[Year's_End]

2010 Kia Forte Koup World Premiere in New York - Production Ready

Kia has announced its first-ever two-door coupe passenger car at the 2009 NYIAS. The Koup is part of the Forte range that replaces the Spectra model in the US. The new Forte sedan made its US debut at the 2009 Chicago Auto Show. The Forte Koup's design is based on the KOUP Concept which was shown at the 2008 NYIAS.

Styling details of note include wrap-around headlights, the aggressive air intakes, dual tailpipes and a rear diffuser. Two trim levels on offer are the EX and SX. The EX is the standard Forte Koup and it arrives with features like a 2.0-litre 156hp (115kW) and 144 pound-feet engine with Continuously Variable Valve Timing, a 5-speed manual or an optional 4-speed automatic transmission and 16-inch alloy wheels.

The higher-spec SX has a 2.4-litre straight-four motor with 173hp (127kW) and 168 pound-feet of torque. It returns 22mpg in city driving and 32mpg under highway conditions when mated to the 6-speed manual.

Kia says the body achieves high torsional stiffness which is good news for those looking for more than just straight line speed. More good news for the feisty driver is that the suspension system is sport-tuned to give a firmer ride. To balance performance with safety the FWD Koup has ABS brakes, electronic stability control and more than four airbags.

Some of the creature comforts listed are Bluetooth connectivity, iPod and USB auxiliary inputs, a standard six-speaker AM/FM/CD/MP3 audio system and steering-wheel mounted audio controls. SIRIUS Satellite Radio capabilities are part of the music player and come with a free three-month subscription to the service.


Source: http://www.worldcarfans.com/9090409....oduction-ready

[Year's_End]

To sum it up...

The exterior looks like a more aggressive Civic. The interior is a major letdown.

[ilidon]

dont forget the evo ripoff bumper too. not impressed because of all the copying done.

[DougLikesBMW]

Hmm, any price estimates?

[zerox_guru]

not bad but i still wouldn't get it...

[blue2fire]

I don't think it is particularly good looking and that stupid diffuser in the back does not help either.

The thing looks to be based on the Ceed.

[1013mm]

thought i was looking at a honda civic.

[TK-421]

I don't see how this is new... the Civic has been out for a while now

[Los Angeles]

Originally Posted by ilidon

dont forget the evo ripoff bumper too.

not impressed because of all the copying done.

+1.

It looks like the Evo and Civic had babies.

The interior is disgusting! Can't copy that!

[josephr25]

Civic, Lancer, and Focus RS all rolled into one. It better be cheap w/ the amount of biting seen here.

[ChrisV]

I like it. More inexpensive sport coupes can't be bad for competition. Of course teh interior is going to be cheap. the whol point is to be inexpensive, not be another luxury car. I don't see why we demand that every car BE a top luxury car to be worth buying. That sort of elitist entitlement mentality is why we don't have good basic lightweight cars anymore.

As far as the copying goes, i think it looks better than the cars mentioned that it copied from. And to some degree all cars copy from each other, that;'s how design moves forward, and why cars dont look like these anymore:



Cars of similar eras have always looked very similar, to the point where it's hard to tell them apart if you aren't fans of that era. Without looking at the properties, which one of these is the Ford, and which one is the Peugeot?

[rcracer_tx]

Yet another poor ripoff of a car... this is a blatant ripoof of a civic, and a poor one at that

[OBI_agent]

Hey bimmer(OP), thanks for keeping us update

And damn, it's not a bad looking Kia. Kinda reminds me of the RSX/euro accord though.

[Spec 1]

Originally Posted by jzhang

thought i was looking at a honda civic.

+1 At least the car isn't hideous.

[Bols]

Not bad for a first attempt, but does look like a mixup yea. Some of those frontshots remind me of the new VW scirocco aswell

[ragingclue]

Originally Posted by Spec 1

+1 At least the car isn't hideous.

You know... That's exactly what I was thinking... It's not hideous. Nothing they can really do about its dumpy proportions, but it doesn't look terrible like many Korean econoboxes of the recent past.

[G5Ti]

Definitely has too many hints of Civic, but still decent looking.

That said, the Soul has... well, more soul. And a cooler interior. Still very impressive to see the gains made by the Koreans in design, quality and presence. The US market is tough, and they have some impressive staying power.

[Garduna]

sagging seats..... come on!

[Kenix]

Looks like a civic mixed in with a little bit of Euro-spec Focus and the backside of a Brera.

[amgthis]

civic with a fat lip

[lyndon_h]

a good looking little car. The interior is cheap, but this is a huge step for Kia. Being a Kia, the price wont be over 13.9k.

[S_M]

Seriously, come on... roofline and everything