KIA Cerato Forte (A)

Mind you this isn't some mid-product cycle face-lift, in fact it’s far from it. Being only on the market for about two years, the Forte sent shockwaves throughout the hotly contested compact sedan segment.
With its Peter Schreyer (formerly from Audi) styled exterior and immense amount of standard equipment; the car went down with the local populace extremely well. But there was one kink in the Forte’s armour, it’s rather traditional 4-speed automatic transmission.

Now though you might say the competition around the Forte too feature mostly 4-speed boxes so what’s the big deal? Fuel efficiency and performance; that’s the big deal. With only four forward gears, high-speed cruising is going to be rather taxing on the engine, not just for the previous Forte, but for just about any car still equipped with a 4-speeder.

Besides the new gearbox, Kia has also changed the grille’s honeycomb design to something similar found on the Soul. To further distinguish the new Forte, the bodykit which was previously an option is now standard issue.
So there you have it, Kia’s Cerato Forte with the addition of a 6-speed automatic gearbox and some minor visual add-ons remains at the forefront of the competition in my book.

At a Glance
Engine: 1,591 cc 4-cylinders in-line
Performance: 124bhp, 156Nm, 0-100 12secs
Top Speed: 182km/h
Transmission: 6-Speed Automatic
Price with COE: S$80,999
Testdrive & Enquiries: C&C Kia
Tel: • 6427 8888

In a Nut Shell
Plus: 6-Speed Automatic Gearbox,
Fuel Efficiency, Pricing
Minus: Can’t really tell it apart from older models
Verdict: The Cerato Forte remains as a hot
favourite in the compact sedan segment.

(For more details, do check out the latest issue of Wheels Asia magazines/March Issue'2011 available at all news stands now!