The 2014 Kia Forte sedan is a stylish and roomier-than-expected four-door car that's longer and wider than its predecessor and offers features not usually found in affordable cars in the segment.
As an example, Forte sedan buyers can add heated seats for both front and rear passengers, a heated steering wheel, puddle and door handle lights and a telematics/communications system that will help find the parked Forte in a crowded shopping mall parking lot.
Too bad, though, that the base Forte sedan doesn't include a standard rear view camera, like the one that's standard on all Honda Civic sedans.
Still, the newly revamped, five-seat Forte, with base 148-horsepower four cylinder, has more power than the base 2014 Toyota Corolla, whose four cylinder develops 132 horses. It also has a tad more than the 2014 Honda Civic, which has a 143-horsepower four cylinder.
Not to be missed: The Forte comes with Kia's generous warranty program that includes 10 years/160,000km power-train coverage and five years/96,000km limited basic warranty.
In comparison, the Corolla and Civic have limited power-train coverage for five years/96,000km and limited, basic car warranty good for three years/58,000km.
Best of all, starting manufacturer's suggested retail price, including destination charge, for the base, front-wheel drive, 2014 Forte LX sedan, which has a six-speed manual transmission, is $US16,700 ($A18,700)
This compares with the $US19,180 starting retail price for a base, 2014 Honda Civic LX sedan with five-speed manual transmission and the $US17,610 starting retail price for a base 2014 Toyota Corolla LX with six-speed manual.
The lowest priced 2014 Forte sedan with an automatic transmission is $US18,200.
The Civic and Corolla are the top sellers in the Forte's market segment.
In the 2013 calendar year, while 66,146 Fortes were sold in the United States, more than 300,000 buyers purchased Civics and another 300,000-plus bought Corollas, both of which are well-known small car names and have had reputations for reliability and longevity.
In contrast, the Forte debuted some five years ago as a replacement for Kia's ho-hum Spectra. Consumer Reports does not list a reliability rating for the newly revamped 2014 Forte.
The test Forte impressed with its handsome exterior, which looked expensive and had a family resemblance to the Optima, Kia's larger mid-size sedan that has a starting MSRP, including destination charge, of $US22,300.
Just like a luxury car, the test Forte EX with two option packages, had perimeter approach lighting that illuminated the door handles and activated light-emitting diode puddle lights under the outside mirrors.
This kind of feature is rare in mainstream sedans, even among competitors that, like the tester, have a $US25,600 sticker price.
Inside the test Forte, the dashboard arrangement of controls and buttons was well done and easy to understand and the knobs and buttons were large enough to use without fuss, but the black, plastic-dominated environment didn't convey richness as much as function.
Plus, the optional, leather-trimmed and heated seats were a nice touch, easing passenger comfort on cold mornings and not leaving out the two passengers riding in the outboard rear seats.
The heated steering wheel was a good idea, too, during this season's wintry weather, and neither the heated rear seats nor heated steering is offered in the Civic.
These extra "heated" features, however, require buyers move up to the pricier Forte EX trim level that starts at $US20,300 and then add a $US2,300 option package.
The 2014 Forte sedan rated four out of five stars overall in federal government crash tests, with only three stars in frontal crash testing.
