My Long-Term Test Drive and Review of Wifey's Kia Forte SX

(Moved from previous Kia Forte SX site from earlier this year)

This review is made from a tropical country in Asia with the biggest cornsticks in the world. No prizes for guessing Malaysia; and yes, corny as it is, it's a tell-tale giveaway as we Malaysians are darn proud of our beautifully-majestic Petronas twin towers.

Twin towers-aside, I am sure that there are lots of fans out there whom are secretly and not-so-secretly adorning the new Kia Forte (production : 2008-present). A replacement to the Kia Spectra (production : 2000-2009), which itself was the replacement for the rubbish Kia Sephia (production : 1974-2000), these models were also known as Kia Cerato overseas. And how they have grown over the years was nothing short of a marvel- largely thanks to Kia's ambitious streak to be a major player in the automotive car market and its strategy to poach the A-list car designer, Peter Schrever whom now works as its Chief Design Officer, from his previous fame at Audi and notable for his works on the Audi TT.

I'll admit that I love cars and I have own a fair bit of them. Like the typical Malaysian, I started my relationship with cars, with the national love/hate interest otherwise known as Proton. My first car in 2000, thanks to my folks for plonking down a hefty RM15k deposit, was a spanking new Proton Iswara Aeroback in apple green colour. I had wanted a more sporty Proton Satria with its 2-door sporty nature ala Honda Civic EG6 or Alfa Romeo 145; but my folks were quite adamant that 4-doors would be more practical and was the better choice, especially after I start raising a family of my own (man, we were thinking so far ahead! :)

It turned out that they were right, and I love my first set of wheels so much. I washed it ever so often and treated it better than I did myself. Small upgrades here and there were the nature of the day then. When my bonus cameabouts, I plonked down RM5k (a big sum when you're at your first job still) for a great audio system from Blaupunkt (which was later stolen after a pecah masuk at Damansara Uptown exactly a year after installation) and over the years, as I worked hard to climb the corporate ladder and upgrade myself, the Iswara remained my faithful companion even as I started accumulating other cars in my stable. There were the Civic EG8 (later modified to be a boy-racer B16A and boy, does it sound good still when the DOHC VTEC sings!), Fiat Coupe, Mitsubishi Triton, Nissan Micra, Toyota Camry, etc.

I was never really a big fan of Korean makes, although I thought that the Spectra was a quite sporty with its Novus offering; and the Ssanyong Rexton and Actyon had me going for my cheque book by a cat's whisker. The stigma associated with a Korean make- ratty build, noisy engine, low resale value, high maintenance, etc was quite off-putting.

Until the Kia Forte comes along, that is. Now, this is a car that tugs at your heartstrings. I have not feel like this since my o' faithful Iswara and to some extent, the pretty boy (but less reliable) Fiat Coupe. The cars I had were choices made from the head mostly; with the Forte, your heart speaks out, aloud!

So here I am, armed with an Ebony Black Forte 1.6 SX and just nicely broken-into, ready to start on a real and genuine long-term test drive and review. Read on the trials and joys of the ownership associated with this black beauty- and thanks to Naza with its political allies, we get to enjoy a Korean CBU Kia Forte at a CKD price of RM81,800. A price that sets itself competing against the lesser B-segment cars such as Honda City and Toyota Vios; eventhough had the tariff not been in its favour, the Forte would see itself competing against C-segment cars of the likes of Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla Altis and Mitsubishi Lancer GT (soon to be re-labeled as Proton Waja with a massive reduction in its pricing).

 

Yet, even when set against the C-segment cars, it is still a winner of sorts given its high specifications and safety features- so much so that the Altis and Lancer GT looks like the lesser variants, while the Civic FD puts on a brave fight still (and wins too, methinks; although its looks are somewhat dated when placed next to the newer Forte).

Here is our Forte 1.6 SX in all its glory, after a treatment of SierraGlow car spa treatment (RM1,000) and Ecotint Ray Barrier tint (RM2,000). Everything else is plain stock at the moment. Let's see how she fares then... but boy, ain't she a looker!

Well, after all, the Kia Forte's slogan is... leaves you speechless.