My tester was the fully specced Forte SX and, with a price of $26,195, destination charge of $1,485, $150 colour charge and $100 for the A/C Tax, it totaled $27,930 before provincial and federal taxes are factored in. For that price, some of the wow features are: panoramic sunroof, power driver seat with memory settings, dual zone climate, rearview camera, navigation, proximity entry with push-button start, paddle shifter, HID headlights, LED ‘positioning lamps’, and my personal favourite – ventilated driver seat that blows chilled air directly at back and derriere.
   2014 Kia Forte. Click image to enlarge |
Surprisingly, the extra 25 horsepower weren’t enough to transport the Forte into the realm of fun, the 154 lb-ft seeming almost ordinary underfoot, especially when driving responsibly with the Active Eco mode, the automatic transmission upshifting efficiently (and smoothly), and holding gears desperately when cruising. Want passing power on the highway? Foot to the floor or a tap of the paddle shifter will induce a downshift and off you go with a less than thrilling whine as the revs climb. Par for the course in this segment.
Also par for the course was my observed 8.2 L/100 km, fairly typical of my commute and weekend driving and my heavy right foot battling the Eco mode. Transport Canada estimates are 8.5 L/100 km in the city and 5.5 L/100 km on the highway, while the US EPA offers 9.8/6.5/8.4 L/100 km city/highway/combined (24/36/28 mpg) in 2.0L automatic configuration. While not best in class, this downsized top-spec engine (replacing the 2013 Forte’s 2.4L) saves about half a litre per 100 kilometres while maintaining horsepower – it does, however, give up a substantial 14 lb-ft of torque. It’s also not much of a consumption penalty over the smaller 1.8 with automatic (8.3/5.5) and the manual transmission with the 2.0 (8.4/5.7). The most efficient combination is the 1.8 with manual transmission at 8.0/5.3 city/highway. None of these match class leaders like the Civic (7.2/5.0) and Mazda3 (7.1/4.9).
What stood out for me, aside from the cooled seats, was the composed and comfortable ride. I’ll skip my usual complaints about Hyundai/Kia’s Driver Selectable Steering and accept that this is no driver’s car when it comes to steering feel, but it is still an excellent small commuter or family car. The ride is firm enough that it rounds corners confidently and without feeling unsettled, and most any rough patches are smoothed over with little disturbance to the driver, the 17-inch alloys and 215/45R17 all-season rubber delivering handling without compromising ride comfort. However, with a torsion-beam rear suspension setup, as does the Elantra GT, I expect it may still have rear suspension ‘wiggle’ issues as experienced in said Elantra, though I detected none in my week. Wind and road noise are rarely an issue, and the stereo receives more than a passing grade.
  2014 Kia Forte. Click image to enlarge |
The seats in our tester were leather lined and comfortably wide and accommodating with power adjustments in six directions with two memory settings and even power-adjustable lumbar support. Other cabin materials were soft or well made, the leather steering wheel acceptably natural feeling and, call me odd, but I loved the grey plastic trim inset in the steering wheel – it had a grippy surface that felt rich, but I worry that it will peel off in the long run. Another interesting touch was the ridges in the soft-touch dash panel ahead of the passenger – what is that? Ribbed for her pleasure?
