By Lee Lian Tjoe

How much more does a good design cost over a less desirable one? At Kia, the answer is clearly "zilch", judging by the new Cerato Forte.

From every angle, it has a superior styling to the conservative Cerato Variant 2 that it replaces. Yet it is priced no more than the outgoing car.

The car is Kia's first real attempt at being taken seriously (that is, beyond being a maker of budget cars). It starts, quite obviously, with developing what top-tier carmakers like to tout as "design language".

Kia's chosen tongue for the Cerato Forte, which will officially debut at the showroom on Feb 20, appears to be a dialect used by Honda. There is a bit of the Civic about its profile and details. Under the bonnet, the 1.6-litre engine has been updated slightly from its predecessor's to give it a wee bit more oomph (just 3bhp).

Again, like the big-time marques from Audi to BMW and Nissan to Toyota, the Korean company is striving for better operating efficiency.

The Forte is the first Kia to feature electric power steering instead of the previous hydraulic set-up. This saves a few squirts of fuel. Together with some fat- trimming efforts, the Forte manages to be bigger in every way than the Variant 2, yet weighs almost the same.

Built on a platform similar to the Hyundai Avante, the Kia's wheelbase ranks among the longest, even when compared with cars such as the Toyota Corolla Altis and Mitsubishi Lancer EX. It is overshadowed only by the top-selling Honda Civic. The lankiness is translated into a pleasantly spacious cabin.

To the designer's discredit, headroom for the rear quarter is compromised slightly by the sloping roof. Taller passengers may prefer to exploit the legroom and slouch a little.

Scalp-scraping aside, Kia has done a commendable job with the cabin design. Of course, the SX version tested comes with extra touches such as digital climate control and trip computer. The trip computer incorporates a reverse-parking aid that makes use of three sensors on the rear bumper. It has both audio and visual cues.

All Cerato Fortes come with a very attractive dashboard, which looks as sophisticated as the best of the European offerings. There are stylishly textured plastics and sensible lighting (no gaudy neon colours, just a soft warm red).

Of course, the devil is in the details and the Forte can definitely be further improved upon. Take the doors, for example: It appears that in its pursuit to keep weight low, Kia has sacrificed some of the Variant 2's solid feel.

Dynamically, body control can be improved. The car has a slightly vague feel at the wheel when driven spiritedly.

The gearbox could be sharpened to match the responsiveness of the latest Japanese offerings.

Maybe it does cost something to make a car look good, after all, and Kia has had to make sacrifices here and there. But on the whole, the Cerato Forte is well worth the money.

The writer is the editor of Torque, published by SPH Magazines.

This article was first published in The Straits Times on Jan 31, 2009.