The 2010 Kia Forte Koup is a Bargain Priced Off-The-Rack Honda Civic Coupe

Dare it be said? It looks as though Kia has quite a "coup" on its hands with the muscularly styled new 2010 Kia Koup. Now why has Kia chosen such a bizarre name for the two door version of its popular new Forte sedan? Well, perhaps they were just trying to remind North American buyers that Kia is really spelled with a K and not a C-H. It took them years apparently to make people believe they were not also the creators of the Chia Pet. Ch-ch-ch-Chia.

(Note: The last statement is utterly and totally not based in any fact and is the musing of a deranged auto journalist who for the past seven years has had the Chia Pet jingle stuck in his head.)

While the similarity to the Honda Civic Coupe's styling is undeniable there is a decidedly more masculine look to the Kia Forte Koup. By bulking up the haunches and making the C-Pillar decidedly more angular, the designers at Kia have come up with a coupe (I am sorry I can't keep calling it a "Koup") with a decided air of menace about it. It's a car you could bring home to mother but I am not sure if she would approve of the two of you dating.

If you are coming from the previous generation Spectra to the interior of the new Forte it will appear as a true revelation. Korean cars nowadays don't evolve in your usual generational hops that most manufacturers make: they take giant leaps and are nearing a point where they will no longer need their usual fire-sale prices to sell cars. Let's just hope they don't try and take away that 10 year/100,000 mile warranty. I fear they may be stuck with that one no matter how good the car looks.

The Kia Forte Koup is offered in two flavors, both of which look the same but differ in engine power, wheel size and seating trim. The regular vanilla flavored Koup EX comes with a 156 horsepower 2.0 liter 4 cylinder and starts at $16,595 (a saving of about $3,000 over a Civic EX coupe) while the Neopolitan Koup SX adds a 2.4 liter 173 horsepower engine and starts at $18,695 (about $3,500 less than the decidedly faster and more fun to drive Civic Si).

The only options worth thinking about on the SX are a moonroof and leather upholstery (which you should think twice because Kia leather is so stringy it makes you wonder if it comes from cows that smoke 2 packs of cigarettes a day). The standard upholstery on the SX is a dark black with red piping and tightly woven fabric that is done in a classy manner that could show the MazdaSpeed3 a thing or two about how to upholster a sporty car.

The best bargain here is definitely the SX coupe equipped only with the moonroof as you will then have a car more powerful than a Civic EX that manages to still be cheaper and look that little bit cooler. And doesn't everyone drive a Civic anyways? That has to count for something. Well Kia, you've finally hit the big leagues here. They may not threaten the Civic's sales bottom line all that much but it is nice to see there is a lower priced economy alternative to that all dominating Honda. So come on Kia, keep bringing it.