Porky's Revenge

Well, Porky, my trusty steed for the last 10 years, 4 months and 25 days finally got replaced. After being the most reliable vehicle I've ever owned, I ditched her BEFORE she left me stranded. Rust was starting to grow rather rapidly, some places a little more critical than others (like the radiator mounts), and she needed a lot of little work that a car it's age and miles (155k) needs.

So we found a really good replacement. 2010 Kia Forte SX Sedan 6MT. Found it in Troy, OH listed for $13,900 with 18k miles on the odo. Ended up with $10k loan for a 2 year old car that's almost new.

I'm thinking this may be a nice STF car to play with next year while I sell the C4 and save up fora used C6 to play with.

On to the pics:

Nice looking little car. Hyundai/KIA have really been catching my attention as of late. I will be watching them over the next few years for when it's time for the Subaru to go.

Good luck with your new car.

-Sean

Man, that really is a smart looking car. Nice buy.

3 pedals= i approve.

Man that is a good buy in today's market. +1 for a stick!

And the revenge part?

Man that thing look like a Honda to me. I think that is a good thing. It looks great. You are ready for another 10 years!

Good luck with the new car, and congrats!

snipes wrote: Man that thing looks like Hondas used to be to me. I think that is a good thing. It looks great. You are ready for another 10 years!

FTFY

Nice. Is that the 2.4?

You can't beat the value of an almost-new Kia.

ST_ZX2 wrote: Nice. Is that the 2.4?

Yep, 174hp 2.4. It's funny, the first 5 gears are almost identical to the elantra's trans but with a real overdrive that allows highway cruising at stupid speeds without being at 4 bajillion rpms.

I'm thinking if I don't get the C4 sold soon enough, I'll throw on a set of coilovers and a rear sway bar, put some 225/45/17 star specs on the stoc wheels and run it in STF next year.... I think it could be fun/competitive.

Bobzilla wrote:

ST_ZX2 wrote: Nice. Is that the 2.4?

Yep, 174hp 2.4. It's funny, the first 5 gears are almost identical to the elantra's trans but with a real overdrive that allows highway cruising at stupid speeds without being at 4 bajillion rpms. I'm thinking if I don't get the C4 sold soon enough, I'll throw on a set of coilovers and a rear sway bar, put some 225/45/17 star specs on the stoc wheels and run it in STF next year.... I think it could be fun/competitive.

Yeah...my ET could use a 6th gear in a big way; it is spinning pretty good at 80mph (in theory). The extra .4 litres would be pretty cool too. I think the Forte is the same chassis, but has a twist beam rear axle instead of the ETs IRS.

Who makes decent coilovers...

Bilstein makes a basic non-adjustable set for the i30CW (ET here)...but they have to be ordered from Germany.

So , I test fitted the RDX 18's. not gonna work. Well, let me rephrase, not gonna work FOR ME. I'm not into that stance E36 M3 and these definately poke out.

Too bad, I kinda liked the look.

So, I learned a few things this weekend. A few of us volunteered to run an auto-x for the huge mopar weekend at (formerly known as) IRP. That in itself was worth paying admission for... watching a bunch of 4k+ lb hemi powered cars trying to turn was absolutely hilarious! But I took the Forte out for some fun laps, took about 10 runs or so. I was suprised. I was still running 32psi all around on my new Kumho Ecsta 4X's in a little larger than stock 225/45/17 on the stock 7" wheels.

The car was very nuetral out of the box. It would step the ass out quite easily. It was fairly responsive, had a ton of power down low (which you would expect out of that 2.4L) and the brakes were OK. Not a great feel on the brake pedal, but it still has the stock pads all around.

Raleigh Boreen was out running different things, including Velma's Mini Cooper S convertible. His best run in the mini was a 45.5 on BFG Summer tires in the stock 205/45/17 size. My best run was a 45.2. I was the fastest FWD car out there this weekend.... in a bone stock Kia.

What it really needs is better pads, about 3* of camber up front and some better tire/wheels. Dropping it about 2" wouldn't hurt either.... but man was it a ton of fun. I think this may be a potential contender in STF.