2014 Kia Forte Koup SX ( A perspective review )

At the time of writing this, I've been driving this car now for about 3 weeks and I've put over 1300 km on it.  The car it replaces is a 1995 Ford Thunderbird.  I loved the Thunderbird, but the rust was getting bad and it failed emissions testing, so it had to go.  Besides, it was a V-6 car and I also have a 1996 V-8 Thunderbird, which will be the subject of a different post.

I'm calling this a perspective review, because driving this car takes me back to the feeling I had when I earned my licence back in 1990.  That feeling of freedom and fun.  That car was a 1983 Nissan Sentra Wagon.  It had a 1.6L, 4 cylinder engine that made a whopping 69 hp and the car weighed less than 2000 lbs.  It rode on a 94.5" wheelbase, with 13" wheels and 155 wide tires ( at 26 psi ! ).  It had a 5 speed manual transmission and the passenger side mirror was an option!  I drove that car all through high school and while it wasn't much to look at and certainly didn't perform, it was fun to drive.  We didn't care what we drove, as long as we were driving something!  I remember doing a 1/4 mile run once on a back road in which someone had painted the start/finish lines on the road.  The finish line was crossed in 24 seconds at 60 mph.

Fast forward to today...

This Kia Forte also has a 1.6L 4 cylinder engine with variable valve timing and direct injection.  With a turbocharger, it is rated at 201 hp @ 6000 rpm and 195 lbs-ft @ 1750-4500 rpm.  That's nearly triple the horsepower and just over twice the torque of the old Sentra and the car weighs 50% (1000 lbs) more than the Sentra did.  The wheelbase is 12" longer than the "wagon" and it rides on 225 wide tires on 18" wheels.  The V-8 Thunderbird with sport package has the same width tires on 16" wheels!  Mind you, the Nexen Classe Premiere 671 tires are mediocre all-seasons and the car would certainly benefit from some performance tires on the front at least.

The car has some nice interior appointments, most of which I could live without, but most people want these things nowadays.  Things like folding mirrors, external courtesy lighting, heated front seats, dual automatic climate controls, auto-dimming rear-view mirror, vanity mirrors, satellite radio, steering wheel controls and a backup camera.  My car does not have navigation, sunroof, heated steering wheel or ventilated seats.  I found the seat to be very comfortable with just the right amount of side bolstering.  If you are taller than 5'3", you may find the seating position to be high.  My eye point is right in the middle of the windshield with the seat as low as it will go.  The seat has lots of fore/aft adjustment and everything is within easy reach.  The steering wheel has both tilt and telescopic functionality.  With my driving position being pretty far forward, I do find that getting in and out of the car is a little bit of a challenge.  I like the fact that the seat does not use power controls, which can take way too much time to operate.

So, how does it drive?  While I haven't pushed it in turns, I can tell that it will understeer, which could be remedied with better tires on the front.  Believe it or not, I find throttle response to be lagging a little bit.  Maybe it's the electronic latency, being computer controlled or something, but the '83 Sentra responded better and more instantly to my right foot.  This messes up shift coordination a little bit.  The clutch has a little more travel than I would like and takes early.  You can't really use a heel-toe technique.  I get the impression that "riding the clutch" would not cause any wear in this setup as you have to push it a bit before it does anything.  It's a little tricky to get a smooth start in first gear.  I often start in second gear, just because its smoother and because of the ratios, you're shifting into second at 10 km/h anyway.  In fact, you can use all six gears in the city.  There is a shift indicator, which can be turned off as soon as you figure out its logic ( shift at 2000 rpm for best fuel economy).

I still haven't figured out what the "flex steer" is supposed to do.  Oh, I've read what it's supposed to do, but I tend to agree with one Motortrend article which described it as a "waste of electrons".  Really, there is so little difference between settings that it is almost imperceptible.  Others have criticized the lack of feel in the steering wheel.  Personally, I love it.  I don't want any feedback in the steering wheel, which tries to wrench the wheel out of your hands.  It makes the ride feel smoother, yet without affecting the responsiveness of the car.  I found it very responsive to steering, given the 1/2 worn tires on it.  One can feel every nook and cranny in the road however, coming up through the pedals and floor.  It's not a harsh ride, per se, as the suspension does soften it slightly and dampen it quickly, with adequate sound deadening.  It feels like a good balance to me between comfort and sport.  Straight line acceleration is impressive for this class of car.  While it may be a few tenths off the best cars in the class, the seat of your pants probably won't be able to tell the difference.

The best fuel economy occurs at the lowest speed in which you can use sixth gear.  I did some testing, using cruise control in a two-way run, to cancel any wind or elevation changes.  Outside air temp was about 0°C and I am running 91 Octane gasoline, although this car can use 87, despite the turbo, thanks to the 9.5 compression ratio.

60 km/h @ 1600 rpm = 4.5 L / 100 km ( 52 MPG )

80 km/h @ 2100 rpm = 5.4 L / 100 km ( 43 MPG )

100 km/h @ 2700 rpm = 6.3 L / 100 km ( 37 MPG )

120 km/h @ 3200 rpm = 7.8 L / 100 km ( 30 MPG )

Last but not least, this is a good looking car.  I prefer the styling to any of the competition.  Looks go a long way to me being able to live with it.  Back in 1990, there were lots of cool, affordable cars coming onto the scene.  Cars like the Nissan 240SX, Ford Probe GT and the Mitsubishi Eclipse ( and its two sister cars ).  At the time, I would have liked to have driven all of them.  I think the 2014 Kia Forte Koup SX compares with those cars, which still look good today.