Whoa, my comparison of a Mazda 3 and Kia Forte touched off some anger.
Power is not just measured in Bhp - it is how the car responds. I am willing to give Kia and Hyundai a chance, believe me - anything that wakes Honda up to the needs of consumers is good - but I drove a "170hp" Forte last week as well as a "less powerful" Mazda 3 and an even less powerful 2010 Civic. Sorry, no comparison. The 3 (and the Civic, for that matter) and Forte are not even in the same league. The Kia is a cheap car that will be bought by budget conscious drivers, not driving enthusiasts. That is fine with me, but call it what it is.
My comment about fuel mileage is exactly that - driving the heck out of my 04 Civic Si, I never, ever average fuel economy worse than 8.5/100km, and that is even winding the snot out of it - all the way to 6500rpm btw shifts - to enjoy the VTEC power. Highway mileage the last time I took it from Toronto to Ottawa was just under 40mpg - about 7l/100km.