Kia Forte

One place in the range, three different names. In the United States, Canada and Mexico the car is called the Forte. In Australia, Asia and South Korea it is the Cerato or the K3. And for Europe Kia developed an entirely different model — the Ceed, built in Slovakia. So there is no European Forte to compare against; the comparison is with the Ceed, and that is a different car on a different tune.

The body divides the markets again. In America the mass variant is a four-door saloon, and the Forte5 hatchback is far rarer — in our stock it is a handful of cars against nearly four thousand saloons, plus a few Koup coupes. In Europe the Ceed was sold as a hatchback, as the practical Ceed SW estate and as the sporting ProCeed shooting brake. A saloon simply does not exist there.

The engine is the main reason to buy American. The 2.0 Nu naturally aspirated with 147 hp runs the Atkinson cycle on an IVT — no turbocharger, mechanically simple, and cheap to convert to gas. It is also the overwhelmingly dominant engine in our stock. Above it sits the 1.6 Turbo GDI with 201 hp, the Forte GT, on a seven-speed DCT or a six-speed manual. The European Ceed runs small turbo petrols — 1.0, 1.4 and the newer 1.5 T-GDi — and the 1.6 CRDi diesel, all direct injection, on which gas is expensive and awkward.

The suspension is the difference you feel on the first drive, and it favours the European car. The American Forte is set up for straight motorways and maximum comfort — softer, with more roll in corners, and almost every version outside the GT runs a simpler torsion beam at the rear. The Ceed is tuned the European way, with a firmer chassis and a more direct steering, and the higher trims use independent multi-link rear suspension. If you want a car for corners, the American one is not it.

The equipment is poor at the bottom and good at the top. The American base FE and LX were made for students and rental fleets — cheap plastics and basic audio. The top GTs look serious, though, with red stitching, LED headlights and Harman Kardon. Production ended in 2024 to make way for the K4, and that shows in our years: the Forte stops, the K4 starts.