2014 Kia Forte

Kia’s forte is designing snappy looking, fun-to-drive and affordable cars that make the competition’s cars seem boring and over-priced.

Under-engined (and under-warranted) too.

The new Forte, for instance.

No denying its snazzy looks. But take a look at some of its goods: Standard 148 hp engine and six-speed manual transmission (with a six-speed automatic optional).

The Honda Civic comes standard with 140 hp – and a five speed.

Honda also wants almost $2,300 more for it, too.

The new Corolla has its charms – including class-leading back seat legroom. But it also has the old Corolla’s engine. And the step-up automatic is still a four-speed automatic.

The Corolla also costs more than the Forte, too.

The Dodge Dart looks hot – but it’s not. At least not with its standard engine. (More on this below.)

Mazda’s 3 (also new for 2014) is a much closer shave. Gorgeous bodywork, 150 hp (and 41 MPG highway), six-speed manual – all standard. But it’s still more expensive than the Forte and – like all the ones above – it only comes with a three year, 36,000 mile  warranty.

Kia will pick up the bill if anything comes unglued for five years – and 60,0000 miles.

Oh, one other thing.

Kia gives you the choice of conventional four-door sedan layout (with conventional trunk), five-door hatchback sedan (Forte5) and a coupe (the Koupe). Several of the others come only in one bodystyle – take it or leave it.

So, is there anything not to like about the new Forte?

If you give me a few minutes, I’m sure I’ll be able to think of something… .

WHAT IT IS

The Forte is Kia’s entry-level compact, in the same general class as the cars mentioned above. Base price for the LX sedan is $16,700 – topping out at $20,200 for an EX with the upgrade 2.0 liter engine.

Hatchback sedan (Forte5) and coupe (Koupe) versions will become available in early 2014. At the time of this review in early November of 2013, prices for the hatchback and coupe had not yet been released.

WHAT’S NEW

The works. The ’14 Forte is redesigned from the tread to the roof.

WHAT’S GOOD

Beats ’em all on price – but isn’t a cheapie. AC, most power options and a six-speaker stereo with Bluetooth are all included.

Beats most of them on power/performance for the dollar.

Standard six-speed manual transmission is more fun to drive than competitor’s five-speed manuals.

Optional six-speed automatic is also more fun to drive than competitor’s CVT automatics – and much more current than at least one competitor’s four-speed automatic.

Multiple bodystyles.

Untouchable warranty coverage.

WHAT’S NOT SO GOOD

The Forte’s gas mileage isn’t quite top of the pile.

Could be a bit lighter at the curb.

That’s about all I could come up with.

UNDER THE HOOD

The Forte comes standard with a 1.8 liter, 148 hp four paired with either a six speed manual or (optionally) a six speed automatic. This combo is good for 29 city and 36 highway and 0-60 in the mid-high eight second range.

This is a pretty decent package for a car with a sticker price just over $16k. Both the Honda Civic and the Toyota Corolla – which are significantly more expensive cars ($18,955 and $17,610 to start, respectively) come with less powerful standard engines and – in the case of the Civic, a five-speed manual transmission.

The base Corolla does come standard with a six-speed manual, but if you want an automatic, you get a disappointing four speed box that’s simply outdated technology for a 2014 model year car.

The Civic and the Corolla do get slightly better gas mileage than the Forte – emphasis on slightly: 28 city, 39 highway for the automatic-equipped (five speed) Civic and 31 city, 37 highway for the manual-equipped Corolla.

However, neither of these two is any speedier than the base-engined Forte – and their higher MSRPs efface the nominally better gas mileage.

The Dodge Dart sounds impressive: standard 2.0 liter, 160 hp engine. Six speed manual or automatic transmissions, too. But it takes almost 10 seconds to reach 60 – making it the dog of the bunch. Gas mileage isn’t spectacular, either: 24 city, 34 highway with the automatic.

Mazda’s all-new 3 brings a standard 155 hp engine to the table, an 8.3 second to 60 time slip  – as well as 30 city and 41 highway. It’s now the one to beat in this segment, offering top-drawer performance as well as class-leading fuel economy.

But the Forte has another hand to play – an optional 2.0 liter, 173 hp four that gives the Kia power enough to match the Mazda’s 0-60 run while still achieving a very decent 24 city, 36 highway. And on deck for spring/summer 2014 is a turbocharged 1.6 liter four that will reportedly make 201 hp – and ought to give the Honda Civic Si a tussle for hustle. It will be available in both the two-door Koupe and the Forte5 hatchback sedan.

