Autoblog

click the picture to view a high resolution gallery of the 2009 Kia Forte

Just the other day, we were all looking at a teaser pic and speculating wildly, and now, here it is. Kia dropped official images of its Spectra successor, the Forte, on the interwebs, and it is one sharp little car. The styling that the Forte introduces is Kia's new look, from the pen of Peter Schreyer, also responsible for the first-gen New Beetle and TT. The face of the Forte combines chunkily-flared front fenders with a new corporate grille, and there's a distinctive depression down the lower part of the flanks that works well with the prominent swage line to lend a stone-hewn look to the car. The term Forte in musical notation means "play loud," but this new Kia is restrained and maturely drawn. Additionally, the two-door variant of the Forte should look even better.

While there's no new design ground being broken, the overall effect is clean and handsome, reminiscent of many other higher-end vehicles. Check out those rear lamps -- remind you of any 40-something thousand dollar luxury car? When the Forte hits Korean showrooms in August, a new four-cylinder engine will be under the hood, employing 1.6 liters of swept volume. A 2.0 liter will follow on directly, and may be the only engine we get in the US when the Forte arrives on North American highways and byways in 2009. Compared to the Spectra, the Forte looks worlds better, and even on its own, we think it looks like a million bucks. Okay, $500,000. Let the endless string of "it looks like" comments begin. Thanks for the tip, William!

Gallery: 2009 Kia Forte

[Source: The Car Blogger]

click above for high-res gallery of the Kia Koup Concept

Wave goodbye to the Spectra name; Kia's planning on sending the moniker packing when the car is replaced in mid-2009. Kicking up the style as a way to grab the dollars of younger buyers, Kia will introduce the styling paradigm laid out by the Koup Concept at last year's New York Auto Show, which will grace a production sedan and coupe. The sedan will hit the market first, with the coupe following within a couple months. The hatchback Spectra will be out of the U.S. lineup entirely; Kia thinks the coupe and its sexier lines will move more units. European buyers will still be able to purchase the Spectra hatch as the cee'd, though. More style in this instance is a good thing. We've seen the Koup, and we like it. We've driven the Spectra, and we like that, too. If Kia can successfully match the chassis to the expectations set by the body, the Spectra's successor should have no problem maintaing that model's best-seller status in the Kia lineup.


[Source: Automotive News - sub req.]

First there was the sketch showing Kia's Spectra replacement, the Forte, looking tantalizingly great. Now comes what appears to be a photograph of the actual car to further whet our appetites. While we know the Forte is going to crib lines from the great looking Koup concept that we saw in New York, we can't help but be reminded of the Saturn Ion by this latest image. Maybe it's the angle, or the lighting, or the shape of the headlamps, we don't know. The side profile shows a vehicle that's exponentially more awesome than the melted Studebaker Lark looking thing that Saturn was selling not too long ago, so we'll go with that. The current Spectra is a decent looking car as far as conservatively styled vehicles go, but the Forte is a step up, with a form that evokes higher-end iron like Acura, and maybe there's a little G8 in that front stance. For now, Kia's got us like a putty in their palm, waiting for the next teaser shot to appear. How about it?

[Source: kia-world]

Although we couldn't find news of this on either Kia's US or UK media sites, we wanted all of you to see it for yourselves. The Car Blogger is sourcing Kia for the sketch you see above, allegedly showing the company's Spectra replacement, rumored to be called the Forte when it's unveiled in August. Showing off what's rumored to be "Kia's new family look," it apes the styling cues shown on some of Kia's recent concepts, including the Koup and Kee. It also appears to take a few cues from the Honda/Acura playbook. Not that there's anything wrong with that. We see everything from the TSX to the Civic to the Accord in there, but those are pretty good cars to emulate if you are going to copy any. We'll keep you posted when Kia provides some official details.

[Source: The Car Blogger]

click above image for high-res gallery of the 2007 Kia Spectra EX

Time was, buying a small car from an entry-level brand meant you'd end up in the penalty box. Vinyl-swathed interiors, cheap and nasty plastics, medieval seats, etc. Those were the bad parts, but there were some aspects of basic cars that we miss. The widespread availability of manual transmissions, you-wind-em windows, money saving aircon and radio delete options are all things that we at least like to see on the order form.

Forgive us if it sounds like we're asking for a revival of the Escort Pony. Sometimes, though, it's refreshing to get into a car that is self-evident to operate and doesn't cost a fortune to run. After sampling the Kia Spectra EX, we're inclined to think that everything else might be overkill.



All photos ©2007 Dan Roth / Weblogs, Inc.