The first time I drove the the car, the UVO logo flashed on the screen, and the three magic words came up.
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Right then I knew there were going to be problems.
Nonetheless, it's a simple procedure. You just need to find the little tiny button and push it with the point of a ball point pen and it will reset. In my case, after looking first online with no luck, then through the manual 4 times (it's not in there) I found a 10 second video on YT showing where it was. It's beside the slot on the CD player, whereas I think 99% of them are by the volume button. Regardless, by the time I found it I didn't need it. The 3hr power down reset it.
so that's what that little button is for. Mine doesn't have it (not UVO equipped). From what I read her car can store 512mb of music I think?we've not tried it yet.
Mine too apparently, but I've never figured out how to do it, though I admit I've not tried very hard.
The reset button on mine is next to the knob on the right side of the controls. I haven't needed to reset it yet, but it's good to know where it is in case this happens. Mine's been fine so far aside from the disconnecting thing I posted earlier, but I strongly believe that's either the phone or the cable. Unplugging the phone cord and plugging it back into the USB port fixes it.
One other curious observation unrelated to the radio: these cars take 87 octane fuel as the recommended fuel. I decided to toss some 93 in there a few tanks ago to see what happens, and man, what a difference. Car is faster and accelerates much smoother with less of the janky acceleration I talked about earlier in the thread, and I'm getting a big improvement in MPG to boot. I was averaging 26-27mpg on 87, and the last tank was 31mpg. Same type of driving, too. It's good to know I can run 87, but I'll stick with the good stuff for a while.
If it's anything like my Colorado, there are two timing maps and it defaults to the more aggressive one either on startup or fill up. On my truck it makes a huge difference. I usually run 89 in my car and occasionally 91 and not noticed any difference.
I did a homemade intake shortly after I got it home. Basically a 3" 45 degree PVC elbow on the end of the rubber intake hose and a big K&N filter in place of the air box. The turbo spools really early (VVT I assume) and I found it annoying. So I modded the air box, added an extra 3" inlet and put a K&N drop in filter. It was quiet but power above 5500 really flattened out. So I went back to the home made intake, power was back, and it pulled like a bear to 6500. A few weeks back I bought an Injen intake cheap and installed it in place of my home made job hoping for an improvement. I was surprised when test driving it that power flattened out bad at 6000. Put the home made job on and it was back. At this point I think it may be the (larger) size of the rubber intake hose compared to the Injen intake, but when I tune it I'll try both and should be able to tell if it's running out of air or fuel and which one is really better.
Either way, a filter on a 3" fitting made a BIG difference, if you're so inclined
In reply to Tony Sestito :
THE Gen Coupes were the first to do that. Yes, they run on 87 fine. They make peak power on 91.
Today marks a year that I took possession of this car. That went by WAY too quick! So, let's do a one year review:
This car still impresses me every time I get behind the wheel. Handling is great, acceleration is brisk, and it makes all the right sounds while doing it. Interior has held up ok, but the exterior has had some damage from various incidents, but it still looks sharp. I get comments here and there from random people, usually exclaiming "That's a KIA? Seriously?". And the answer is yup, that's a Kia. Still shocks me, too.
The year has been largely drama free, but let's do a traditional good/bad list:
The Good:
-This car is a blast to drive. It's one of those cars that eggs you on to drive better. If you drive it well, it will reward you.
-Interior is still comfortable and creak/rattle free. It still feels new. Seats and steering wheel are great!
-Gas mileage has gotten better. Best tank of gas occurred on an all-highway trip to NH last week. Got 34.8MPG! The car is only supposed to get 32 max highway. And I could have gotten better.
-Regular maintenance is super easy. Oil changes are a breeze, and you can get to everything under the hood without issue.
-Exhaust sounds cool. A bit louder than I'm used to in a daily driver, but it sounds better than it has any right to.
The Bad:
-Paint is thin, just like many other cars in this price range. It chips and scratches easy. Every subcompact car I've had is the same deal.
-Brakes stop well, but they are starting to shake coming down from highway speeds. Might have to replace them sooner than anticipated.
-Shifter isn't as slick as the one in my old Mazda 3, and there have been a few times where I've missed a shift, especially downshifting.
-I wish I could keep the car in Sport Mode 100% of the time. Having to click the button every time I start it is annoying but not a dealbreaker.
Other Observations:
-For a while, I thought Android Auto was crapping out on me. Turns out it was the phone cable. Upgraded to a better cable and all is good.
