2-door Kia Forte Koup unveiled at NYIAS!

Kia has unveiled the 2-door coupe version of the good looking Kia Forte at the NYIAS 2009 ongoing in the US this week. The 2-door Forte called the Forte Koup (Cerato Koup in some countries) will be Kia’s first 2-door coupe, and measures 176.4 inches long, 69.5 inches wide and 55.1 inches tall with a wheelbase of 104.3 inches.

It uses the same platform as the Forte sedan, using MacPherson struts and stabilizer bar at the front and a torsion beam at the rear. Two trims are available, the EX and SX, with the SX also featuring a sports suspension among other various equipment level differences like leather steering wheel and shifter, metal pedals, Supervision self-illuminating meter panel, and sports cloth seats. Interestingly in the US, tilt and telescopic steering is only available on the SX – if the car ever makes it here it better have that option, even on the Forte sedan!

Under the Forte Koup’s hood is a choice of either a 2.0 litre CVVT engine with 156 horsepower and 195Nm of torque mated to a 5-speed manual or 4-speed auto for the EX or a 173 horsepower 2.4 litre engine with 228Nm of torque for the sports SX version with a 6-speed manual or a 5-speed Sportmatic automatic transmission (with 2 overdrives, meaning more like Civic’s 5-speed rather than Mazda’s 5-speed).

Kia says the Forte Koup trumps its competitors like the Civic Coupe, the Scion tC and the Chevy Cobalt Coupe with a larger 90.7 cubic feet interior volume. It has 38.7 inches of headroom and 43.6 inches of legroom in the front seats, and 35.3 inches of headroom and 33.9 inches of legroom in the rear seats. The provision of such data clearly shows interior spaciousness is one of the factors that Kia is pushing for this car, since some people may think C-segment coupes are cramped.

Look after the jump for a full hi-res image gallery of the Koup, including multiple exterior angles and interior shots.

---

Tags: kia cerato koup, kia forte coupe, kia forte koup