These days, pretty much every car enthusiast and plenty more people besides, could tell you the name of Kia’s family-sized car. Immortalised on Top Gear some years ago when Clarkson insisted on always calling it the “Cee apostrophe Dee” and then visible every week for a couple of years as the car used for the “Star in a Reasonably Priced Car” feature, this plus the general excellence of the car itself has helped to make it not just well known, but also a strong seller in the Korean marque’s ever more popular range. But that is Europe, where the Ceed (losing the apostrophe for its third generation) was designed and is built, but the Ceed is a car that is not sold in North America. Here, Kia customers have been offered a car called the Forte, which started out back in 2008 as a very conventional four door saloon, but which in both its first and second generations gained what turned out to be slow selling hatchback (the Forte5) and coupe (the Koup) models. For the third generation Forte, though, first seen at the 2018 Detroit Show and going on sale later that year as 2019 model, Kia brought things much closer together, so the underpinnings of the Ceed and the Forte are largely the same, as is the interior and the front end styling. The Forte is popular among the rental fleets so it is perhaps a little surprising that it in the four years since the introduction of the third generation model I had not driven one, but that changed when, on another evening at Hertz’ Las Vegas airport facility the choice of cars was pretty limited but among them, there were a few examples of the Forte available. I picked a photographically friendly colour – white – and found that the car I had selected was a 2023 model year car. In fact there have been few changes to the model since launch, so these conclusions would apply to pretty much any third generation Forte.

The test car had the less powerful of the two available engine options, a 147 bhp four cylinder 2.0 unit, which comes coupled to a continuously variable automatic transmission. Starting is with a conventional key, an increasingly rare feature, and the noise level at idle is low. It stays that way, unless you work the Forte hard. And you just might have to do so, as whilst the powerplant is fine a lot of the tine, I found it got a bit breathless on longer or steeper ascents. Otherwise, it is smooth and refined and noise levels when cruising on the freeway are pleasingly low. There are three driving modes: Normal, Sport and Smart. I left the car in Normal for most of my test time. In the day that I had this Kia I covered 300 miles and it needed 7.7 gallons to fill it, which works out at an impressive 38.96 mpg US or 46.55 mpg Imperial.

Generally, I would sum up the Forte as being pleasant if a little unremarkable to drive. There are no real vices, but equally, there is no sense of fun or driver engagement, though it is no worse, and indeed quite a bit better than some of its rivals. The steering is vice free – light, so the car is easy to manoeuvre but not having much in the way of feel. The handling is also typical of the genre: safe and predictable, with plenty of grip, a bit of body roll and a tendency ultimately to understeer if you really push it. But you probably won’t as the Kia does not inspire that kind of driving. More likely you will enjoy the fact that the ride is good, with an ability to cope with the varied surfaces of the Nevada roads where I drove it. It came on moderately sized 205/55 R16 wheels. The brakes were fine and I was a little surprised to see that you still get a conventional pull-up handbrake fitted between the seats. All round visibility is par for the course for a modern car, and you do get the benefit of a rear-view camera to help. LXS trim adds some ADAS features, but these are limited to the useful Blind Spot Warning and the less useful Lane Departure Warning.

When you open the door and look at the dash, if you’ve driven a Ceed recently, as I had, it will all look familiar, as it is indeed exactly the same barring any equipment differences. And that is no bad thing, generally. There are some hard plastics and LXS trim still limits you to a plastic moulded steering wheel, though it was not unpleasant to hold, but generally the textures used look good and of decent quality. The instrument cluster comprises two large dials for speedometer and rev counter with the smaller fuel level and water temperature inset. Between them is a trip computer display area, which is controlled with buttons on the right hand steering wheel spoke. Also wheel mounted are audio repeater and cruise control functions. There are two column stalks, which also take in the lights. Both lights and wipers have an auto setting. The 8” infotainment screen sits proud at the top of the centre of the dash. The same as I have experienced in other recent Kia models, it has a touch interface which proved intuitive to use and pretty responsive. Functions here are fairly limited as there is neither XM Satellite radio no navigation, but you do get wireless Apple Car Play and Android Auto, HD radio and Bluetooth. There is a four speaker sound system, which proved surprisingly acceptable.  Beneath this unit are three rotary dials for the air conditioning system.

Seat upholstery in the LXS spec of the test car is all cloth and adjustment is all manual. There is a wide range of travel, though, and combining this with a telescoping steering column meant that I was readily able to find the optimum driving position. The seats are nicely contoured for long-distance comfort, and the headrests are soft and unobtrusive, with the result that I found the Forte to be very comfortable over a longish distance.

