Fall Auto Guide 2018

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Tri-County news • Serving Chilton, Kiel & New Holstein • Thursday, November 1, 2018

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2018 Guide news All-new 2019 Kia Forte puts Safety first: emphasis on technologies TRI-COUNTY

Thursday, November 1, 2018 • 8 PAGE PULL-OUT SECTION

By Mark Sherry The 2019 Kia Forte does not drive itself—although those days may not be far away—but it does as much as any vehicle on the road today to keep its occupants and everyone around them safe. The next-generation Forte—available at Dick Brantmeier Ford Lincoln Kia in Sheboygan—seems to put a lot of focus on the driver assistance technologies which are available today. As Kia officials say in their guidebook for the 2019 Forte, “Even the best drivers can’t be perfect 100 percent of the time.” It has happened to every driver. Try as we might to remain focused at all times, either through our fault or the fault of another driver potentially dangerous situations can occur out on the road. That is why Kia has created Kia Drive Wise, a suite of available technologies which are designed to keep the driver alert, aware of surrounding traffic, and even intervene in certain situations to help avoid collisions. For starters, Kia vehicles equipped with Drive Wise offer these protective technologies: n Lane Departure Warning—If the system detects the driver drifting too close to lane markers without signaling, it can sound a warning beep. n Lane Keeping Assist—If the system detects the vehicle getting close to lane markers, it can apply corrective steering to help prevent the driver from drifting into another lane. n Blind Spot Collision Warning— Radar works to detect vehicles in the driver’s blind spot and gives visual and audible alerts to help avoid some hazardous lane change decisions. n Lane Change Assist—When the driver puts his or her blinker on to change lanes, the system warns them of vehicles that it detects in adjacent lanes approaching from behind. Those four features are a great start, but Kia goes way beyond those with this menu of available advanced features: n Forward Collision Warning—This system is designed to help detect slowing or stopped traffic ahead and alerts the driver if it detects them getting too close. n Forward Collision Avoidance Assist with Pedestrian Detection—The system helps detect and alert the driver of a collision risk or pedestrian approaching and even automatically applies the brakes in some cases. n Smart Cruise Control—This system automatically adjusts driving speed to help maintain a predeter-

The 2019 Kia Forte mined distance from the vehicle ahead. n Driver Attention Warning—A warning signal tells the driver to take a break if it detects them becoming drowsy or fatigued. n Brake Assist System—If the driver suddenly slams on their brakes, the system senses the urgency and applies full braking power which can help shorten braking distance. n Electronic Brake-Force Distribution—Based on the vehicle’s weight distribution, this helps adjust the balance of braking power accordingly. n Rear Cross Traffic Collision Warning—Visual and audible alerts can help warn of traffic the system detects coming from either side when the vehicle is in reverse. n Parking Distance Warning-Reverse—An audible warning sounds when it detects certain objects close to the vehicle while parking. A rear camera displayed on the eight-inch monitor in the vehicle also helps with safety and ease of use, as do yellow and red grid lines on the screen which help the driver know how much space they have left. I have probably already overdone the safety report on the Forte so I won’t get into things like its traction and stability control systems and its advanced

airbag systems. Oh, and by the way, did I mention that on top of all that the 2019 Kia Forte provides a great ride at an extremely reasonable price? The folks at Dick Brantmeier Lincoln Ford Kia set me up with a Ex Launch Edition, the exterior color being Snow White Pearl. It was the Sofino seat trim—a soft, leather-like material—inside the vehicle which really made a great first impression. The red and black interior colors added to the high-end sports car feel of a sedan which carried a sticker price of just $23,180. As I took the Forte out onto STH 23 to get it up to highway speeds I noted it had plenty of get-up-and-go for only having a 2.0L four-cylinder engine. The best news is that engines provides a very economical 30 mpg city, 40 highway, and 34 combined. There were plenty of other features to help a person feel like they were riding in a luxury sedan, including that eight-inch touch screen with MP3 and Apple CarPlay capabilities (the latter allows a person to sync their smartphone with the vehicle to make calls and send texts via voice command), a great audio system, heated and vented front seats, and two device chargers

accessible from the front seats. I didn’t realize it at the time of the test drive but the 2019 Forte also has a wireless charger—set your phone on top of the small shelf just past the gear shift and it automatically starts charging. The list of standard and/or available features in the 2019 Forte could go on and on, and they all come wrapped in Kia’s industry leading warranty program which includes a 10-year, 100,000-mile limited powertrain warranty. When it comes to a lot of features for not a lot of money, the 2019 Kia Forte would be hard to beat. Check one out at Dick Brantmeier Lincoln Ford Kia.

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