By Philip Ruth–
An unpretentious image is generally seen as desirable, but it’s an elusive one in car marketing. Brands and sub-brands, model names, and corporate identities all aim to align with your aspirations, with luxury brands at the top.
But what if you want premium features without the pretension? Enter this week’s two testers: the Kia Forte GT and the Toyota Venza Limited. If you covered up the badges, you might be lost for a moment as to where they land on the status scale, emphasizing either sport or luxury.
Prices are what you’d expect for peak feature sets from these mainstream brands. My loaded Forte GT started at just less than $23,000, and with the $2,200 GT2 Package including sunroof, forward pedestrian collision warning, heated and cooled front seats, along with other options, the total was just over $26,000. Not bad for a host of features previously reserved for more expensive offerings.
My $43,100 Venza Limited continued that thread with a “Star Gaze” panoramic sunroof, a feature Toyota has been slower than Kia to adopt in its crossovers. A downside is that you cannot open it since the glass is fixed. However, it does allow you to switch it between clear and frosted glass, which filters UV light. It defaults to frosted when parked. Neat stuff, and a feature we will likely see much more of, both in cars and buildings.
The Forte’s price is about right for a jazzy compact sedan, while the Venza’s creeps into the segment above. That’s partly justified by the almost-Lexus look and feel, inside and out. The interior feels a cut above, with thick padding on the doors and console. The seats are broad and tall, with the aggressive sculpting of a gaming chair. The Venza’s instrument panel follows the trend of plunking a tablet-like center screen atop a curvy base, and the materials and stitching are eye-catching yet tastefully done.
The Forte GT’s interior goes from luxury to sport, with red lighting and upholstery accents. The front seats are supportive with ample side bolsters, and they hold you in place with angled thigh support. The center screen is also tablet-like, and it sits on a familiar Kia dashboard, with broad horizontal contours making it seem wider than it is.
If styling indicates the missions of the Venza and Forte, then the driving is the clincher. All three Venza trim levels are 219-horsepower hybrids, and my tester drove with pleasant sedateness. The CVT transmission ballooned its response on San Francisco’s steeper hills, and handling seemed geared toward reaffirming the vehicle’s size and mass rather than prompting you to probe the suspension’s limits.
It’s the opposite for the Forte GT, which rocks out with a turbocharged engine making 201 horsepower. A seven-speed transmission delivers quick shifts with a dual-clutch setup, and the dual exhaust is augmented by a sound box that’s activated when you hit Sport mode. Lots of stimulation for sure.
Either await if you’re looking for a premium experience without the badge.
Philip Ruth is a Castro-based automotive photojournalist and consultant with an automotive staging service.
Published on December 3, 2020
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