There are some wild cards out there – including the hybrid version of the Civic, if your chief desire is fuel economy uber alles (44 city, 44 highway) and Mazda will eventually get a diesel engine into the lineup (once Uncle Sam eases up on the regulatory rigmarole). But however you look at it, Kia has the bases pretty well-covered.

ON THE ROAD

Even with its base 1.8 engine, the new Forte is one of the quicker cars in its class. Including the automatic-equipped version. This is notable and worth emphasizing.

Several competitors are comparably peppy when ordered with the standard manual gearbox, but – as in the case of the Toyota Corolla – if you order the optional automatic, they are torpid, slow-reacting and often over-noisy.

Kia is to be credited for offering even the base trim Fortes with six-speed transmissions – both manual and automatic. It makes a big difference as far as how the car reacts – and whether it’s pleasant to drive or a chore to drive it.

With the 1.8 engine and either transmission, the Forte is a notch above basic transportation – and that’s something I’d say of only one other as-it-sits competitor, the base trim Mazda3.

With the upgrade 2.0 engine and either transmission, the Forte is a downright fun little runabout that reminds me – if you’ll permit a motorcycle reference – of a small CC sport bike along the lines of a Kawasaki Ninja 250. Both are agile – and “flickable.” There is enough power to make for an entertaining commute – in part because the tighter spacing between each of the six-speed’s six forward gears makes it easy to keep the engine’s revs where they need to be for any given situation.

Both the engine and the transmission sound good, too.

This is another significant difference between the Forte and some of the competition – especially those that pair their engines with continuously variable (CVT) automatics. These are fuel-efficient (hence their increasing ubiquity) but also tend to make a racket, particularly during full-throttle acceleration.

You do sacrifice a few MPGs with a conventional six-speed automatic vs. a CVT – but the difference is small (typically 2-3 MPG) and made up for by the reduction in drivetrain noise.

Ride and handling-wise, there are noticeable departure points between the Kia and its competitors, too. The Forte is much more eager to dance than the Corolla – the softie of the bunch. The electric assist (and driver-selectable) steering’s not quite as “right there” as the Civic’s though – and the Mazda3 (which comes standard with a more aggressive 16 inch wheel/tire package vs. the 15s that are standard Forte fare) beats them all, giving you a near-perfect balance of ride-compliance, minimal body roll and precise, just-the-right-effort steering feel. The downside to the Mazda is price. Even the least expensive version starts out $1,040 higher than the base Forte ($17,740 vs. $16,700) and the most expensive version of the 3 is almost $27k – while a loaded Forte EX with the upgrade 2.0 engine barely crests $20k.

If money weren’t a factor, I’d go with the Mazda.

But since money is a factor for most people . . .

AT THE CURB

I can’t fault the new Forte’s swoopy, un-econobox styling. Of course, even the new Corolla – the Mrs.Doubtfire of economy cars – is pretty swoopy, too. They all are. In fact, the econo-box – properly speaking – is all but extinct. By any standard, none of the cars in this segment are Blue Light Specials. They don’t look cheap, they don’t feel cheap. They all come with necessary amenities such as AC and a better-than-basic stereo as part of the standard equipment package. You can order the Forte with GPS and 4.5 inch touchscreen display, a sunroof, even heated seats – front and rear.

The truth is no one makes a cheap car anymore – not in the way they used to make them. Certainly not in the compact class – which is now characterized by cars like the Forte (and Corolla and Mazda3 and Civic) that are nicer (and better equipped) cars, in and out, than even luxury cars were when I was in high school back in the ’80s. I have the perspective of first-hand experience with real shitboxes: Yugos and early Hyundais and Reagan-era Fiestas and Chevy Cavaliers. Those were crap . . . even when they were brand-new.

So what does this Forte offer that the others don’t?

For openers, the choice of three bodystyles. The sedan launches first, followed by the hatchback sedan – and then the sport-themed (and Civic Si targeting) Koupe later in 2014. When the full lineup is available, Kia will offer a spectrum of choices unavailable at your local Dodge, Toyota or Honda or Mazda store. Only the Honda Civic is available in two-door coupe form – and neither Honda nor Dodge nor Toyota offer hatchback versions of their four doors.

