2010 Kia Forte Koup Priced at $17,290

Agreed. That's one fine looking coupe.

No hatchback.....NO SALE!

for about the same price, the Civic Si (without navi) still seems to be a better buy. but i think the Kia looks better.

for about the same price, the Civic Si (without navi) still seems to be a better buy. but i think the Kia looks better.

4g63, the Civic Si STARTS at $23,000 ... that's nowhere near "about the same price".

I really like this car! It is way sharper looking than the Civic coupe. If only I could get past the whole Kia thing. Hmmmm.

It's generally nice looking, but I think the Honda's the better looking & better styled car.

Interesting that the Forte line, which cribbed a LOT of Civic styling cues, is coming out as the Civic enters its final year of production with this design...

Given all the rage about the Forte before its release, I decided early on to check out the Forte (sedan) when it came out a couple of months ago. Although I didn't drive it I did have a chance to sit inside and look around. The only thing I was impressed with was the feature content for the money. The overall presentation of the car was very cheap and not anywhere near the standards set by the segment leaders, the Honda Civic and Mazda3.

I fully understand Kia's mission in providing competitive transportation at a very affordable price but the overall quality and/or perceived quality shouldn't have to suffer. With the Civic or Mazda3 I don't feel like I'm in an "economy car" yet when you open the door of the Forte its immediately evident.

That's a little pricey, but as others have said it is a really good looking coupe. It looks like the visibility is probably top-notch for a coupe too. Well done Kia. I have a feeling it is worthy of its higher price tag.

I own a Mazda6, and I thought the Kia Forte SX interior was approximately on par with the new Mazda3. The dash materials are not as nice but I prefer the layout. The seat fabric is better than the Mazda3 i and distinctly better than the Mazda3 s, which counterintuitively has less attractive upholstery than the cheaper i.

Saying the Koup starts at $2900 more than the cheapest sedan is a bit misleading since the sedan starts with an LX trim level, while the Koup starts at the EX level, which is the mid-line on the sedan. The EX Koup is $800 more than the EX sedan, and it has standard 16" tires and alloy wheels, which the sedan lacks.

The Koup seems to have borrowed its roofline from the Audi A5/S5.

If they somehow could drop the Genesis 2.0T into this and make an entry price around the same as a current Cobalt SS or the departed SRT-4 it would be a very attractive offering, especially if it was offered in the 4 door, too.

Except that the Genesis 2.0T already starts at only $22k, and has RWD to boot.

I believe that Kia hired Audi's former head of design. It is impressive how fast the Korean cars are improving. But I still would pay the 2k extra for the Civc Si if it was going to be either or.

The Forte's looks will likely catch some more interest for the company. Not bad.

That is one good-looking car, from every damn angle. Even the wheels look nice.

Base honda civic coupe starts at $15455.00.I just checked that price on honda's website.And top of the line SI cost $21905 with every option standard with one of the best manual gear box in the world.my point is why would you pay $20000 for forte SX coup that has weak 173hp engine and wont handle like civic SI at all.Civic Si is rated 197hp.Edmunds did the road test and civic Si ran 68.2 miles per hour at slalom which is the fastest FWD car they ever took on the track.just for the reference most bmw,mecedes,lexus,infiniti dont have that high slalom speed(68mph) even with RWD.still 4 year old civic si's are getting sold for more than $15k.After four years kia will worth $4k.civic style is going to change next year so that will give kia some more years to come up with another copycat.what a looser company that cant come up with their own design.back lights are bmw 3series.front is civic.And they wish to compete with Civic that are making those cars for 30 years.good luck KIA crap to convince honda crowd.or good luck convincing toyota crowd or any crowd

You say Kia can't come up with its own designs--have you seen the Soul? Also--do your homework--compare equipment--the Civic at 15,455 has only 140 hp and it doesn't even have a/c.

I, too, was aprehensive about both Hyundai and Kia (had been driving a combo of Acura-Subaru-Saleen Mustang). I sold my Saleen Mustang and searched for months to find a slightly pre-owned premium model '06 Sonata V6 and was blown away by the perf-to-bucks ratio. I researched, then searched for 6 months and finally found a slightly used Kia Sedona premium model fully loaded (3.8 DOHC/ 5 speed auto) and traded my Subaru Forester S for it. After upgrading the Kia to V-rated tires, the handling and performance is on par w/ an Acura or Lexus crossover. The 5 yr/60k mi bumper2bumper warranty is amazing. I'm ready to test drive the Koup SX, but will have to give up one of the above (which will be a tough decision). Think about it...Honda was making motorcyles, etc when they made their break into auto market "before the turn of the century". It's now Hyundai/Kia's time.

That little Kia is sweet! I like it a lot.

ahsanman99 - The Honda Civic Si at its cheapest, with a manual transmission, as you've noted, is 21950. This is NOT with every option standard - it is with only the standard features. However, the Koup SX does not compete at that price level. In case you missed it, the SX model is listed as starting at 18390, some 3000 cheaper. Perhaps you need to read a bit more carefully before jumping to conclusions.
By the way... What's with all the horrible spelling and grammar?

I read the review.
It's a shame about the crappy throttle response and the engine hanging on to revs between gears.
*sigh*

Interesting, I'm sure Kia will find a lot of takers.

IMO it competes more with the Scion tC. Although it should be noted that a similarly equipped tC cost about $1,000 less than the SX version of the Koup. I'm waiting for the tC redesign. Hopefully we'll see it by early next year.

A 2010 Civic LX model- runs for $ 18915.00 - about $ 1600.00 more than a comparable Forte Koup

Personally, I don't feel a $ 1600.00 savings is enough to justify the Kia's sub par resale value, and "remains to be seen" reliability.

The Civic is a sure thing- something many shoppers would gladly pay $ 1600.00 more for, especially for an item they expect to have 5-10 years.

@accordguy0325

Kia's and Hyundai's resale values have risen 8% and 12% respectively over the past three years. No other brand has had a bigger rise. With big increases in fuel economy and much better styling, there's no reason in the world to assume anything but a continuance of that trend.

As for the reliability, all cars are "remains to be seen" when introduced, but the best guide is the recent past and recent Kias this car would share the most components with, the Rondo, the Sportage, and the Optima have all been above average or better. After a shaky start, even the Spectra reached that.

I'd also imagine many drivers wouldn't mind having a warranty for the entire time if they truly are going to keep something 10 years.

@gearcat

the Civic Si STARTS at $22,105 according to the Honda site. A $20,990 fully loaded Forte a Civic Si have a $1,115 difference. That's pretty close to "about the same price".