There should prove to be ample space in the back of the Forte for most people unless the rear seats are set particularly well back. The centre console does extend into the area where a middle seat passenger’s knees might be and the Kia is barely wide enough for three full-grown adults. Headroom was just sufficient for me, with my head clearing the roof-lining but only just. In LXS trim there is no central armrest and nor are there map pockets on the back of the front seats so the only provision for odds and ends are the pockets on the doors.

As with quite a lot of family saloons from Asia, it would seem, there is no external boot release, so you need to use the key fob or the release lever on the floor by the driver’s seat to gain access. There is a generously sized boot on offer here, which is nice and long as well as reasonably deep.  It is in fact one of the largest in its class. There is additional space under the floor as there is no spare here to take up any room. The rear seat backrests are asymmetrically split and simply drop down to create an even longer load platform. There is ample provision for odds and ends inside the passenger area of the car, too. The glovebox is a decent size and as well as pockets on the doors and a central armrest cubby, there is a two layer recess area in front of the gearlever.

The 2023 Kia Forte is available in five trims: LX, LXS, GT-Line, GT and GT Manual. The LX, LXS and GT-Line models each come with a 147 bhp  four-cylinder engine and a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT). The GT has a 201 bhp turbo-four and a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic, and the GT Manual comes with the same turbo-four paired with a six-speed manual. All trims come with front-wheel drive. The entry-level LX comes with cloth upholstery, an 8-inch touch screen with wireless Apple CarPlay and wireless Android Auto, a USB port, Bluetooth, HD Radio, a Wi-Fi hot spot and a four-speaker audio system. Standard driver-assistance features include a rearview camera, forward collision warning, forward automatic emergency braking, pedestrian detection, automatic high-beam headlights, driver-attention monitoring, a rear-seat alert, lane-departure warning and lane-keep assist. The only notable available feature is an auto-dimming rearview mirror with a universal garage door opener. The LXS gains standard split-folding rear seats, alloy wheels and additional soft-touch interior surfaces. This trim also gains the available LXS Technology package, which adds blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert and vehicle exit warning. The GT-Line has the contents of the LXS Technology package, sport seats with synthetic leather inserts, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, a 10.25-inch touch screen with wired Apple CarPlay and wired Android Auto, navigation, satellite radio, an additional USB port, a six-speaker audio system, push-button start, proximity keyless entry, dual-zone automatic climate control and a hands-free power trunk lid. The GT-Line also features sporty trim-specific interior and exterior styling upgrades. This trim is available with three unique packages. The GT-Line Technology package includes cyclist detection, highway-driving assist, navigation-based stop-and-go adaptive cruise control and an electronic hand brake. The GT-Line Premium package includes the contents of the GT-Line Technology package as well as a sunroof, LED interior lighting, wireless device charging and a Harman Kardon eight-speaker audio system. Finally, used models with the GT-Line Sport Premium package have full synthetic leather upholstery, a 10-way power-adjustable driver’s seat, heated and ventilated front seats, a rear USB port and a rear air conditioning vent. The GT is one of two trims that come with the 201 bhp turbo-four engine. The GT has a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, paddle shifters, a sport-tuned suspension and exhaust and 18-inch alloy wheels. It also has standard LED headlights, a rear USB port, a rear air conditioning vent, wireless device charging and the contents of the GT-Line Technology package. The only package available for this trim is the GT2 Premium package. It includes full synthetic leather upholstery, a 10-way power adjustable driver’s seat, heated and ventilated front seats, LED interior lighting, a sunroof, an eight-speaker Harman Kardon audio system and rear parking sensors. The GT Manual comes with the turbo-four engine and a six-speed manual transmission. It has most of the GT model’s features as well as the contents of the GT2 Premium package. However, it loses a few niceties, such as the power-adjustable driver’s seat, ventilated front seats and full synthetic leather upholstery.

The Forte is a competent car, and for those who are simply looking for family-sized transport that will serve will and prove easy to own, it has a lot to commend it. With the entry level engine, it is not exactly exciting or fast, but then that’s probably not what a lot of the target customers are looking for. You only have to look at all the direct rivals and realise that few of them deviate much from the same formula. By all accounts, the Honda Civic is a slightly better car, so if I can source one (there are a few in the Hertz fleet at present), I would like to see if I agree with that postulation, and I am sure that the Mazda 3 would prove better still. But with neither of those are easy to find at the rental car counter where you are much more likely to find a Nissan Sentra, a Corolla or a Hyundai Elantra/ Considered against any of those, a Forte would not be a bad pick at all, especially if you spot one in GT-Line trim, as quite a few of the Hertz cars do seem to be.