VW has models where the “kink” is just like the Civic’s.

As for the grille, the Forte’s grille is totally different from the Civics; otoh, the grille on the Saturn Aura and Sky are eerily similar to the Civic’s.

And if anything, the Civic’s rear is more similar to the A4′s rear than the Forte’s front is to the Civic.

“i would wager those two cars are more similar in appearance at the front end than any other two current production cars that you can suggest…:

I’ll take that bet w/ the Mitsubishi Lancer and the Audi A4 or the new Mercedes E Class w/ the Lexus GS.

Heck, I’d even throw in the front fascia of the Accord w/ the Sonata before it got the refresh for 2009.

I agree with you on the Honda looks department. Kia is playing it safe, but taking huge leaps by styling this one after a Honda. The looks and equipment put this miles ahead of the competition. It seems to me that the driving habit of this Kia is also leaps above the previous Kia’s. With the looks and the equipment and the driving, Kia is starting to grab my attention. Following in the footsteps of Hyundia is not a bad thing. Becoming less of a “korean” car and more of a “Japanese” car is very good for Kia.

Also, I agree with the people and the projector headlights. EVERY new vehicle AT LEAST needs to have projectors. I have Xenons on my car and I won’t even buy a car w/o those. If my $26k GTI has xenon’s standard, than any car can at least offer them as an option. They are even an option on high end cars like Volvo, BMW, Lexus, Audi, etc. ANNOYING.

P.S. – Don’t forget about the Impreza that has projector headlights and is in this class. All Subarus have at least projector headlights.

Speaking of projectors, the only one in its class that has it standard is the Mazda3.

Well, wait, the Scion xB and now the current xC has it standard, but those two vehicles suck so… who cares about them.

http://blogs.edmunds.com/straightline/2009/06/separated-at-birth-civic-meet-forte.html

there are subtle differences, but the differences are exactly that, subtle…i would wager those two cars are more similar in appearance at the front end than any other two current production cars that you can suggest…find some pics and link them here and let folks decide for themselves…

The grilles of the two cars are different (the Forte’s is much larger in size and doesn’t have the same chrome bar across the top (otoh, Saturns do so does that mean Saturn “copied” Honda? Maybe, except that Mitsu came out w/ that look before either did).

The headlights are different – Honda’s kink starts at the grille (just like some VWs – does that mean VW “copied” Honda?) while the Forte has a entire section of the headlight before the kink starts (not to mention that the Forte doesn’t have the jelly-bean shape that the Civic has).

VW and Mitsu are both using the “angry” headlight-look that originated in the previous gen Elantra – does that mean that they are “copying” Hyundai (not to mention that Mitsu is just using an inverted version of Audi’s oversized grille on the Lancer).

Otoh, the Civic’s rear looks a lot like the A4’s (esp. the shape of the taillights which are eerily similar) – I guess that must mean that Honda copied Audi and that the Civic looks like the A4.

Honda also lifted the idea of placing the taillights on the D pillar of the CR-V from Volvo and lifted the Pilot’s new blocky rear and thick C and D pillars from Jeep.

The current gen Accord lifted the front of the 2007 Sonata, the roofline and Hofmeister kink in the C pillar from Nissan/Infiniti (which had stolen it from BMW) and rear design from Saturn.

And so on and so on…

^JohnnyCanuck: Sorry Pal, The Kia peeps had us underfoot, and the keepers of the speed always had us late! Maybe next time when we’re in the hood!

You are right. I had 2.4 on the brain after the mind numbing drive on I-5 and mistakenly upped the displacement by .4-liters. But I stand by the fact that they are related architecture.

Duct tape, anyone?

Mark, you were so close and didn’t slip across for a wobbly pop? I would also like to express my complete befuddlement when it comes to certain Washington state “keepers of the speed”. When they get through the Peace Arch and onto our Highway 99, which happens to be my daily commuter route, it’s almost unfathomable how stunned these people are. You can flash ‘em, ride a foot off their bumper, get the whole front of your car in their left side mirror and nothing. I’ve even given them several of my best ‘Welcome to Canada’ interpretive gestures to no avail. Apparently being completely oblivious to other motorists regardless of what side of the border they’re on is their forte.

Hey Mark E, I take it you dont drive around Seattle too much. That shoulder to shoulder driving thing is strangely par for the course almost everywhere there. It’s like a cultural road-braindeath there that is the most annoying thing ever – I lived there a few years and know of what I speak. It’s so bad I began to empathize with road-ragers. Other than that the town is pretty good. For good chow you should have gone to Cactus Restaurant off Madison near the Arboretum.

As for the Forte, something about the interior design leaves me underwhelmed. The seats look comfortable, but like I’d slide around on them (very flat). The dash design looks low budget – like it was designed for eas of manufacture. And the engine choices seem uninspiring, especially with the trannies offered. A gummy manual trannie with vague feeling is a real let-down, and my experience with automatics combined with small motors is really bad.

In short, though the article iskindly written, I get the feeling you were left unexcited by the car. As if there was nothing to leave you saying “you dudes really need to check this one out!”

Am I right? And if I am, can I at least get a roll of duct tape for that Hamster?

bigs, check that link out to see the resemblance between this thing and the civic…i think the ford-esque look of the front end in those shots comes from the angle of the pic…a more straight-on view (shown in the link) really highlights the civicness of the forte…

Why also do they insist on using reflector headlamps? It can’t be that much cheaper than the projection ones, and they make a car look cheaper because of them IMO

DB9

the dash and steering wheel look hideous