-Speaking of which, Android Auto is great. Interface is fast and does what it needs to do. Voice commands work well most of the time. I want this in every vehicle.
-Worst MPG was 24.5, when it ran for about an hour idling while doing snow cleanup and moving cars. I've been averaging about 28MPG, which was the absolute max the Mazda got with 40 less HP and without a turbo.
-I feel like the reviews of this car where people were saying it was pokey didn't have it on Sport Mode; regular mode cuts boost and makes the steering feel numb. Sport Mode is a whole different ballgame. It also helps to run premium fuel, which (I'm assuming) doesn't pull as much timing when accelerating.
All in all, the car has been great. I've somehow put 12k miles on it this past year, since we've been taking it all over the place to keep miles off the wife's car. It has more room for the front passengers than her CX-5, and I find it more comfortable to drive, so that's fine by me. The engine is getting more efficient with the mileage, too. I don't regret the purchase one bit.
In March, I bought a 21 Kia Seltos. While waiting for another dealer to deliver the vehicle to the one I was at, my wife pointed out a Blue Forte Gt on the showroom floor. I was shocked she would bring it up because she's not into driving cars anymore. The whole sitting up high thing. I sat in it and was very interested. Unfortunately someone was working on buying that one. It was the 6 speed. Sales guy said he had another blue one and a couple white ones in back but no more 6 speeds. It would have cost me less than the Seltos but the trunk opening was kind of small for the stuff I have to haul for work. I really like my Seltos but kind of regret not going for the Car. Would make my work drive more fun. I really look forward to reading about your experiences, I may just look at one next summer as my daughter will need a vehicle and she likes the SUV.
In reply to Tony Sestito :
Every newish Korean car I've had and know of didn't start getting great fuel economy until 15-20k miles on the clock
Iusedtobefast said:
In March, I bought a 21 Kia Seltos. While waiting for another dealer to deliver the vehicle to the one I was at, my wife pointed out a Blue Forte Gt on the showroom floor. I was shocked she would bring it up because she's not into driving cars anymore. The whole sitting up high thing. I sat in it and was very interested. Unfortunately someone was working on buying that one. It was the 6 speed. Sales guy said he had another blue one and a couple white ones in back but no more 6 speeds. It would have cost me less than the Seltos but the trunk opening was kind of small for the stuff I have to haul for work. I really like my Seltos but kind of regret not going for the Car. Would make my work drive more fun. I really look forward to reading about your experiences, I may just look at one next summer as my daughter will need a vehicle and she likes the SUV.
Keep in mind that the 2022 is going to be a bit different. The K3 GT overseas is a preview:
New front and rear fascias look a lot busier than the 2020-21. The interior has an even wider dash screen and possibly a screen to replace the analog gauges. Obviously, everyone's tastes are different, but I find the 2020-21 better looking in and out. They might also change the name to the K3 here to match the K5 naming convention they already have. I like that part better to be honest.
I continue to think the 20/21 Forte GT is a really nice looking car. The K3 refresh not so much.
In a few years I hope to pick up a used GT stick for the fleet. Neat cars.
Just got one of these 3-4 months ago, first nice newer car for me. Just went to my first autocross with it, handles better than i would've expected. You're thread kinda pushed me in the direction of it so thanks.
In reply to BenjiGT :
Welcome to the club! It really is a fun car to drive, and it handles way better than you would expect.
I'm starting to think about winter, and I want to try running the 16" winter steelies I have from my old Mazda 3 on the GT. The tires only had a season on them. I test fit them last year, and they technically fit, but the calipers were REAL close, so I got some 5mm spacers. But the wheels themselves, they have seen better days.
Paint was bubbling, and they were getting really crusty. Since it was 60+ degrees on this mid-November day, I picked up some wheel paint and got to scuffing and prepping.
That's a little better.
And that's a lot better. Goal here is to keep them from rusting more, so having some sort of paint on there is better than nothing. As long as they look decent from 20 feet while moving, I'm happy. Hopefully, they fit better with the spacers.
Same tires I have on Mrs. P's car. A little noisy, and squishy handling at first, but they're great in the snow.
When I painted the steelies for my Forte I did them up in matte black and painted the outside ring with aluminum brush paint like I always did with my stock cars. They looked surprisingly good and got a lot of comments
In reply to Mr. Peabody :
If I had more time, I would have sandblasted them and done something cool like that. I was kinda going for "not rusty looking" when I did these. 
Tires are great; had these on the old Mazda 3 and they got me anywhere I wanted to go.
I'm glad you added the spacers. That first picture gave me angst.
