Test drived Kia Forte Koup

[Xeryh]

Maybe you could elaborate when you say "Korean tech vs lousy conti"?

 

actually there are other advantages for choosing a koup over a scirocco

- koup seats 5

- koup is brand new in the market (at that time)

- korean technology vs lousy conti

- 20k savings now could mean a more superior conti for your next car

 

[Karnaugh]

the lime green koup is 2L manual. i tried looking up history pricing for koup 2L, 2010 may roughly 85k then. scirocco 1.4TSI is 113k before discount (usually 7-9k discount)

 

near to scirocco pricing then in my opinion, others im not sure. koup 2L pricing was never really far from scirocco 1.4TSI, given the discounts VCS give after the listed price.

 

i thought in this forum, there're some Koup owners who say they could have gotten scirocco since same price bracket or so. but a matter of preference. another evidence.

 

that bolt on turbo kit cost a few grand as well btw. + other mods

 

 

 

Good that you clear up the air. Happy CNY to you too

[Amirule]

Test drove the 1.6 Koup, very raw engine sound (not in a good way). My fiancee asked why the engine so rough sounding. SE said it was the sports exhaust. The truth is probably halfway.

[Karnaugh]

Test drove the 1.6 Koup, very raw engine sound (not in a good way). My fiancee asked why the engine so rough sounding. SE said it was the sports exhaust. The truth is probably halfway.

 

Strange I thought it sounds rather smooth and bassy. Comparable to most Japanese 1.6L cars out there.

Edited February 3, 2011 by Karnaugh

[Ivtecody]

saw a lime green kia koup with big velocity wings , big rims and a type R sticker on the boot.

what a joker.

 

Was bullied all the way by a souped up accord JDM who tailed him, cajoled him and forced him into slowest lane.

 

felt sorry for the Kia Koup driver

 

I dun tink it's a normal souped up accord JDM, it's a euro R which I felt the euro R is bent on bullying the driver of the lime green koup.

 

Btw, the driver of the lime green koup didn't even bother about the euro R as i guess he knows it's different class.....

Edited February 3, 2011 by Ivtecody

[Friendstar]

Strange I thought it sounds rather smooth and bassy. Comparable to most Japanese 1.6L cars out there.

 

 

I drove before and thought it sounds decently nice.

 

But it's all relative.

 

Ask radx or porker to drive I'm sure they'll hate the sound.

[Friendstar]

U all should try driving the fortuner.

 

The sound is indeed raw and horrible.

Cos based on the truck platform

[13177]

U all should try driving the fortuner.

 

The sound is indeed raw and horrible.

Cos based on the truck platform

Fortuner engine sound so horrible? But this SUV looks quite tough, seems like quite a safe vehicle to drive?! But maybe most 4X4 car sound is raw & horrible? As i also find the terios 1.5A also sound raw and noisy!

[Minikong]

Maybe you could elaborate when you say "Korean tech vs lousy conti"?

 

hi every 1 huar ar, hope all of you survive the terrible 9 car crash on pie.... i had high beam 3 or 4 opc car in these few dyas liao, very stress ar....

i know why he said korean tech vs lousy conti, because alot of conti driver complaining, gear box gone burst like (vw)

blue propeller complaint ecu die la these all.

any way the world is round, like the top 3 brand of conti liek audi, bm, and merc, theyt are actually relatively performance car cartegory even in thier lowest range, and hence, of course it will have more problem than a simple korean car .

these 3 brand, make ppl pay for thier driving pleasure,joy, stability, saftly,luxury handling and of course the high performance!

drivers buy such car look beyond just a transport, espcially with amg, m, and rs series

so if you said conti technolochy is lousy, it is not been fair to them, as they dont built a simple car as the korean did

Edited February 5, 2011 by Minikong

[Cttan456]

 

A Kia 1.6 and Koup is about $50K cheaper than a 1.4 Scirocco now and I am sure that the modded Koup we are referring to is a 1.6, not 2.0.

 

Its simply pointless to compare a $80+K with a $130+K car at today's prices.

 

Everybody has a budget to stick to including buyers of luxury cars. Why would anyone want to buy a ROC 1.4 instead of a 2.0? a Koup 1.6 instead of a 2.0?

Why even buy a S300 instead of a S600?

If an owner of an S300 tell you he doesn't need the power and all that gizmos (don't forget the S600 doesn't just come with a bigger engine but also many, many more oo-lala luxury features) he is b-------tting.

Which means majorioty of car buyers have a budget to stick to which, in principle makes majority of car buyers the same because they still want to save that money. Money no enough ma.

 

 

 

 

[Kar_lover]

 

Was reading the latest issue of Torque which had a review on the new 6 speed koup.

 

Strangely the additional 2 gears don't seem to have much difference. 0-100 was only less than 0.5 secs. In the real world, its as good as no difference. But even more surprisingly, the FC also not much change from the additional 2 ratios. From 14.1km/l in the 4 speed to 14.3km/l in the 6 speed, i.e. u only get additional 200m for every litre of petrol. Based on 2,000km done per month, you will only save about 2 litres ($4) of petrol!

 

[Cttan456]

Having 6 gears will not make a big difference in the 0-100kmh times because since the gears are more closely stacked together, it will require 3rd gear to hit 100kmh as compared t a 4 speed which requires only 2nd gear. But then 0.5sec is quite a lot. A car can cover a fairly big distance in 0.5sec.

 

The 14.3 km/l is derived from constant speed and the slightly taller ratio will reap small gains.

