Detroit 2018: All-New Kia Forte Debuts – Goodbye 6AT, Hello CVT

Kia Motors America (KMA) has just unveiled the all-new third-generation Kia Forte at the 2018 Detroit Auto Show. The Kia Forte is known as the Cerato elsewhere, though Malaysians are familiar with both names, as Naza Kia Malaysia offered the Cerato as a replacement to the Forte.

Taking its design cues from the Stinger, the all-new Forte continues to feature its tiger nose grille up front, surrounded by a pair of Stinger-inspired headlights. The all-new Forte’s turn signals are mounted at the bottom of the front bumper, near the integrated air curtains that help improve aerodynamic performance. The separate turn signal design cues continue to the rear, with the rear turn signals and reverse lights housed at the bottom corners of the rear bumper.

In term of dimensions, the all-new Kia Forte has grown to 4,640 mm in length, 1,440 mm in height and 1,798 mm in width. This allowed engineers to improve interior legroom and boot space. The all-new Kia Forte’s boot space comes in at 427 litres.

Inside, the all-new Kia Forte gets an equally new interior design that features a standard 8.0-inch floating-type infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility. Wireless charging and a 320-watt Harman Kardon premium sound system are available as an option.

As for the powertrain, the all-new Forte is powered by Kia’s second-generation 2.0-litre Nu four-cylinder Atkinson cycle petrol engine. The engine can be paired to a six-speed manual or Kia’s all-new Intelligent Variable Transmission (IVT), which is their own-developed CVT. Yes, it certainly looks like Kia is phasing out their six-speed automatic transmission in favour of CVTs. Kia estimates that the Nu engine is able to output 147 hp and 179 Nm of torque, delivering 35 combined MPG (14.8 km/L) , a 3 MPG (1.28 km/L) improvement over its predecessor.

This powertrain combination marks the first of a new line of powertrains Kia calls “Smart Stream” that will eventually find their way into future models.

The all-new Kia Forte can also be had with a number of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), including Blind-Spot Collision Warning (BCW), Lane Keeping Assist (LKA), Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist (FCA), and Smart Cruise Control (SCC).