A Ford and a Kia might be in the same category of car, but they’re almost not comparable.
Take the 2017 Ford Focus vs the 2017 Kia Forte, two cars my friend was looking at buying. The Focus sure ain’t a sports car, but it handles well for a cheap compact sedan. The Forte handles like a tin can on wheels. The wheels are 10mm smaller at every tire size vs the Focus, the suspension is both firmer, and less precise (incorrectly balanced spring rate vs dampening vs rebound) and because of that the car reorientates itself on every big bump you hit, bumps that the Focus handles fine. The wheel well liner is made out of hard plastic on the Kia, the Focus is plastic, but with a cloth liner on it to reduce road noise. And sounds like there’s no sound deadening anywhere in the cabin. The Focus is surprisingly quiet of a cabin for a car of it’s price point. The 2017 Focus has a rear view camera as standard, the Forte it’s optional.
The base model Focus starts at $16,775, the Forte starts at $16,600
According to the NHTSA the Focus scores 5 stars on every category except rollover. The Forte scores 5 stars in only 8/12 categories. I can’t find any of the updated crash test ratings for these vehicles, but recently they updated the side crash test ratings and a bunch of the “safe on paper” cars tanked in their rating. But both vehicles I’m sure are only safe on paper.
Plus nowadays there’s a much bigger difference between the two cars. The Kia lacks an immobilizer. Until 2021 Kias with a standard key lacked an immobilizer which is absolutely inexcusable. So that $500 you saved on the initial purchase price translates to $500 extra paid per year.
Probably because Ford doesn’t make any good EVs, and Kia is actually trying pretty hard in that area and legitimately innovating.
Ford in the US has the Mach-E, the F-150 Lightning, and the Transit cargo van. In the UK you guys get the weird electric Explorer that’s nothing like the normal explorer besides the name. The Mach-E and Electric Explorer, F-150 Lighting, and I assume transit are a 400v system which is… aging to say the least. Kias new EVs are based on an 800v architecture which theoretically means it’s much more efficient.
That said I have no experience driving a Kia EV to compare it’s handling to another brand. But my co worker just traded in his BMW M4 for an EV-6 so that may change soon.
I thought he was trading in his old Lexus SUV for it, but nope he traded in the fun car. To be fair he was daily driving that M4 and it had some hail damage he didn’t want to have to get fixed.
For the same car? And with or without exploitative labor practices?
The only reason they make cars in places like China or Malaysia is because they can pay them almost nothing, and treat them like slaves.
What I mean is for an equivalent. If you compare the price of a Ford to a Kia, the Kia is cheaper.
A Ford and a Kia might be in the same category of car, but they’re almost not comparable.
Take the 2017 Ford Focus vs the 2017 Kia Forte, two cars my friend was looking at buying. The Focus sure ain’t a sports car, but it handles well for a cheap compact sedan. The Forte handles like a tin can on wheels. The wheels are 10mm smaller at every tire size vs the Focus, the suspension is both firmer, and less precise (incorrectly balanced spring rate vs dampening vs rebound) and because of that the car reorientates itself on every big bump you hit, bumps that the Focus handles fine. The wheel well liner is made out of hard plastic on the Kia, the Focus is plastic, but with a cloth liner on it to reduce road noise. And sounds like there’s no sound deadening anywhere in the cabin. The Focus is surprisingly quiet of a cabin for a car of it’s price point. The 2017 Focus has a rear view camera as standard, the Forte it’s optional.
According to cars.com: Focus - Forte
The base model Focus starts at $16,775, the Forte starts at $16,600
According to the NHTSA the Focus scores 5 stars on every category except rollover. The Forte scores 5 stars in only 8/12 categories. I can’t find any of the updated crash test ratings for these vehicles, but recently they updated the side crash test ratings and a bunch of the “safe on paper” cars tanked in their rating. But both vehicles I’m sure are only safe on paper.
Plus nowadays there’s a much bigger difference between the two cars. The Kia lacks an immobilizer. Until 2021 Kias with a standard key lacked an immobilizer which is absolutely inexcusable. So that $500 you saved on the initial purchase price translates to $500 extra paid per year.
I dunno, these new Kia EVs are pretty nice. They’re everywhere in London. I don’t even see any electric Fords.
Probably because Ford doesn’t make any good EVs, and Kia is actually trying pretty hard in that area and legitimately innovating.
Ford in the US has the Mach-E, the F-150 Lightning, and the Transit cargo van. In the UK you guys get the weird electric Explorer that’s nothing like the normal explorer besides the name. The Mach-E and Electric Explorer, F-150 Lighting, and I assume transit are a 400v system which is… aging to say the least. Kias new EVs are based on an 800v architecture which theoretically means it’s much more efficient.
That said I have no experience driving a Kia EV to compare it’s handling to another brand. But my co worker just traded in his BMW M4 for an EV-6 so that may change soon.
What? They’re giving up their M4? That’s huge!
I thought he was trading in his old Lexus SUV for it, but nope he traded in the fun car. To be fair he was daily driving that M4 and it had some hail damage he didn’t want to have to get fixed.