Another departure point – a feature unique to the Forte – is Kia’s UVO voice-command interface for the audio and infotainment systems. Toyota offers a suit of “apps” – including Yelp! and Pandora radio – but they’re touch screen rather than voice-activated. The new Mazda3 has a voice-activated system, but its function and capabilities are different. Same goes for the Dart. You’ll have to try out each of these various systems to see which one you like best.

A word about size. All the cars in the (cough) “compact” segment are edging ever-closer to being mid-sized cars, outside and in.

The new Corolla is the closet to mid-size – with more backseat legroom (41.4 inches) than a Mercedes E-Class. But they’re all growers, including the Kia.

Lookee here:

The Forte sedan is 179.5 inches, snout to tail. A mid-1990s Corolla – a template for “econo-box” if ever there was one – was almost eight inches shorter overall (172 inches). To put a finer point on how much the “compact” segment has tippy-toed toward mid-sized since then, consider that in 1990, the Camry – a mid-sized car at the time – stretched only 182.1 inches, stem to stern. The ’90 Camry also had only 34.4 inches of backseat legroom – seven inches less than the “compact” 2014 Corolla. And 1.5 inches less than the “compact” 2014 Forte sedan!

All the cars in the current (cough) “compact” class also have front seat legroom that would have qualified them as mid-sized (and even full-sized) cars not that long ago: 42.2 inches for Forte, Dodge Dart and Mazda3, 42.3 for the Corolla and 42 even for the Civic.

Buyers should readjust their frame of reference.

The Forte sedan has a better-than-decent-sized trunk, too: 14.9 cubic feet. This is noticeably larger than the Mazda3 sedan’s 12.4 cubic foot trunk and the Honda Civic sedan’s 12.5 cubic foot trunk. It even trumps the Corolla – which has a 13 cubic foot trunk, smallest of the bunch.

The forthcoming Forte5 hatchback sedan will of course be even more spacious.

THE REST

I do my best to be honest when evaluating cars – including public mention of their flaws and weak points as I see them. (Otherwise, people reading these reviews might as well read the PR copy the automakers put out on their web sites.) Usually, it’s pretty easy to identify a given car’s negatives – and contrast them with competitor cars’ positives. Not this time, not with this car.

I mentioned the Forte’s slightly less-than-class-best fuel economy.

There’s that.

I will also mention that the Forte’s a little bit of a fatty relative to most of its competitors. It weighs 2,837 lbs empty – which is beefy for a car that is nominally a (cough) “compact.” If it were a few hundred pounds lighter – as a “compact” car ought to be – it would be both speedier as well as more economical to drive. But the fact is, all the (ahem!) “compacts” of 2014 are weighty waddlers. Even the Civic weighs in at 2,740 pounds – and it’s the lightest of the bunch. The Corolla bellies up to the curb at 2,820 lbs. The Mazda, 2,799 lbs. At 3,186 lbs., the Dodge Dart out-porks them all. (And now you know why it’s so slow – despite having about 20 hp more than the others in this class.)

Guess what a 1990 Corolla weighed? 2,390 lbs.

How about a 1990 Camry? 2,690 lbs.

So, there’s that. But, again: They’re all equally guilty of excess avoirdupois.

It’s about all I could come up with as far as the Forte foibles.

And I feel compelled to mention the startling fact that none of the Forte’s major competitors have seen fit to match Kia’s best-in-class (and best, period) warranty coverage. As spacious as the new Corolla is; as swanky – and sporty – as the new Mazda3 is – neither car’s manufacturer apparently apparently has enough confidence in their cars to back them with more than a three-year, 36,000 mile comprehensive warranty. That’s perhaps the one thing that’s still low-rent about current-era “economy compacts.”

Except for the Forte – which is backed by a five year/60,000 mile comprehensive (“whole car”) warranty – and a secondary ten year/100,000 mile powertrain (engine and transmission) warranty. Given that something like a failed transmission in a modern car can easily leave you with a $3,000 repair bill, knowing you’re covered is psychologically – and financially reassuring.

Final thing: a few years ago, when Kias were the new kids on the block, their depreciation rates were perhaps not the best. That’s no longer the case today. Meanwhile, the old lions – Toyota and Honda – are riding the coat-tails of their former glory. They’d better get with the program – or Kia, et al, will hand them their asses.

THE BOTTOM LINE

When a professional nit-picker like me can’t find many nits to pick with a car, that’s a car you ought to be looking into.

Throw it in the Woods?

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