While most mainstream car buyers are attentively watching the evolution of the subcompact and compact car and CUV segments duke it out, to name a few, there are other microscopic wars going on and one of them is composed of compact coupes. There are very few players in this club, but this review touches on the Kia Forte Koup with some words on the Scion tC.
In case you were wondering, the other one left in this group is the Honda Civic coupe (remember?).
Hitting back first
Nearly ten months ago, my buddy, researcher at Auto123.com, certified car nut and all-around good guy, Olivier Delorme, sent me a little Photoshop job he had put together. It depicted the uncanny resemblance between the 2011 Scion tC and freshly-arrived Kia Forte Koup. You can see this picture in the gallery. We could not believe the likenesses between the two, in proportions, lines and definition.
The question was and is: Which came first? The chicken (Kia) or the egg (Scion)? Or is it vice-versa? And, which tastes better? Whatever. The point is that, back then, they seemed destined to have at each other before we knew how the situation was going to unfold.
And unfold it has. Have you seen the Scion ad that was recently running on the web? Here's what it read: “The Koup's weaknesses are our Forte”. Followed by “More horsepower and less expensive than the Forte Koup SX”. Them's are fightin' words and I like a good fight. Trouble is, the tC doesn't seem to be knocking many people's socks off.
Kia designR
Kia has got design down pat. I'm a huge fan of everything that the Korean manufacturer has to offer these days. My review of the Sportage is one example of how Kia is paving the way for segment domination.
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| With a base price of $21,495, the Koup SX is $645 more expensive than the tC. (Photo: Matthieu Lambert/Auto123.com) |
In case you were wondering, the other one left in this group is the Honda Civic coupe (remember?).
Hitting back first
Nearly ten months ago, my buddy, researcher at Auto123.com, certified car nut and all-around good guy, Olivier Delorme, sent me a little Photoshop job he had put together. It depicted the uncanny resemblance between the 2011 Scion tC and freshly-arrived Kia Forte Koup. You can see this picture in the gallery. We could not believe the likenesses between the two, in proportions, lines and definition.
The question was and is: Which came first? The chicken (Kia) or the egg (Scion)? Or is it vice-versa? And, which tastes better? Whatever. The point is that, back then, they seemed destined to have at each other before we knew how the situation was going to unfold.
And unfold it has. Have you seen the Scion ad that was recently running on the web? Here's what it read: “The Koup's weaknesses are our Forte”. Followed by “More horsepower and less expensive than the Forte Koup SX”. Them's are fightin' words and I like a good fight. Trouble is, the tC doesn't seem to be knocking many people's socks off.
Kia designR
Kia has got design down pat. I'm a huge fan of everything that the Korean manufacturer has to offer these days. My review of the Sportage is one example of how Kia is paving the way for segment domination.
 |
| The Forte and the Koup are originals in their categories and both are trend setters, or quite nearly. (Photo: Matthieu Lambert/Auto123.com) |