwhile, for Honda, the interior is arguably the Si's top feature. The Kia also boasts an interesting engine; slightly larger than the Si's 2.0 Vtec, yet ultimatly lacking the eagerness to rev like the Si. Lastly, the gearbox. Ummm ... yeah. While the Si has had a very small, yet known and addressed issue with the third gear synchro, the Kia Koup has a very large, very hideous monster inside its manual variant. This monster eats your patience for dinner, and then devours your fun factor for dessert.
At the end of the day, who is going to pay $20k + for a slow, chinced-out version of an Si that can be had for about $1K more? Oh, and gauranteed, the Si would hold its value way better, so it pays for itself in the end. That being said, this Koup is just a sheep following a leader. Unfortunately for Kia, this sheep is just like Dolly, riddled with terminal illnesses and destined to fail.
- Jimmy
julian10 says:
11:15 PM, 12/17/2009
I have never commented but have personally driven one of these cars. I thought they looked awsome and i needed a new car so i went down to Kia and found a Black SX manual tranny. Fully loaded black leather the works. And let me tell you the exterior is fantastic, the interior? Well, everything in that artical is an understatement it is awful and completly low rent I mean the leather the dash everything was awful. Now the engin is quick...or feels that way. It's not very rev happy as I would have liked. But the gear box was awful, I've never owned an automatic so I've driven manuals all my life and this one took the cake its dreadful, talk about sloppy.
Not to mention the overall dealership experience I mean if they want to make nice looking cars to get people into the showroom thats fine but beef up the show room and train the staff. It was awful I was offended so much by the sales people they even tried to tell me the car was 24k because it was the only one in the state. Then asked me how much my finance loan was for! Seriously awful.
Anyway I accually purchased a black Civic Si coup (sedan doesn't make sense) instead the extra cash was worth the dealership and the car is mad fun to drive.
mrwest2011 says:
09:01 AM, 12/17/2009
stick the 2.0t from the genesis in it
crispalicious says:
01:15 PM, 12/15/2009
@zoomzoomn
Sources have reported that Kia's designer was from Audi prior to this, which may explain those similarities.
crispalicious says:
01:11 PM, 12/15/2009
"Kool Komment or Krappy Kriticism? Korny."
haha...klever