Driving Experience I (at 1,000KM)

I promised few friends to write about my Kia Forte's driving experience right after the 1,000 KM service. Its a little few days late.. nevertheless here is my experience.

Handling

Driving on a straight road really feels like 'gliding', the car travels effortlessly on straight roads. This is a 1.6SX, I can't imagine the kind of feeling on a 2.0SX!

On cornering, there is a little lag while making sharp turns especially after a straight road. But once you are at the turn, maneuvering either the opposite or current direction, the car nose will  just simply point to where you desire. And also at sharp turns, you will feel the couple torsion beam axle (CTBA) system kicks in.. this is when you say, SYIOKnya! Its like you and the car is moving as a single 'person'. The famous, But.. you'll feel some body roll, its acceptable.

Steering feedback is a little on the soft side, hard core drivers will have few things to say about this one.. Setting the drive to "D", gear change is not noticeable. Gear change can be felt only if sport mode is used.

Ride
Driving on a 220kpa front tyre and 210kpa back tyre. The Kia Forte absorb uneven surface well, you won't feel the uneven surface, in fact, the car feels very solidly planted to the road. I was driving the new Proton SAGA 1.3L (BLM) the other day, same stretch at the Federal Highway, the poor proton was bouncing like waves.
But when it comes to pot holes, a dip into the hole is prominent to the front seat passengers (includes the driver) and intrusive to the back seat passengers. Back seat passengers will hear a loud thud and bounce a little on the seat. I guess the CTBA is setup towards handling, this causes the ride to suffer. Not to mentioned the suspension is tuned to sport and the made in Korean Kumho performance tyre, Solus KH17 does not help either. I plan to change to comfort tyre in future.
And one advise, you really don't want to drive on roads with lots of pot holes.. give it a try and you'll know what I'm talking about...

NVH
Passengers can barely hear the engine noise. Within this 1,000KM driving experience, there were few times I forgot to shut the engine because I though engine was off! Yes, it's that quite and vibration is almost non-existence during stand still, especially when auto climate is off.
Driving in city and highway roads have mix experience. Front seat passengers (including driver) experience is always good, however, back seat passengers may hear sound from the contact between tyre and road, this is not always true, it really depends on the road condition and material. It is obvious that Kia Motors decided to cut cost in sound proofing for the back seat passengers. But then again, Malaysia's road conditions are really crazy! Bi-polar to a certain extend.. one stretch smooth, another horrible..
Sound of wind is not noticeable unless you go beyond the region of 110 KM/H.

Most of my drive is in the City (KL and PJ), the only highways I drove is Connaught Highway, Federal Highway, and Kesas.