MotorWeek Road Test: 2010 Kia Forte Koup
The 2010 kia forte koup the first coupe ever from the korean automaker brings a welcome dose of high style to this entry-level brand for the record coupe is spelled with a k to remind us all that this snazzy little two-door is a kia sharing the sedans 100 4.3 inch wheelbase and at 176 point 4 inches long overall the swifter coupe measures 2 inches shorter and about
2 and a half inches lower than the 4-door and back the coupe short clamshell hood is the only sheet metal shared with the sedan wide angular flared headlamps flank and narrow grille making for a front end that reminds us of the honda civic but an exclusive trio of lower intakes help make this coupe distinctive fog lights set in the squared off jawline are available
With sx trim a deep character line sweeps from below the mirror and flows the length of the coupes body the greenhouse aft of the door handle is muscled in miniature complete with a small boldly drawn rear quarter window and beefy c-pillar sectioned wraparound taillights black rear diffuser and twin exhaust tips are nice touches to the coupes tail 16-inch alloy
Wheels are standard on the base e x our racing red sx wore black accented split spoke 17-inch alloys also carrying over from the 4-door to the two-door are the instrument panel 3 gauge cluster and soul inspired boogie board center stack albeit with trim unique to the coupe also like soul speakers in our sx pulse red to the beat of the music from the six speaker
Sound system front bucket seats are supportive and comfortable cloth is standard with heated leather and option six airbags are standard as is a tilt steering wheel sx trim adds telescope the coupe stylish well fit cabin with features unexpected for its class like bluetooth with steering wheel mounted controls and an ipod jack the rear seat is compact coupe cozy
With the lower roofline taking its toll on headroom but the 60/40 seat backs do fold turning the respectable twelve point six cubic foot trunk into a long useful loading platform variable timing engines are also shared with the sedan for the exo 156 horsepower 2-liter four-cylinder made it to either a standard 5-speed manual or optional 4-speed automatic for our
Sx a 2.4 liter with 173 horsepower and 168 pound-feet of torque that outguns the scion tc by 12 horsepower and 6 pound-feet front drive trainees include a positive engaging 6-speed manual and a 5-speed automatic with manual mode our 6-speed coupe clocked a 0 to 60 time of 8.6 seconds and a 16.6 second quarter mile at 87 miles per hour with its vague on-off kludge
The coupe is clearly no stoplight warrior but our impressions changed totally in the slalom with mcpherson struts up front and despite a torsion beam rear the coupe threaded cones like a needle grippy tires and nicely balanced speed sensitive steering helped deliver above-average handling even at high speeds we couldn’t coach the forte into stability control nanny
Mode the steering became noticeably heavier and crisper and this little red bottle rocket just locked in all disc brakes with abs and brake assist kept stops from 60 to a tidy average of 120 feet the coupe shimmied a little at first jab of the pedal but proved rock-solid all the way to a standstill with government fuel economy ratings of 22 city and 32 highway
Our manual 2.4 sx sounds efficient but on our test loop we recorded an only so-so 25.3 miles per gallon on regular gas the forte koup 2.42 energy impact score is thirteen point two barrels of oil a year and its carbon footprint is a moderate seven point one tons of co2 emitted annually a fuel economy is your primary concern the 2.0 e.x is about 10% thriftier base
Price from the kia qu px manual is seventeen thousand two hundred ninety dollars our sx manual starts at eighteen thousand three hundred ninety and option to the gills it just barely crest twenty thousand dollars so its price competitive with a honda civic coupe and scion tc but the coop does come with a superior ten year 100,000 mile powertrain warranty we were
Pleasantly surprised by the kia forte sedan so we expected good things from the forte koup and we’re not disappointed kia has now fielded a compact car series that rivals the best japanese designs plus the coupes level of style and handling belies its price the 2010 kia forte koup is indeed a coupe coup d’etat
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MotorWeek Road Test: 2010 Kia Forte Koup By MotorWeek