 

But in the real world driving it makes a bigger difference where in gear acceleration and economy will improve due to having the more appropriate gear for any given speed and throttle input. In a 4 speeder, the revs will drop a lot whenever it upshifts but in a 6 speeder it will drop less thus maintaining the engine nearer to its efficient power band so that less throttle input is needed should you need some extra go.

 

Our local magazine reviews do not test a car thoroughly.

 

Some UK magazines even quote very detailed in gear times like 20-40mph, 40-60mph, 60-80mph and so on.

Even for standing starts, they measure from 0-20,0-30, 0-40, 0-50 and so on so you can see. They also test drive fuel consumption based on different scenario. Urban, constant and mix.

 

So best to take our local reviews with a pinch of salt

Edited February 25, 2011 by Cttan456

[Mike1234]

Was reading the latest issue of Torque which had a review on the new 6 speed koup.

 

Strangely the additional 2 gears don't seem to have much difference. 0-100 was only less than 0.5 secs. In the real world, its as good as no difference. But even more surprisingly, the FC also not much change from the additional 2 ratios. From 14.1km/l in the 4 speed to 14.3km/l in the 6 speed, i.e. u only get additional 200m for every litre of petrol. Based on 2,000km done per month, you will only save about 2 litres ($4) of petrol!

 

6spd gearbox would allow the car to reduce over-revv ....

 

in this way, it will be able to make the car fully utilize its power and more fuel efficient...

 

Ultimately, the new engine(1.6l) will be releasing soon....

 

[Lucaswh]

I drove before and thought it sounds decently nice.

 

But it's all relative.

 

Ask radx or porker to drive I'm sure they'll hate the sound.

 

At least for the 1.6M, the exhaust sounds quite bassy, some say sporty. I quite like it, a bit like my approved TTE exhaust on my old Vios. Not overbearingly ricer, neither a fart cannon like those kui toh exhaust. Just nice especially when you rev it.

 

My Koup friends on 1.6A though, commented their exhaust doesn't sound as nice..perhaps they don't really hit the higher rpms as often due to constant upshifting on the autobox.

 

But I must comment though, that the engine is indeed gruff.

[Kar_lover]

6spd gearbox would allow the car to reduce over-revv ....

 

in this way, it will be able to make the car fully utilize its power and more fuel efficient...

 

Ultimately, the new engine(1.6l) will be releasing soon....

 

 

Well, i guess i just felt a bit "heartened" that the new koup is not THAT much different from my own. I had actually contemplated selling my koup to get the new one! But now can see definitely not worth it. But for new buyers, of course they should take the new one (though C&C still selling the old one). I just felt they should have added electric seats at least for the 2.0L model.

 

 

[Coupecabriolet]

At least for the 1.6M, the exhaust sounds quite bassy, some say sporty. I quite like it, a bit like my approved TTE exhaust on my old Vios. Not overbearingly ricer, neither a fart cannon like those kui toh exhaust. Just nice especially when you rev it.

 

My Koup friends on 1.6A though, commented their exhaust doesn't sound as nice..perhaps they don't really hit the higher rpms as often due to constant upshifting on the autobox.

 

But I must comment though, that the engine is indeed gruff.

 

my bro koup 1.6A, from abit distance can hear already.. esp when parking his car outside my house. so noisy

 

i always chuckle at him, no offence to koup owners though

 

the only thing i hate is the suspension!!!

[Kar_lover]

the only thing i hate is the suspension!!!

 

Please elaborate why u hate the suspension. too hard? its supposed to be a sporty car.

 

Anyway coincidentally i am currently considering lowering my koup. But not sure whether to do it cos my previous car after lowering, when go over hump, sometimes underneath will hit the hump quite hard so a bit scared. Secondly, not sure if i should go with lowering springs or coilovers. For lowering springs, the koup is already lower than 4 door forte, i am afriad lowering it with springs (not adjustable) might be a bit too low and the tire become "sunk" into the wheel hub/fender, which to me looks very beng. So i only want to lower a little bit (like 2cm). Whereas coilover is adjustable so i can adjust it until its just nice but its 3x the price. Since my main reason is more for aesthetic and not cos i want to corner fast fast (in this aspect koup suspension is already satisfactory for me), i'm not sure if i wanna spend so much.

 

Anyone here lowered their koup/forte got any feedback/advice or want to sell to me? haha

[Coupecabriolet]

Please elaborate why u hate the suspension. too hard? its supposed to be a sporty car.

 

Anyway coincidentally i am currently considering lowering my koup. But not sure whether to do it cos my previous car after lowering, when go over hump, sometimes underneath will hit the hump quite hard so a bit scared. Secondly, not sure if i should go with lowering springs or coilovers. For lowering springs, the koup is already lower than 4 door forte, i am afriad lowering it with springs (not adjustable) might be a bit too low and the tire become "sunk" into the wheel hub/fender, which to me looks very beng. So i only want to lower a little bit (like 2cm). Whereas coilover is adjustable so i can adjust it until its just nice but its 3x the price. Since my main reason is more for aesthetic and not cos i want to corner fast fast (in this aspect koup suspension is already satisfactory for me), i'm not sure if i wanna spend so much.

 

Anyone here lowered their koup/forte got any feedback/advice or want to sell to me? haha

 

im not technically inclined when it comes to suspension like you but its really uncomfortable. whether it is a sports car or sporty car, its debatable. people call it sports car, others call it poseur car.

 

but anyways, it should at least deal comfortably with local road humps. even when slow down considerably, still uncomfortable. too hard. i know of cars more sporty and expensive than koup that can feel more comfortable over bumps and humps. oh and it isnt lowered, with stock rims and tyres 17", it was bad. we decided to get 18% low profile, it became worse.. haha. but ok la no choice