It’s been months since the world’s seen the 2019 Kia Forte debuted at the North America International Auto Show and somebody finally uploaded a somewhat thorough walkaround video.
The 2019 Kia Forte debuted in January to much fanfare from Kia fans and the automotive community alike but it’s been slow goings as far as new press since, until now. Thanks to the kind folks over at Brantford KIA and their video upload, we finally have a full walkaround of a pre-production 2019 Kia Forte. Check out the video below.
Although the second generation Kia Forte enjoyed a strong run since its introduction in 2014, sales have lagged. Thanks to heavy incentives and a refresh, the Forte did have its best month ever last year. But if this latest video is any sign of how good the 2019 Kia Forte is, prospective buyers will be pleasantly surprised.
The 2019 Kia Forte is a whole new car with a whole new look and it shows. Taking styling cues here and there from various other Kia cars higher up in its lineup, the Forte does a better job punching up its weight class. Taking a more conservative approach to styling, the front and rear don’t overdo it and you won’t stand out just for the sake of standing out.
Most of the changes to this car seem to be in the handling and performance aspect. According to this Brantford salesman, the handling is on par if not better than some of the competition it benchmarked itself against, mainly the 10th generation Honda Civic. That’s thanks to better materials and slightly higher rigidity compared to the 2018 Kia Forte. Kia also reworked the suspension geometry for better handling but seeing this being tested in an empty parking lot, I’ll wait for longer reviews from established outlets before I form an opinion on how good it is on its feet.
A big selling point for the 2019 Kia Forte is its transmission, mainly Kia’s new Intelligent Variable Transmission they call IVT. As per the video, acceleration off the line is supposedly better than even the new Honda Civic. I reckon they benchmarked it against the base model Civic with the K20C2 as the Civic’s turbo 1.5T would absolutely trounce the Kia Forte’s 2.0L with just 147 HP and 132 lb-ft. By the way, that’s the only engine you can get.
What Honda, Toyota, and other competitors should probably worry about is the Kia Forte’s interior fit, finish, and overall feel because it looks to be pretty darn good. As Kia is a value-packed choice, many optional accessories on say the Civic is standard in the Kia including a heated steering wheel, heated seats, and auto high beams. Also, the Forte gets air vents that look 90 percent like the ones on the Kia Stinger, which is a winning design element in my book.
These 2019 Kia Forte’s should be hitting dealerships soon and if you’ve made it this far, I’ve got a treat for you, a much more in-depth driving review…in Korean! Just hit the closed caption auto translate to English to enjoy this one.
