2012 & 2013 Kia Coupe Reviews & Ratings

Seoul based Kia Motors, are the longest running car manufacturer in South Korea as well as being the second largest, although lagging way behind Hyundai, who are part owners of the company.

Founded in 1944, originally as a cycle manufacturer, Kia first began to manufacture cars in 1973, when the Global Oil Crisis led the way for an increased demand for compact cars, a niche that the South Koreans were really glad to fill.

Since their entry into the car manufacturing in... (full review continues below)

Seoul based Kia Motors, are the longest running car manufacturer in South Korea as well as being the second largest, although lagging way behind Hyundai, who are part owners of the company.

Founded in 1944, originally as a cycle manufacturer, Kia first began to manufacture cars in 1973, when the Global Oil Crisis led the way for an increased demand for compact cars, a niche that the South Koreans were really glad to fill.

Since their entry into the car manufacturing industry, Kia has earned a reputation for making reliable, low cost vans, compact saloons and coupes. One of their best selling models has been the Kia Forte, launched in 2008.

The Kia Forte comes either in Saloon, Station or Coupe format and has earned a following in all of these market sectors, What the public find appealing about the 2012 Kia Forte is its combination of pleasant styling, comfort and 21st century technology that is not so far way from their Japanese rivals but coming at a considerably lower price.

The 2012 two door Kia Forte LX Coupe draws its power from a 2.0 liter four cylinder engine capable of drumming up 156 horsepower and 144 pound per feet of torque paired with a six speed manual transmission. Those looking for a little more pep can lay out a little more for the SX version with a 2.4 liter four cylinder producing 173 horsepower and 168 pounds of torque paired with a six speed automatic transmission.

Being a coupe back seat space is limited although compensated, partially, by the Forte's baggage space offering a generous 12.6 cubic feet.

The Kia Forte's interior could let it down a little, even taking into account the price tag, with a load of hard plastic around and not too many goodies as standard. Those that do come with the LX base are a Bluetooth operatable CD system, with four speakers, satellite radio, a USB/iPod interface and an auxiliary audio jack.

The more expensive Kia Forte EX comes with keyless entry, sport seats for the front, tilting and telescoping steering wheel, air conditioning, cruise control, trip computer, illuminated vanity mirrors, six speakers for the sound system and sixteen inch alloy wheels. For those who hunger for even more, then the SX version might prove the answer with improved trim and seating, fog lamps and highly impressive seventeen inch alloy wheels. What may be less impressive to some is the speaker surrounds that light up and blinks in time to the beat in an obtrusive LED red.

while a long list of extras might mean a lot to some people, fuel consumption should be considered a larger priority, and the Forte delivers some encouraging figures. The 2.0 liter four cylinder engined manual gear boxed version will produce an average of 29 miles per gallon, with 25 miles per gallon in the city and 34 miles per gallon on the highway, while the 2.4 liter four cylinder engine paired with an automatic gearbox is reported in some reviews as using 33 miles per gallon, with 27 miles per gallon in town and 37 miles per gallon out of it.

As one the least expensive coupes on the global market, the Kia Forte provides a pretty tough fight against some of its Japanese and European competition, among them the Mitsubishi Eclipse GS, Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, Nissan Sentra, Chevrolet Cobalt and the Scion TC.