Kia Cerato Forte 1.6 EX Review: The Power to Surprise

What we like:

Very stylish design from the Korean automaker. High levels of equipment

even with the tested baseline model. Comfortable highway cruiser.

What we dislike:

Increased use of hard plastics throughout the cabin. Needs better soundproofing.

What we have so far is a handsome looking car with a capable engine. But that doesn’t make it a good car yet. A car’s handling can make an ugly looking car good (think BMW 1-series) and a good looking car, bad.

Fortunately, the Forte isn’t a bad handling car but it’s no sports car either. With front MacPherson struts upfront and rear torsion beam axle, the Forte is responsive to the steering inputs and points where you want to quickly. Around corners, the car feels very balanced, without threat of the rear sliding out or the front ending up in some ditch across the road. However, push the car near to its envelope of handling and it will respond with safe under steer – Like most front driven cars are setup to do – giving you a chance to bring it back under control by smoothly releasing the accelerator pedal.

Braking is provided by 280mm front, 262mm rear disc brakes that bites very well. To compliment the braking ability even further, the Forte's brake pedal is well modulated to provide good and progressive braking feel.

On the road, the Forte's cabin is a quiet and comfortable place to be in, with most road noise and surface bumps filtered out. We reckon that the Forte has a ride comfort that has the potential to be a good highway cruiser. With better sound proofing and a softer suspension setup to soak road irregularities better, we think that the Forte will be as good as an Altis in the ride comfort department.

Further, the Forte comes with a Motor Driven Power Steering (MDPS) system as standard. Kia claims that the electric driven power steering helps to enhance steering stability and reduce fuel consumption over hydraulic systems. We are not sure about the claim on reduction of fuel consumption bit but we were sure impressed with the steering stability claim, a.k.a speed-sensitive steering. The $40,000 Kia Forte has that function!

However (yes, everything have a downside to it), the MDPS system robs steering feel and can be a little ‘vague’ on feedback, making it hard to guess what the front wheels are exactly doing.

This is one car that you cannot afford to ignore, especially if you are looking for your first budget ride. What Kia has manufactured here is a car that is not only big and radical on styling, big on value but also one that is manufactured with decent build and quality. What we are most impressed with is the price - in the region of $40,000 – which we are sure will make this car an instant best seller.

Kia, truly, has the power to surprise.

Credits: Story by Jarvis Seo, pictures by Jarvis Seo and Azfar Hashim