Review: 2010 Kia Forte -- backtracking toward basic

June 28, 10:10 PMDC Car ExaminerBrady Holt

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The 2010 Kia Forte's looks mirror its overall performance: pretty nice, but not especially memorable. See more photos of the
Forte below the article in today's slideshow. 

Car reviewers are used to seeing the newest products from Hyundai and its Kia subsidiary represent leaps-and-bounds improvements over their predecessors. With each redesign, their cars would take another giant step away from their humble roots as inexpensive but rudimentary transportation. 

But what happens when the product is already strong, before the redesign? 

When the redesigned Kia Spectra compact sedan appeared five years ago, its safety and fuel economy were a cut below par for the class, but roominess, quality, and refinement were top-notch. Even as a 2009 model, the Spectra stands up quite well against its best competitors in terms of ride comfort and interior space and quality. 

With such a strong starting point, it would be difficult to expect another revolutionary change when Kia replaced the Spectra with the new Forte, which just went on sale as a 2010 model. But what’s surprising is where the Forte backtracks toward basic. 

The original Spectra that went on sale in the U.S. a decade ago was certainly a basic car. Unfortunately, it also wasn’t a very good car, with little power and poor gas mileage, flimsy interior quality, and clumsy handling. 

“Why buy used when you can get brand-new ’80s sophistication?” asked Car and Driver magazine in 2002, ranking that year's Spectra in last place of 10 cars. As one of three “highs” about the car, the magazine noted that its test car at least didn’t refuse to start. 

The original Spectra sold largely to fleets and other bargain hunters that weren’t especially interested in how the car drove. My driving school had several, each sporting various scuffs and dings. Basic worked well for that, but Kia was hoping to jump up a notch.

But although the Spectra is Kia’s best-selling product today, it’s selling to the same customers as its far inferior predecessor. The driving school today sports a similarly scuffed set of newer Spectras, and they’re also common rentals. One in three is sold into a fleet rather than to a retail customer. 

It seems Kia is no longer fighting this, at least on the EX automatic sedan driven for this review. The outgoing Spectra’s plush interior is gone from the new Forte. Why spend money on something that isn’t winning customers? The Spectra’s strong ride and refinement? Dropped to the class average in the Forte. And the Forte looks quite sharp from some angles – the shots chosen for Kia’s promotional material – but in most views it’s cleanly styled and certainly attractive, but forgettable. Like the Spectra before it, the Forte will blend in comfortably alongside Enterprise’s Chevrolet Cobalts and Toyota Corollas as "or similar."

Kia seems to have taken the money it saved from trimming the refinement and reinvested it into the basics. Acceleration has improved to “decent” from “not decent,” but the Forte is still far from a powerhouse with the base 2.0-liter 4-cylinder. (Pricier SX models get a stronger 2.4-liter 4-cylinder borrowed from Hyundai and Kia’s midsize cars.) 

The basics also included upgraded standard safety equipment. The 2004 redesign added standard side and side-curtain airbags, but relatively few Spectras were sold with the optional antilock brakes. ABS, along with electronic stability control, is now standard along with the airbags, as are active head restraints that move closer to occupants’ heads in a rear-end collision. The Forte has yet to be crash-tested, but expect an improvement over the low safety scores racked up by the Spectra.

Perhaps even more significantly in an economy car, gas mileage soared despite a healthy power bump; the Forte with the 4-speed automatic driven for this review is rated for 25 miles per gallon in the city and 34 on the highway, and Fortes with the optional 5-speed automatic (part of a $600 “fuel economy package”) provide a stellar 27 city / 36 highway that puts it at the top of its class save costly hybrids and diesels. A standard five-speed manual returns the same EPA estimates as the 4-speed automatic, but shaves $1,000 off the car's price tag. 

