KOUP SX A HIDDEN GEM
It’s not a sport-compact rocket, but Kia’s Forte is a stylish two-door
These days, too many cars seem to be going through identity crises. You can’t help but roll your eyes most of the time, like when an SUV calls itself a “coupe” even though it clearly has four doors. But once in a while, you strike gold, because a vehicle that’s confused about what it is ends up being one of the best money can buy.
That’s the Kia Forte Koup SX in a nutshell. It’s one of the best ways to spend $30,000 on a compact car, but it also can’t decide if it’s a sport-compact rocket or a sexier, two-door alternative to the econoboxes that seem to dominate Canadian roads (and sales charts). It certainly doesn’t help that most automakers have abandoned the compact frontwheel-drive coupe market; the Honda Civic, Hyundai Elantra and Scion tC are the Forte Koup’s biggest competitors.
But you know what? Absolutely none of this means the Forte Koup SX is a lame duck. Far from it, actually — it’s a hidden gem.
On paper, the Forte Koup already has an edge over the twodoor Civic, Elantra and tC. Base models come with a normally aspirated 2.0-litre four-cylinder, but the SX is fitted with a 1.6-litre turbo-four. There’s 201 horsepower and 195 pound feet of torque on tap, sent to the front wheels via a six-speed manual or automatic transmission. It’s the most powerful of the bunch, but the numbers lie a little, because the Forte Koup doesn’t exactly feel sporty.
Torque steer is minimal and the turbo-four has a fair bit of kick. Kia says SX models are fitted with a “sport tuned” suspension, but it’s not exactly agile and the numb steering provides little feedback, despite the Flex Steer system’s three settings to adjust effort: Comfort, Normal and Sport. The clutch-and-shifter action feels spongy and disconnected, but the Forte Koup is forgiving and effortless to drive all around.
It’s also pretty frugal. Kia rates the Forte SX at 10.8 L/100 kilometres in the city and 8.1 L on the highway; depending on how heavy your right foot is, expect to see fuel economy averaging out in the 9.3 range. And, thankfully, it happily sips 87-octane gas.
The Forte Koup isn’t a sportcompact rocket — that much is clear — but it makes up for those drawbacks in other ways. Styling is one of them: It’s no secret the Forte family is part of the proof Kia has upped its design game. The Forte Koup looks a little chunky from the rear, but the proportions are tidy and it wears some tasteful styling cues, such as 18-inch wheels, LED daytime running lights and tail lights, and some carbon fibre-look accents. It’s a tasteful package that’s much less polarizing than the Hyundai Veloster Turbo, which is the Forte Koup’s second cousin.
Under the skin is where the Forte Koup shines. For the $24,195 price tag, it’s extremely well equipped, with goodies such as heated seats, a rear-view camera and smart-key access with push-button start. It also has power-folding mirrors, a neat feature many larger and more expensive cars don’t offer, even as an option. The interior layout is logical and the materials are stellar. It feels upscale and there’s very little hard plastic up front, but the metal pedals and fake carbon-fibre accents add to the charade of sportiness.
As far as the infotainment system is concerned, the Forte Koup’s Microsoft-based UVO system is intuitive enough, but it’s missing key features, such as GPS navigation, and the screen could be larger. You could shell out an extra $4,600 for the Luxury Package — which adds navigation and a larger in-dash screen, as well as a sunroof, HID headlights, leather seats, a heated steering wheel and a cooled driver’s seat — but then you’re up to $28,795 and you also lose the manual gearbox, as the Luxury package is automatic-only.
At that price point, things get dicey, because you’re in Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ pricing territory, and about $1,000 away from the 348-horsepower Hyundai Genesis Coupe R-Spec.
If you’re concerned about practicality, you should really look elsewhere.
That said, if you’re in a pinch, the Forte Koup’s back seat is passable. It’s tight to get in and out, but there’s enough legroom and headroom for all but the tallest of passengers.
Trunk space punches in at 378 litres, which is larger than in the two-door Civic, but smaller than in the Elantra and tC.
It’s easy to see how Kia has jumped from being an underdog to a force to be reckoned with in pretty much every segment, because a car as good as the Forte Koup would have seemed almost impossible a decade ago.
And some automakers don’t seem to care much about compact, front-wheel-drive coupes, because if you want something that’s affordable, sporty and has just two doors, you’ve got a ton of other options.
That being said, some people don’t care about low curb weight, high-revving engines and rearwheel drive.
If all you want is a car with two doors, packed with standard equipment and enough kick to have fun on highway on-ramps, wrapped in a package that will still look good in five years, the Kia Forte Koup SX is tough to beat. Overview: The benchmark in a segment that’s quickly drying up Pros: Turbo engine, long standard-equipment list, solid interior Cons: Not quite the sport-compact rocket you might think it is Value for money: Good What I would change: Lose some weight, tighten up the suspension and make it louder How I would spec it: Exactly like this