Well, lookee here, it’s the Kia Forte K3 again. The second-gen YD mule, first seen on local roads last November, is back doing its evaluation rounds, plying the North-South highway. In this case, near Ipoh.
It’s wearing the same trade plate, though now there’s a bit less cladding than before; the front and rear end masks haven’t been touched, but the rear side panel door apron is gone. Will the striptease act continue the next time the car is seen?
The Kia Forte K3 was launched in Korea last September, so the evaluation mule’s sighting here two months after that could be definitely termed quick.
We reported back then that it wouldn’t be until sometime early this year that the sedan – which debuted in its home market with a 138 hp and 167 Nm 1.6 litre direct-injected four-cylinder mill – would make its debut here, but the word on the grapevine is that it’ll actually be mid-year before it finally arrives, and reportedly the EX variant will be dropped for the YD, here at least.
The Forte has since made its North American debut, the USDM variant debuting in December, and the five-door hatch version premiered recently in Chicago, with up to 201 hp to be had from that one.
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
hoping it will be less than 90k..
Bring us the GDI version and consider that you got a confirmed sale from me.
Good car but marketed by crony company who are more concerned with their hundreds of free APs as opposed to building the Kia name in Malaysia
hoping that K3 will assembled in gurun, will be much more cheaper tho…CKD version..please naza please…
Create your own company then and bring in other cars model to our shore. Or probably your company can proposed to KIA that u will market their brand very well compare to NAZA. All the best!
What’s the expected spec?
For sure got 6 airbags and 6 speed tranny. Engine?
Ask the govt to improve the petrol first lar…..
GDI engine running on our current petrol state is hopeless.
The Toyota salesman is now panickking. You will now see many appear like vermonts and worms coming out of the grounds to give nasty comments about Korean cars. They main thing would be Resale Value. But they fail to tell all of us, Toyota resale value has dropped so much. I just sold of my 2010 Camry and it was in excellent condition, only clocked 80,000KM. I managed to get a mere RM85,000.
You should had sold to me. :) I’m contemplating between Camry & Sonata.
Yes less than 90k will make the useless junk civic and new altis look even junk.
In 5 years, the rotten cabbage will be worth around RM9k
And you will worth less than 1 cent cause ppl hates u here and yet you are thick skinned enough to post here everyday with your useless rhetoric every day without fail.
9K? u sell to me la…Zzz
i know the RV may low, but don’t over underestimate it..
Wait… different rear light?
Yeah. Notice that too. Is it?
If they change the rear lights (to a cheaper option), what else have they change underneath?
i think no Led daylight too vs the korean version. ish…tis rear light very not nice compare to the korean one
elantra got led?
OMG…it seem like come here very soon….may faster than the new Vios.
Come to me K3 , Come !!!!!!!
So this is the car that i saw a few days ago at tmn melawati……
Gotta feeling that the upcoming new K3 will breach RM100K price tag.. new Rio SX also already RM79,888…
i think K3 will be ckd version in here, maybe the price below 100k
RM99,888.00 OTR… Still less than RM100K… hehe :P
hoping can below RM90k for 1.6 too.
Funny you should say that because when I asked a prominent Naza Kia salesperson few months ago in Kuching about the possible price for K3, I was told that they expect it to be more than RM 100,000. I had asked because I’m looking for a replacement for my Wira and am considering Forte, Almera, Vios and City. I’d be very surprised if it ends up being less than RM 90,000.
How about the performance of Forte? K3 is a Forte.
hope that it will still retain the 2.0 version.
what the hell with tampal tampal when we already know this car design
It looks like a Frog Inspired sedan from the pics..
sometimes they just have to follow company’s guideline even many ppl knew the design… there are some ppl does not know..
It’s the board of censorship Malaysia that makes them do that, if not considered obscene.
I’m waiting but hope can sell below 80k for 1.6L. If not, it will be hard to sell if sell more than 80k because new Vios is coming, Almera sell at competitive price…
Almera and Vios belongs to B-Segment while K3/Forte is a C-Segment. Comparing it to Elantra should be more appropriate.
what?in bolehland the benchmark is vios. high spec same price or lower than vios can sell evethough different league..higher than that cannot go(x leh blah)..seriously dude..
Many are admiring, but few are willing to take the step to purchase one. What’s the current perception? “Koreans are not as reliable, spare parts expensive and low resale value. So better get a T or H or N.” The Koreans are putting lots of effort and kit to win our hearts but many are still entrenched in the perceived “wisdom” of old i.e. the Jappos are more reliable. I have a 9 year old Hyundai Accent that served me so well. It wasn’t difficult at all to find spare parts when I needed it (even so, rarely) and it isn’t more expensive to maintain than a Vios. I’m not blindly supporting the Koreans but it irks me when the Jappos constantly shortchange us with low kit levels and yet the market favours them mostly from hearsay. Sure the Jappos make great cars, but despite the competition, why are they still arrogant and shortchanging us? I would love to hear honest assessment from current Forte owners on how the car is serving them – excellent or disappointing.
