OKAY, I \TON'T RANT ABOUTinternal flights, you can read aboutrhat on page 90. But it is rwointernal flights in as many weeks andno dury lree shopping - torture.Tiaffic to KL Sentral was particularlybad that morning but I did make theflight. Naza was launching the Naza(Kia) Forte and we were to meet thecar and the team behind the car inPenang.

You would have seen the picruresofthe car by now. And ifyou areani.thing like me, you wouldprobably link the headlights almostimmediately to the Honda Civic.Regardless, this Ka does not looklike a Kia. \Vho changed rhe rules?

For those ofyou too young toremembet Korean cars came into themarket with more than its share ofproblems. Legend has it that local

ryre suppliers did not even carry the

ryre size for these cars. And the issueoFqualiry and dubious looking cars,possibly From dubious looking cardesigners with (possibly) dubiouslooking car design certificates werethen synonymous with Korean cars.And lett not even mention thetumultuous history of the automanufacturer... BUT that, as theysay, is history.

$fi*r a bold global outlook, somesound strategic alliances, a healthy

dose of foreign expertise, rypicalstone-faced Korean determinationand (one can only assume) a largebank account, Hyrndai and Kia haveindeed taken on the world.

And since I do love the odd weepy-eyed success story every now andthen, the Forte looks like a car that isready to take on the world, and infact, it has. Itt a raging success in allthe markets (even Singapore) it'sbeen introduced in and are yousurprised? lnok at it, and moreimporrantly, look at how ir is spec-out.

I drove the Forte 1.6 SX whichcomes with button-start via smarrkey system, alloy pedals, ElectrontcStabiliqy Control (which includes

Electronic Brakeforce Distribution,Cornering Brake Control, Brakefusist System, Anti Lock BrakingSystem, and Tiaction ControlSystem), 4 reverse sensors withdistance display on trip computetdual Airbags, 17-inch alloy wheels,MP3/USB/lpod enabled soundsystem, rear disc brakes and leatherbound steering wheel. And all thesefor a paltry (inclusive ofinsurance)RM81,800.

And I really dont need to say toomuch about how good it looks asyou can see for yourselves here.

On to the road then. I was allomeda seat with two guys from TV3, Andsince the second ofthe three stageroute was rhe most challenging, I

requested For that route, but theykindly asked me to take the 6rst twostages. I saw there and then the startof a beautiful symbiotic relationship.

And since they were filming theentire event, I had to wait for all thetest cars to move offafter the flag-offBut I soon caught up with thehuddle ofcars and overtook them ona long and left sweeping turn. TheForte gailoped pretry efficiently andengine noise, even when stressed isnot intrusive.

After leaving the main packbehind, the ultra windy and narrowstretch ahead of me was like agauntlet thrown to the Forte. Slowlypicking up speed after feeling the carfor the first ten minutes, I was .i

:rprcssed by the roacl handling ard., ' r ' rrcr ing acurnen in rhe rwisw.:retch oF road. The TV3 crew lell.rlent, I'm sure in awe of rhe way the:r,rrte handles in the real world.

The only time the Forte wor.rld'r iss :r be:rr i i when you lost rr,rct iorr:: rhe turn and the ESC kicked in,-

'hhing the wheels of precious input.I he wav to get around this was.in-rple enough though - make sure: s on the limit of traction bur never:.ush it hard enough for the wheel to.pin aimlessly.

There was no g:rsp-inducing:ronrents, aPart From the ChineseJude in a Proton, who wa^s on the:.hone, a.s he took the blind corner,:ight into rhe Naza-badged Kia Forte.io veah, the brakes worls fine too.l3odyroll was minimal and I wouldlhink the drive on norrnal roads with.r normal driver behind the wheelsould bc on the side of firm.

The 17-inch alloys and stiflish

'uspension tracked like a champ andthe addition oFa manual overrideShiftronic) in gear selection, which

bv the way is also lound in the othernvo variants (2.0 SX and 1.6 EX) as*'ell, turned the road inro your own

l ittle racetrack firr thc dav.

Yes, unfortunately, the 4-Speed aurri

r ransmissiorr is missirrg orre prcciorr t

cog and it is telling rvhen you drive it

in a more challenging environment,

l ike rhc onc I was in. I t w:rs l s i t t t , r l iot t

where'2 'was too low and'3 'was tot ,

h igh. But take hcarr . thc t ran'mis. iorr

is sct ro plexe in 'normaJ' dr iv ing

cor-rditions and clriver behaviour as rr

worked like a charm.

The folks in Naze and Kia expects

the safew rating of 5-star NCAP lor

the Forte. Ancl I, unltortunately harvc

the dubious honour to be the first

drii,er on Malaysian ro,rd to shunt

the Forte, into another Forre. And

kids, listen up, no matter how good

yor.r are (or think you are), you need

to fully Focus on the road while vou

are behind the whecl.

Sincc thc TV3 crcw was pretty

busy wirh their rvork, I had to drive

and look at the road directions

provided. \7e rverc slowir-rg down to

a crawl in :r snr:rll triwn, I looked at

thc map firr :r sccond and thari all it

took t , l nr : tke c()nt . lc t . Mv Fortc uas

pcrFect, alrert fronr a d:rmaged

numbcr pletc, Thc othcr Forte had a

rear e ncl job that tru could sue For.

llut the clurable bunrper bouncecl

back into shape afier I pullcd it back

out. Perfect, alnrost.

The Forte is goir-rg ro bc ;r vcry

diflrcult car to find fault in rvhen vor"r

frrctor the price. \We will checl< or-rt

the Fortc 1.6 EX end havc anothcr

cxtcnded dr ive in thc 1.6 SX in thc

next isslrc. tWait firr it.

And oh, I suggest you hcad fbr rl.re

shorvroorn nolv. I don't need a cn'stal

ball to knorv that itt eoins to be a

lonq rvait rhc lonser vou dclav. El

w@@@aryCWe say: This is going to be atough one to beat on sheervalue. And it looks good too.Plus it s no lemon on the roadeither. 'Nuff said.

Prlce: Rlt/BlB0O (OTR w ns)Performance: 0-10Okph n 12 Osecs7At/10akmTech: l59lcc CVVT engine 91 3kWl56Nm

,bpa@r 6t

f f i

{***