2020 Kia Forte Review

At this year's SEMA tuner show in Las Vegas, corporate siblings Hyundai and Kia introduced — amid the usual raft of custom-built show cars — some real consumer-oriented products. Hyundai unveiled dealer-installed upgrades for the Veloster, including a Borla exhaust and sport shifter kit for the manual transmission. But the bigger news for fans of affordable fun cars came from Kia.

The 2020 Kia Forte GT is a new trim level aimed at driving enthusiasts who want a small and practical sedan. It receives numerous performance and aesthetic upgrades, along with a ton of technology features and equipment. Will the Forte GT set a new standard for sporty little sedans? We're eager to find out.

The Oily Bits

Under the hood of the 2020 Forte GT hides a capable turbocharged 1.6-liter four-cylinder, making 201 horsepower and 195 pound-feet of torque. This little power unit can be found in quite a few other Kia and Hyundai products, from the Kia Soul hatchback to the hefty Hyundai Tucson SUV, and in every application we appreciate its punchy output. In the Forte, it will provide a welcome bump up from the standard 147-hp engine.

The more powerful motor will pair with either a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic or a six-speed manual transmission. While the manual will come as a pleasant surprise to a small but passionate segment of shoppers, the automatic is a bit of a question mark for us here. We've had inconsistent experiences with its impact on drivability in different vehicles. In fact, this transmission's tendency to act out at low speeds is often a sore spot in otherwise desirable cars from Hyundai and Kia.

That said, we didn't have any notable issues with the seven-speed in the 2019 Hyundai Veloster Turbo, which has essentially the same powertrain as the Forte GT. We'll keep our fingers crossed that the kinks have been ironed out.

Other upgrades include a fully independent rear suspension, larger front disc brakes, thicker sway bars and stickier Michelin Pilot Sport summer tires. In his First Drive, our own Mark Takahashi said that the standard Forte delivered better-than-average driving dynamics for the class, so our hopes for the GT trim are sky-high.

The Dry Bits

The GT will be the Forte's top trim level, positioned above the EX. In addition to performance styling cues inside and out — including a unique grille and side sills, a flat-bottomed steering wheel and contrast stitching — the GT has quite a few practical niceties. You get LED interior lighting, a 320-watt Harman Kardon stereo, wireless charging and safety technologies such as forward collision warning with automatic emergency braking, lane keeping assist and a blind-spot monitor.

This features load has slightly fewer items than what the EX comes with, but fear not. There's also a GT2 package, which adds adaptive cruise control and heated and ventilated leatherette seats with 10-way power adjustment for the driver. That gives you every feature available on the Forte, not to mention more than some larger and pricier vehicles.

A lesser "GT Line" trim will also be available. It includes the GT's appearance and interior equipment but ditches all the performance upgrades in favor of the standard engine, transmission and suspension.

Pricing and Availability

There's no word yet on pricing for the 2020 Kia Forte GT, but we expect it to do battle with the stalwart Honda Civic Si somewhere in the mid-$20,000s. Kia is officially calling this a 2020 model, so don't expect to see it in showrooms until later in 2019.