I;m with you. Something has to be done with this perception on korean cars. I have seen many korean cars that are as reliable if not more than similar jap cars but those did not make the news.
The moment you get a korean car with problems, and the news are filled with “korean cars are not reliable” and mr Sam Loo will beat his chest screaming “korean junk have low reliabliy and RV”.
The thing is when a jap car has known issues ( throttle delay ), its being brushed aside as a “feature” of the drive by wire system when anybody with some knowledge on control system will know its a major fault. When jap cars have 1 airbag as opposed to 6 in a korean car, some joker will lie about the fact that the airbag in a korean car will never deploy. Don’t get me started on stability control. Heck, some even think jap cars have better steel or made of samurai sword steel that would slice mountains like hot knife through butter ( I don’t mean u AVH, i mean some jokers i know ), when all a car owner need is a car that doesnt rust prematurely before 10-15 years for a modern car and i have never seen a post 2000 korean/jap car rust prematurely.
Keep up the lie and jap manufacturers will just laugh their way to the bank with their very high profit margins selling cars with no features, no safety features and comparitively, an empty box to the gullible buyers.
None taken .
But I like to bring to the argument what I think. We have all, including me, tend to focused on it’s negative. The Koreans, I’ll admit has the king of the Safety system, and I’ve really met people who say Korean cars don’t deploy or VSC dose’t work, but there are some who also spread rumors about Japanese tech. I’ve actually start up some controversy and hatred back in the Vios article, about a rumor on why the VSC isn’t on the Camry, I won’t say it. But if we look at another way, the Altis does have VSC and TRC, so does the Prii and . Most Hondas has 4 or more Airbags and VSC[still loath that CKD Jazz], the Prius C beats any Koreans or Ford by having 7 Airbags.
And let’s face it, most of them, Altis/ Vios/ City, are due to be replaced. So just because of one car that tarnish the reputation of Japanese, the imbecile 2.5V Camry (and that stupid CKD Jazz), we would all hate Japanese forever. No they are good in safety, just not as good as the Koreans. So if you ask me, contrary to most, I still have my fingers cross on the new Vios, 6-airbags and massive passive/active system may not make it, but at least 4-airbags and VSC, my fingers are cross and i’am not expecting much, but still expecting.
And as for that throttle responds, I’ve sat in a Optima(last gen) nope, not much. It’s a shame actually, the VTEC in the city would have perform much better with a manual. But in the name of Fuel Efficiency (which is rather impressive) it has that stupid Torque Converter……even Thailand gets a Manual.
Kia airbag did deploy if the situation warranted as what i had experienced with Picanto (cbu) way back in 2005.The airbag balooned and will smash the drivers forehead.The exploded air bag then flatten with slight blood stains collected and remained hanging on the steering wheel.It costs about 1-2 thousand to replaced and got to order from Korea.I can’t be sure whether the workshop really replaced it or not.
Anyone who would like to test whether Korean a.b can deploy or not i can show how.But at your own risk.
forte is very great car compare to vios , city, and altis…why,,? you got what u paid..
Very true….even more perhaps actually with spec beating even some German luxury.
But the thing is, there is still the high cost of spare parts and the high level of potential parts failure considering the number of tech cramp into the car as it age. Hyundai is charging woefully for it’s Matrix parts and Kia(or Naza) for the Ria/Citra and the Specta 5 .
I would love a Korean car, but only if I were to use it for 3 years. sorry, but that is my personal believe.
You don’t know what you are missing.
Parts if rosak will cost a bomb whenever u repair them at the authorised dealer. Toyota, BMW, Mercedes, Honda are all the same. My sister’s old tadpole city costs her RM450 each 5000km service, and mazda’s rear bumper costs RM2.5k.
But once after warranty, you bring your car to a specialist workshop outside ( not bawah pokok, but specialist ) and your maintainence bill drops to a fraction of the price.
I used to own a smart roadster that would cost RM7k to fix a broken ABS module at Cycle but when i brought it to a Specialist in PJ, the repair bill came down to RM2k.
Same goes for Korean car. Due to the recent popularity with Kia Fortes, a bunch of specialist workshops have mushroomed all over the city. Things that costed my colleague’s Kia Picanto 2k to change at Kia costed her RM400 only at those specialist shops.
That believe that ppl had on Korean cars need to be shaked off. The change is happening even as we speak. The only prob is the change is happening faster than human being’s ability to change.
Oh c’mon K made car lovers, please get a Starex instead of a Vellfire. Ops, where is the market of the K made MPV????? What a big laugh!
malaysian mentality never ceases to amaze me. when it comes to foreign cars, they’d think of honda or toyota, when it comes to toothpaste, they’d buy colgate, when they have a headache, they’d get panadol, etc.
it is this mindset that ensures that Malaysian consumers continue to be ‘cheated’ by japanese carmakers…….high priced cars but with mediocre or outdated specs.
is the new vios really even worth considering? how about almera? hope the new city (which will probably be launched next year) will really be ‘new’ in every sense of the word.
