Pimp my Ride, GRM. 2011 Kia Forte 5 SX edition.

I had a thread of my search for a family/rallycross/autocross kia/ hyundai and finally bought one. 

It's a 2011 kia forte 5door SX, one owner 80k miles, paid $5k. SX come with 215/45r17, stiffer suspension and the 2.4l I4. Pulls well, drives well. 

Well taken care of car. Has a couple dings that don't bother me and a whine from the accessories side of the engine that I want to look into. Goes almost away as engine warms up. I'm thinking tensioner pulley or similar. 

The problem with it, is the silver with silver wheels, making a bit dull. 

Would like to make it a bit more interesting, a bit of sporty car flare without going teenage/pep boys on it.

I'm thinking painting the wheels, since they are sun faded. Now the cool kids are going bronze but unsure. 

Would probably add mud flaps since I plan to do some rally cross. Black if the wheels are colored,  colored if the wheels stay like now or go dark.

Probably add some driving lights, couple round ones on the nose or grill,  not sure. 

Maybe a color line down in the body side, not on the hood and roof,  although it would hide a scratch it has.

Roof bars came with it, was going to remove them but my wife likes them. We'll see.

Tires are new, otherwise I think it would look better with more wheel and tire.

This is my first fun car, other than 4x4's, have been wanting a (manual ) car than I can autocross/ rallycross for 20 years (I've been driving for 32 yrs). Even if I'll probably only do that occasionally. 

Feel free to shoot me some ideas, crazy or not.  Pictures of vehicles with it would help.

Vehicle in question, 

Thank you

I looked at that car several times! 

As for the wheels, I dunno man, the stock looks good to me. I had Kosei's on mine in silver but mine was the darker color car. 

The whine I'd check the idler pulley first. Spray a touch of WD on the center and see if it quiets down. It couls also be the alternator making more noise under higher load.

IF you feel the need to replace struts and shocks, it's worth the effort to track down the Bilsteins for that car and the Veloster Koni Sports, half a turn up from full soft. Really tamed the ride and made it feel so good.

My only surprise is that it took Bob a whole 19 minutes to see and reply to this post..

I'd rock it mostly as is.  Maybe a wider wheel/tire setup when the current set wears out.  And a mild drop + better dampers when the current stuff wears out.

Mustang bullet wheels? Tint. Ditch the roofrack. Drop about 2 inches all the way around.....

In reply to bobzilla :

Yeah, I've been looking at it since November, surprised it hadn't sold. Had contacted him before but couldn't make time work. He was also asking $6500 which was over what I thought was worth. 

I'll spray wd40 next. 

Good idea on the bilsteins with veloster Koni sport, will make a note. 

The wheels are sun bleached in spots, will need to do something with that. The design otherwise is fine. 

Thanks

In reply to ProDarwin :

I think it will look good with an inch drop and some more tire/ wheel, but yes, I'll be cosmetic changes for now. 

Mud flaps to avoid dirt road/rallycross dings, couple lights. 

In reply to Dusterbd13-michael (Forum Supporter) :

Need to check the wheel pattern, can't remember now. Would be nice if it's mustang pattern. 

Need to redo the tint as it's bubling badly, specially on the hatch. 

Not sure if it came with the keys for the roof bars... forgot to ask him. 

Thanks

In reply to Loweguy5 (Forum Supporter) :

A darker metal color may be what I try. Easy project as you say. 

I don't have plans on spending on it much,  except maybe improve as needed replacement. 

Thank you

spacecadet (Forum Supporter) said:

My only surprise is that it took Bob a whole 19 minutes to see and reply to this post..

 

The owner was in the building and I was dealing with work stuff. Give me a break. I gotta make the monies 

NoBrakesRacing said:

In reply to Dusterbd13-michael (Forum Supporter) :

Need to check the wheel pattern, can't remember now. Would be nice if it's mustang pattern. 

Need to redo the tint as it's bubling badly, specially on the hatch. 

Not sure if it came with the keys for the roof bars... forgot to ask him. 

Thanks

5x114.3 and a smaller than Honda hub (67.2 iirc). 17x7.5 +45 offset worked great. I'd probably go 17x8 +40 and a 235/40 tire. 

In reply to bobzilla :

Good to know. 

I really like mine on my Forte SX coupe, but I don't think that a darker gray would set off your car.

In reply to trigun7469 :

was it just the Koup's that got the darker gray? 

I have a 2010 Koup EX. I think the darker grey looks ok but I think I'd choose another color on a silver car.

Maybe some black accents to break up the silver on the body?

I bought a rear sway bar for a '12-18 Veloster from Pierce Motorsports to help the handling. The car is twitchy when hitting freeway expansion joints and a rear sway bar is supposed to really help with that. You have to drill mounting holes in the lower spring pocket but it's not hard.

http://www.piercemotorsport.com/2012-2018-hyundai-veloster-piercemotorsports-rear-torsion-bar/

In reply to stanger_mussle (Forum Supporter) :

I got the whiteline before Pierce got into these as heavily..... but he provided my coilovers.

I always wanted to put a koup front bumper cover onto a Forte5 when I was working at the dealership. 

In reply to stanger_mussle (Forum Supporter) :

I was looking into a rear bar, although I haven't noticed any ill handling at 80mph on the highway.

Good to know the veloster's fit, with some persuasion. 

Thank you.

Looking at it a bit more, I'm liking that the wheels are a hint lighter than the body, so I'm not sure which way to go. 

The interior has a red stitch line on the seats, was wondering about putting a red line (1/2" or so) under the doors outside. It has that scallop on the bottom of the doors looking for something.

In reply to stanger_mussle (Forum Supporter) :

The previous owner did spray paint the mirrors and spoiler black since they had faded. 

In reply to DjGreggieP :

It does have a nice, slightly more aggressive look. 

Chalkboard paint and let the the kids go nuts?

In reply to dean1484 :

If I get a rallycross only car, then yes. 

NoBrakesRacing said:

In reply to stanger_mussle (Forum Supporter) :

I was looking into a rear bar, although I haven't noticed any ill handling at 80mph on the highway.

Good to know the veloster's fit, with some persuasion. 

Thank you.

I know it's a different platform, but when I upgraded the rear sway bar on my focus, it improved the handling so much. Not necessarily at highway speeds, but in the corners, it's so much more planted.

Anyway, I'll be following your build too. I'm eager to see what all you decide to do!

Methinks that car is crying out for Sparco Terra's.