Also, while the new look doesn’t expand the Forte’s passenger space over the Spectra’s – it was fine to begin with – the trunk has grown dramatically, from 12.2 cubic feet to 14.7, which is better than some midsize sedans or even a full-size Buick LaCrosse or Toyota Avalon. 

Besides, a good “basic” economy car today is far from bare-bones. The Forte seats four adults quite comfortably or five in a pinch, and it’s not stiff-riding or particularly noisy. However, some competitors will have nicer seats and a smoother and quieter ride. The Forte suffers from a bit too much engine and road noise, and the ride isn’t as absorbent as the outgoing Spectra’s. 

The Forte is more agile than its predecessor, however; handling had long been a Spectra weak point. With the new model, Kia traded a focus on ride comfort for both merely acceptable ride and handling. The steering is light but adequately responsive, but no one would ever mistake the Forte for a sports sedan. (The SX model with the larger engine is also supposed to outhandle the base-model Fortes.)

Inside, the Forte’s dash design is more like Kia’s funky Soul hatchback’s than the simple, understated Spectra’s, but the ergonomics are sound. Soft-touch plastics have vanished from the compact Kia, however, and a clunky glovebox lid and poorly finished interior door pulls further detracted. The cloth on the seats is a distinctive maroon on the tested car (“coffee,” Kia calls it, perhaps perfect for hiding stains; gray is also offered) but its quality feels a step down from the Spectra’s. Overall, the interior avoids an ambiance of cheapness – by economy car standards, at least – but it’s no longer among the best in its class in this area. 

Some of this negativity needs a bit of perspective: the outgoing Spectra remains in many ways a highly competitive car in its class. Many reviewers, even those who praised it when it was new, seem to have forgotten this, forgetting its high levels of refinement and interior quality. And the Forte clearly corrects some of the Spectra’s big flaws in safety, acceleration, and fuel economy. 

But had the Forte managed to offer those improvements in safety, acceleration, and fuel economy without taking a step back on interior quality, ride smoothness, and overall refinement, it would have been a much stronger car. As it is, it’s cleanly styled and it’s thoroughly competent, and its gas mileage is a key strong point. 

But it’s a basic car. At its sticker price of $17,490 nicely equipped – the cheapest you can get the Forte with power windows and an automatic transmission – basic is a bit spendy. Even though most competitors are even more, that’s no small sum. The Spectra actually had a higher sticker once you checked the optional antilock brakes, but Darcars Kia slashes more than $4,000 off the price of each of its 13 Spectras in stock as of this writing. (Part of this is because the model is being phased out, but the Spectra always had nice discounts.) 

If the nice discounts do emerge for the Forte – discounts that befit a competent but basic car – then you’d do well to check it out. You get little excellence, even by the class standards -- standard stability control, a big trunk, and optional high gas mileage is all that it has to elevate it above mere competence -- but few glaring flaws. 

However, there needs to be a bigger price advantage in a highly-competitive class before you should need to accept mere competence, even when competence is a farirly high standard. For now, look instead to nicely discounted Hyundai Elantras (currently around $13,000 out the door nicely equipped at Fitzgerald Auto Malls) and Nissan Versas, or to the nicer Toyota Corolla. 

Vehicle tested: 2010 Kia Forte
Vehicle base price (MSRP): $13,695
Version tested: EX
Version base price (MSRP): $15,795
Vehicle price as tested (MSRP): $18,290
Estimated transaction price as tested: $17,562
Test vehicles provided by: Darcars Kia of Temple Hills, Md.

Key specifications: 
Length: 178.3 inches
Width: 69.9 inches
Height: 57.5 inches
Wheelbase: 104.3 inches
Weight: 2,740 pounds
Trunk room: 14.7 cubic feet
Turning circle: 35.4 feet
Engine: 2.0-liter I4 with 156 horsepower
Transmission: 4-speed automatic
EPA city mileage: 25 miles per gallon
EPA highway mileage: 34 miles per gallon
EPA mixed driving: 28 miles per gallon