New Member from Columbus, OH

Hello! My name is Michael, hail from the Buckeye state! I'm a proud new owner of a 2015 Aurora Black Forte 5 SX A/T with roughly 330 miles or so, I've had it for a week now. I got it for 21.8k out the door.

I was looking for a new car that had a good balance of speed and practicality. I was aiming for the 18-22k range, but it was hard to find both. You either gave up space, or you gave up speed. My previous car was a 03 Mitsubishi Eclipse GTS Auto, it was falling apart and I had been dumping too much into it. I had a family now on top of that, so didn't want to jungle gym my 14 month old in the back ha ha. I came across this car a few months back, I had read a lot of good things about it beyond some of the back handed comments by mags(Looking at you Motortrend, and to some extend Car and Driver) just because it was a Kia.

My wife has a 2010 Forte EX and it was a nice ride, much better then my noisy Eclipse. After doing a ton of research on the car, I got it in my head that this is what I wanted... hell I didn't even test drive till the day before I actually got the car. I had hyped it so much I was afraid of disappointment, I couldn't find anything else in that price range that offered the blend the 5 SX had on paper. I was not disappointed, it looked even better in person. It is a smooth ride, feature rich, very roomy for a compact, and the materials are really nice. Now this is my first forced induction car, but I can't believe the punch this little motor has. It is faster than my Eclipse was by a good amount. It is a hell of a Twin-scroll on there, I almost feel like it tries to punch a bit above it's weight... thing scoots! My dad was driving it the other day and we punch it from 5-10 mph off a turn, up to 90 (much higher than speed limit, one of those back roads in Mexico) in what didn't feel that long and he goes "It is still pulling!" The gearing on this is nice, quick and snappy with those first 3 gears! It almost feels DSG like. The auto in the Eclipse was such a turd compared to this. My wife really likes the car too, it'll be nice for family trips on longer distance drives, it's pretty comfortable.

I really like that this car is unique and not well known, I get looks all the time. I know 2015 was the first year the 2nd Gen SX was widely available, but I've only seen one other 5 SX in Columbus and that is ok, I appreciate having something different that not a whole lot know about.

I haven't done anything with the car yet except for the BPV bypass mod, love the "Psssst" and whine from the front now! Actually did it today, had some newer Civic Si take several ganders when the turbo vented... but nothing ever happened coming out of the gas station. I don't plan on doing too much with it though, it is my daily driver. I also don't want to void the warranty. I would however like to get the 6th Element Intake, as well as the muffler delete/Ypipe. The exhaust on this car actually seems pretty well made, the biggest thing being that huge, heavy and I'd have to imagine restrictive muffler. I'm guessing getting rid of that and going 2.5" through the back gives this some nice additional pull for not all that expensive.

I look forward to talking to everyone, maybe even meet down the line? It seems like a pretty cool forum and it's nice to be part of the SX/Forte/Forced Induction family