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Thanks to Kia-World.net (those fellas are supremely on top of their Kia game), we can have a good look at the interior of the new Forte sedan. The Forte, you might recall, is Kia's upcoming entry into what used to be called the compact class, alongside cars like the Civic, Corolla, and Mazda3. The Forte's exterior design is sharp, albeit derivative. And now we can see a nice, clean interior (at least until the kids get inside). None of this is especially groundbreaking, but that's now how Kia operates. Now, so, why does Hyundai– the mainstream luxury brand– get the rear wheel-drive sedans and coupes while Kia– the youthful sporty brand– has front wheel drivers like this? Answers on a post card below.
22 Comments on “Kia Forte (That’s the Civic Fighter) Interior Revealed...”
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Probably because the respective platforms are already bought and paid for and into production. Customers are tending towards buying anything small and cheap these days and haven’t complained loudly enough to Hyundai/Kia for them to care/change it around.
Anything that can be rushed to market to stop the glut of Aveo sales is an improvement. New, efficient and cheap. Work out the details later!
Does that mean the performance version will be the Fortissimo???
Interior shots are good for judging design, but not for materials quality. A good photographer can work wonders; a good photo retoucher can perform miracles.
Of course, this doesn’t stop the eight-zillion posts of “OMG! That’s the best interior ever! Better than Lexus!” whenever GM posts “leaked photos”.
I don’t know why I find the idea of a group of people being “on top of their Kia game” so funny, but I do
Looks nice, but until I actually sit in one, it’s impossible to say if it is comfortable and all of the buttons, etc. are truly well placed.
It’s a striking improvement over the current Spectra. I’ll hold further judgment until I can see if the interior feels as good as it looks (and if it actually looks as good as the pics suggest).
Interior be danged. Until they get gas mileage equivalent to a Civic, not to mention resale value, Kia while always be a second or third tier compact. And I was one who actually liked the Spectra 5 door hatch.
I think Triumph the Insult-Comic Dog would say, regarding this interior shot, “for me to POOP on!”
Comparing this to the Aveo reminds me of Stewie’s comment to Meg on Family Guy after Brian’s cousin Jasper wants to get married to another guy: “So guys can marry each other now….so I guess its pretty much over for you, Meg.”
I don’t understand the “fascination” with rear wheel drive by some folks, honestly.
How many of us have ever had hoonage time in a real honest-to-God Mini, right there on B-roads in the United Kingdom? (My hand flies up).
Rear wheel drive is fun in it’s own way. Front wheel drive is fun it it’s own way.
Now, as for ass-engine rear wheel drive cars, well, with excitement like that who needs Ex-lax?
(Speaking from experience here, as I had a ’71 VW 411 while living in the UK as a GI in the mid-late 1970’s). Of course, its automatic transmission exploded. I was paying car payments to the Credit Union as it sat in the junk yard.
Hence, my aversion to a) Volkswagens and b) German built automatic transmissions and c) ass-engine cars (since more than once, in youthful exuberance, I ended up scaring the —- out of myself). Before the automatic transmission tried to go into reverse and top gear at the same time, of course.
Like the gauges pods, gearshift and door panels. The rest looks like plastiland and don’t like the rest of the design.
Still like more the Civic interior. And the Mazda3 is king.
Everything already mentioned here is on the money.
1) Kia’s reputation is at or among the worst in the industry. Anyone who does enough searches on used Kias from the various owner review sites will put this car far back in the pack.
2)Front-wheel drive has traditionally been cheaper and more economical to build. I’m not quite sure if that remains the case. But another point can be made that in the Northern parts of the USA folks will often write a vehicle off if it’s rear wheel drive.
3) I don’t think Kia’s main competition will be with the Civic and the 3. Kia has always focused on the value side of the equation. Which means that GM, Ford, Mitsubishi, Chrysler, and even Hyundai will likely offer the more cross-shopped models to the Kia Forte. They may want to go more upmarket, but Kia simply does not have the cache of the leaders in this segment.
Steven Lang :
I agree with your assessment but honestly, they have to start somewhere. The Forte looks to be a solid step up from the Spectra and that’s the point, continuous improvement. My father has owned two Hyundai’s so far and they both served him extremely well (one was a 1st gen Tiburon that he drove for 140k miles and the other was an XG that he put over another 110k on).
If a person is looking for a car to drive for a couple years then step up to something better then the Kia/Hyundai may not be the best choice due to depreciation (so in this regard, I agree with you 100%). Other than that, the Korean makes (well Hyundai/Kia) aren’t really that bad. They’re building some solid relatively efficient (not class leading, but not bad either) vehicles. Heck, the Optima beat the Malibu in a magazine test recently (who would’ve guessed that could happen?).
Hey, just think Glad it’s not a Daewoo and any car like this will look good.
I hate all black interiors. Looks like they’re trying to hide something.
To me, the dash design looks an awful lot like the new Ford Focus… that is not a compliment at all.
Front-wheel drive is about packaging, not cost or dynamics. A transverse front engine and front-drive transaxle put the entire powertrain ahead of the firewall, meaning that there’s no driveshaft or differential to impinge on passenger or cargo space. Sit in the back of a RWD 1-series hatchback and compare it to the back seat of a similarly sized FWD car, and the packaging trade-off quickly becomes apparent.
The logo on the steering wheel needs to be larger, maybe backlit.
I like what Hyundai has done, overall.
However…the idea that Kia is Sport/Performance and Hyundai is Mainstream/Luxury is Just a Twinkle in the Eye of the Marketing Department. Hyundai=Toyota and Kia=Scion, in my mind. Hyundai is something that mainstream buyers will enjoy, while Kia is ENTRY stuff. Until they actually sell something different(Actual Cars!!!)that won’t change.
I actually can’t believe there is a website out there dedicated to KIA enthusiasts!
Who knew such an animal existed?
Civic Fighter, eh?
Not yet.
I was out looking at cars this last weekend and had never heard of these. I stopped and test drove a base model and was very impressed-I WANT ONE!
Exterior lines caught me and I was surprised at how much the interior had as a base. It lacked power windows and locks and cruise control.
It had an “eco” (I despise that phrase) light that acted as a coach to increase gas mileage. It had both an aux input AND a USB port for Ipods. The radio was beautiful and had 3 months free Sirius.
As soon as I can get my truck stolen or at least burned to the ground I will be at the local Kia dealership to get mine.
There were two, an LX and Ex. They were around $17K and $18K for each. A little pricey for a Kia but it didn’t look like the average Kia..