In reply to glueguy (Forum Supporter) :
Yeah, they were WAY too close for comfort. I could have even gone for a 5mm spacer. These will do the job.
Oh, and as an added bonus, I found a big chunk of metal in the tread of one of the 18" tires that were on the car. When I bought the car, I got a "wheel and tire protection package" that may cover that. Going to contact the dealer and get that fixed.
Quick update on the winter setup:
Last weekend, we got two feet of snow dumped on us. In the 1st pic, the Kia is encased in the 2nd mound of snow. We had drifts about 10 FEET HIGH in some spots as you can see here. After carefully carving enough of it out, it backed right out of its frozen tomb. I took it for a spin around the hard packed roads, and it felt great! These tires (especially the rears) are more worn than not, but they make a huge difference over the stock Kumho all-seasons. They do need to be balanced desperately, but otherwise, this winter setup is great. With the traction control turned off, I can crawl out of anything. Handling is predictable and the car is easy to control in the snow, and pretty darn fun, too. Man, how I missed boost in the winter!
The car hit a milestone recently: the odometer crossed 20,000 miles. So far, I've been very happy with it.
I've only had one incident of anything going wrong, and that's with the key fobs. A few weeks ago, the fobs stopped working properly. I could start the car, but I couldn't lock or unlock it. Replaced both fob batteries, and nothing. I searched on the internet and FB groups I'm in, and found nothing. Before I drove it to the dealer, I decided to disconnect the battery and let it sit for about 10 minutes. After reconnecting the battery, everything was fine. Very odd.
But other than that, the car has been great. Still as fun to drive as ever. Swapped the regular wheels back on along with an oil change at 20k. It's really fun to drive and has been returning decent MPG's, which is nice since gas is expensive right now. It desperately needs a full detail, inside and out.
In reply to Tony Sestito :
Even though you solved your problem, I suggest you swing by the dealer and tell them about the fob issue. They can open and close a repair order quickly noting that they couldn't duplicate the issue.
If this becomes a problem down the line, this will move you one step closer to the dealership getting tech help from Kia engineers and will move the process along faster for you if the issue progresses.
In reply to Loweguy5 :
I've thought about doing that. Just need to find time to drop my car off for a day.
Over the weekend, I did a "25k mile service" on the car. That means I did an oil change, checked/inspected fluids, tires, and the belt, swapped the air filter, and the cabin air filter as well.
First, let's talk about the air cleaner.
I prefer the AEM Dry Flow panel filters, but they don't make one for the turbo Hyundai stuff yet. K&N didn't list one for the Forte GT, but they DO list one for the Elantra Sport and the Veloster Turbo with the 1.6T, and according to a number of enthusiast sites, it drops in there, so I ordered one up. Part number is 33-5050. The only difference I could see physically is the thickness. The K&N was about half as thick, but it fits perfectly in there, so I decided to run it. New regular filters cost half as much as the K&N, so it'll pay for itself eventually.
I've been running K&N filters on stuff for years, and this is the 1st time I actually noticed a real difference on a car. The intake is quite a bit louder, and boost is more eager down low than before. It makes all sorts of fun turbo noises as an added bonus! The Butt Dyno says I picked up about 5hp. I'm floored.
For the cabin air filter, they made things very easy on the Forte. It's right behind the glove box, and you need zero tools.
First, you remove these things from each side of the glove box. They just twist out.
Then, you pinch this thing in the middle and remove the loop. That drops the glove box down.
Then this thing comes out by pinching the tabs together on each side. Once that's out, the filter pulls right out.
I've seen worse, but there were a few bug carcasses in there and other junk.
Installation is the reverse of removal, of course. Just make sure the flow of the filter goes the right way, as labeled on the side of the filter.
In other news, turns out the key fob issue was the battery in the fob. I bought better batteries and there hasn't been an issue since. Car has been great so far. Still don't regret the purchase!
On my Forte, same motor as yours, I tried a half dozen filter setups. The stock box, the stock box with a K&N like you have, a modified box with the K&N, an Injen intake with the standard size K&N cone, then a bigger K&N cone filter, then the stock rubber tube from the turbo with a 3" 45 degree PCV drainpipe adapter both K&N cones.
I really wanted the modified box with the drop in K&N to work because it was quiet. But after all the testing I ended up with the big K&N filter on the stock rubber hose and PCV adapter. It was the only combination that would pull hard to the rev limit. Everything else dropped off badly at or before 6000 RPM. So if you're ever tempted to put an aftermarket intake on it, save your money, FYI.