I would rather go for Nissan Almera.an honest car with good comfort, handling and fuel economy and cheaper price.
anything higher up i expect some form of turbo engines, stability control along with cvt transmission.I don’t need many airbags.
Nothing less.
nissan almera ugly design without bodykit
I have to agree with you. With the upcoming Vios teased to be sharper, the Almera will carry the torch and the Dugong title. But Mat Global is somewhat right, for that price, you cannot have a better car bar the Rio. But the Rio is on the other end of the spectrum. I cannot justiify comfort as in ride quality but it’s rather…..small. The Almera feels like a Camry in size and comfort.
Almera has a place in this car market. Its targeted at ppl who i reckon
1) Hate cars and driving
2) Want to be as disconnected from the road as possible.
3) Value comfort above all else ( sportiness, performance, looks, safety, etc )
The rest of us who love cars, love to drive and love cars that look great is not the target market for Almera.
Agree….. sadly, my parents most likely will get it for their next car as it suits them the most. Spacious, rather high, there is Reverse camera option, easy to maintain and they are not the travelling type. I drove a Sylphy during CNY[not mine] with my mom, she love it, comfortable, silent and rather high(compared to the City)
sad to say they have aged and I can’t blame them. And the Almera will be almost perfect, they don’t mind the looks.
even with bodykit its still ugly.. preve way better on look and spec..
And that’s about it really, only look and spec.
If you want to have quality please buy an audi which cost you a bomb. Noone can really sure whether the car is a an apple or lemon.
when u crash.. then it is already too late to say u need more airbags
Make sure the Korean made airbag is fuctionable even though there are 12 airbags.
OMG…N.Almera…the worst sedan design tat i had never seen on the road….cacat betul…
Low RV !!
New Vios Better… I tell you.
For some unknown reason, I cannot dislike or like s the buttons has sort of freeze up for me. So I’ll personally ‘dislike’ your comment…..hahahha
[attempt sarcasm]
Unable to click too. BUt on word for u, DISLIKE!!!
Preve Better
i’m 1000% agreed with u… only BMW owners see Preve its better for economical price car..
Hmm why isn’t there the keyless door open/close button on the knob?
no, it’s a facelifted Gen 2.
Kia Forte is a overrated car. Better I keep my Fiesta
waiting for city 2014
1. The recent Proton workers’ strike over minimum wage issues drawn me to conclusion that Proton still suffering from idle capacity of its factory.
2. Proton simply cannot afford to pay higher salary while not much cars to assemble due to lower sales.
3. Proton should lease part of their factory to Naza Kia for this CKD model and other models too. Absorb the affected Proton workers also.
4. With more Kia cars assembled at Proton factory and using Proton workers at least Proton able to continue pay their salary and even increase it a bit above minimum wage.
5. We shall see if Proton still cannot produce nice design cars like Kia then I’m afraid sooner or later DRB group got no choice but to lelong Proton to Naza and Kia Korea group lah HE HE HE HE HE
What? DRB to ‘lelong’ Proton..
Are you sound minded. DRB is a congolomerate and an auto manufacturing specialised co. I am sure they can handle and maneuver with strategics plans for Proton.
The new owner adopts a stringent quality control and restructuring the vendors system to increase efficiency and cost effectiveness.
Strike is not something unusual in the auto industry worldwide. Naturally, their workers too want a better pay to go along with quality and dedicated works, as demanded by their new master DRB and Proton buyers.
How much more nicer car design likes Proton Preve can be? In all reviews i come across none say it is bad looking though may not be as beautiful as the said Kia cars.
Being a ‘Market Calls Perform’ share counter (btw i am a remisier) , the co. know better how to utilise, share or lease the factory in whatever ways can benefit if the need arises.
I can assure you under no circumstances Proton together with Lotus can failed under a reputable company like DRB- HICOM with corporate exercise options at hand. Only an ill-will person hopes so.
Gonna cost a fortune.
Btw, nice rims.
k3 1.6 in brunei cost $ 26k.
So i guess malaysia will cost RM 1xxk.
Dear all friend,
Just received a good news from KIA insider top management saying that KIA K3 will be launch at August & start selling on September. Not sure with the date yet. Pricing wise will slightly expensive 5-7K than current Kia Forte.
have a good day :)
Reliable source?
When available for test drive and open for booking?
Only 1.6 liter available whose specification as same as the Korean version?
Thanks.
Reliable source?
When available for test drive and open for booking?
Only 1.6 liter available whose specification as same as the Korean version?
Thanks.
Hi guys,
I heard from one of the Kia dealers in JB saying that K3 will be launch by July 2013..current Forte will stop their production by May (this month)..
No info on the price tag yet…5-7k increases as per Elvin remarks might be true..
Cheers
heard it too.most probably early july
how will k3 compared to hyundai elantra ? more competition, better choice for consumer. will wait for k3 launch, then only decide k3 or elantra.