Kia Forte Takes on the Competition

Kia’s new entry in the compact-car segment is the Forte, and it will replace the Spectra when it goes on sale this summer. It faces strong competition from the Honda Civic, Ford Focus and Toyota Corolla, long-standing models that have made a name for themselves in this category. Because of that, we wanted to see how the Forte compares to those models in a few key areas, including exterior looks, interior quality, roominess and seat comfort, and safety features.

Exterior Looks
Whether or not a car looks good is in the eye of the beholder, but there are some design elements that have universal acceptance, like graceful proportions and cohesiveness from front to back. The Forte draws heavily on existing models — just take a look at the grille and headlights, which are very similar to a Civic coupe’s — but taken as a whole the design works, with its sporty stance and crisp sheet metal lines.

As for the competition, Honda’s Civic still looks pretty modern, even though this generation has been on the road for a few years. The Corolla, meanwhile, was redesigned for 2009 and already has a forgettable shape that wouldn’t have looked new a few years ago. The Focus, meanwhile, gained a few styling revisions to its front and back for 2008 but otherwise retained the general shape of the previous model. While I’ve been a fan of the Civic’s distinctive look, the sharp-looking Forte won me over.
Winner: Forte

Interior Quality
The Forte’s cabin styling doesn’t take gambles the way Honda did with the Civic when the automaker redesigned it for 2006, but even though the Kia’s cabin has a conventional appearance it features good fit and finish, nice materials and attractive red graphics for the stereo display. Some of the controls are quite upscale, like the available steering-wheel-mounted audio and cruise controls.

Its competitors’ success is mixed. While the Civic has been a class leader in terms of fit and finish and materials quality, it’s not perfect; some of the swoopy dashboard’s panel gaps are less than ideal. The Corolla’s cabin, meanwhile, looks just as dated as its exterior, and it uses old-school seat fabric. The Focus falls somewhere in the middle with its unique center dash styling and appealing blue backlighting. In the end, while its competitors are getting better, the Civic still leads the pack.
Winner: Civic

Roominess and Seat Comfort
Small cars are sometimes short on interior room, but the Forte has a surprisingly comfortable backseat that has enough legroom for taller adults, even with the front seat adjusted for a taller driver. The leather front bucket seats had firm cushioning, and the shape of the seats agreed with my back. The Forte’s backseat cushioning is softer than the front.

The Civic is also available with leather seats, but their contour isn’t easy to get used to. The front seats in the Focus and Corolla are comfy, but given the mostly minor differences in seat comfort, the bigger issue becomes roominess, and the Forte has the edge there.
Winner: Forte

Safety Features
Features that would have been optional or unavailable on a small car a few years ago are now standard equipment on many of them, Forte included. The Kia has antilock brakes, side-impact airbags for the front seats, side curtain airbags, active front head restraints and an electronic stability system.

Of its competitors, the Civic and Corolla come closest to matching the Forte’s safety features; they come standard with all the features mentioned except a stability system, which only comes on high-end trim levels of the Civic and is a $250 option on the 2009 Corolla. The Focus also lags behind; it has the same airbag count as the others, but antilock brakes and a stability system are both optional.
Winner: Forte

We’ll see if our opinion of the Forte changes at all after we’ve had a chance to drive it, but based on what we’ve learned scrutinizing it at the auto show, it has a lot going for it.