First Drive: 2010 Kia Forte

The Forte is technically the successor to the Spectra, but it is really so much more than that. This time, Kia decided to leave the help of the rocked-out Soul hamsters behind and instead concentrate on product, not marketing – though we do like the hamsters. The main competitors in the segment include the Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla and Mazda Mazda3 and when you add in the secondary targets of the Ford Focus and Chevrolet Cobalt, it shows why anyone would need to strike hard when attempting to show up as a seriously dominant player that sells on more than just low prices.

See also:

Fuel filler lid
1. Stop the engine. 2. To open the fuel filler lid, pull the release lever. CAUTION To avoid injury from sharp edges, it is recommended that protective gloves be worn if there is a need to op ...

Driving
The Kia is available with 2.0-litre or 2.7-litre V6 petrol engines, but we prefer the 2.0-litre turbodiesel. There's a fair amount of diesel clatter at idle, but once on the move it delivers power ...

Enhancing occupant and pedestrian safety
Fitted as standard in most European countries, new safety features will include ESC with a new Roll-over Sensor that deploys the side airbags, curtain airbags and seatbelt pretensioners when requi ...