There are some really stupid things on YouTube as well as some really funny items, but a TV ad I saw a while ago reminded me of my drive this week.
A guy goes to pick up his date (presumably for the first time), and after closing the door for her, she, figuring there is no one else in the car, breaks wind. After the boyfriend gets around to the driver's side and enters the car he asks her, "did you guys meet, Greg and Janice?" - who happen to be sitting in the back seat.
"We've got chemistry here, ya feel it,?" says the boyfriend.
"I felt it says Janice from the back seat."
Now although I didn't have any girlfriend do anything like this in the vehicle I drove this week, I did have the sneaky suspicion that big brother, or at least a few million people on YouTube could see what I was doing. Again, my mind works in weird ways, but the moment I got into the lovely little KIA Forte sedan I noticed the shifter on the centre console looked suspiciously like the camera I have on my home computer for Skypeing with my friends and relatives in far off lands.
It's a bit of an odd feeling actually, that someone could be watching your every driving move and bad habit, and there is nothing you can do about it except make sure you don't do anything like scratch your nose in the wrong place.
"There was no pick," as Seinfeld once said.
The only way to avoid the camera would be to keep your hand on the shifter at all times, therefore blocking anyone's view.
However, this is not the place either of your hands will be spending a whole lot of time while driving the peppy Forte. No, they won't be anywhere near your nose either. They will be perfectly placed at two and ten on the steering wheel, because that is exactly where the paddle shifters have been placed.
And the only thing you will give anyone in YouTube land to look at is the smile on your face as you flick through the six gears KIA has supplied the Forte with.
The Forte may not be classed as a full-sized sedan compared to some, although it does have plenty of room, but the 173 horses it came with make for a vehicle that can get up and move in a hurry whenever you want, and if you need to open the windows whenever you take a new date for a drive, then getting up to highway speed so you can ventilate the interior is a cinch.
KIA has done a nice little job on this Forte and there is a whole lot of car for the money.
Coming in under $25,000 you get leather, power roof and windows, height-adjustable seat, remote access, side and curtain air bags, front window de-icer, traction control, antilock brakes, satellite radio, stereo controls on the wheel, Bluetooth hands-free phone, heated seats, AUX and USB jacks, power mirrors, tilt/telescoping wheel, electronic stability control and automatic climate control.
The steering wheel is nice and thick providing a nice driving feel and the paddle shifters are a blast to play with. However if you are a bit of a YouTube voyeur you can drive the Forte in full automatic mode and allow everyone to hear you sing and watch as you shout obscenities at people who cut you off. If you like the automatic part but want to shift a bit more like a manual transmission you can slap the shifter to the side and tap it forward and back to change gears in manumatic mode. Either way, the Forte will make sure you are never bored.
Even though the Forte comes in coupe and hatch versions, I can tell you that the sedan is as much fun as the other two, and if you have kids it is even better.
KIA are starting to get into the sporty car section of the market and their first foray into this segment is with the Forte, and it has been - and rightly so - a huge success. The car is definitely sporty, outdoing the power of many in its class and offering a ton of goodies for the money. There is also more good news from KIA in that they will be bringing an even sportier version of the Forte to the market soon, with somewhere around 80 more horsepower I am told. Now that should go like stink. Excuse the pun.
The KIA Forte is a nice little sporty sedan offering a lot on the fun quotient for the money, just be careful if you go on a date or happen to enjoy singing while you drive.
Someone might be watching.
Vehicle type: 4 door sedan
Transmission 6-speed manumatic
Engine: 2.4-litre four cylinder
Horsepower: 173 @ 6,000
Torque: 168 @ 4,000
Mileage: 9 l/100 km 31 mpg City 6.2 l/100km 46 mph hwy
Price: $24,550
