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The Forenza manages a
good first impression. It has clean styling inside and out, decent interior
space, and a reasonable price. However, its strong points are mitigated by a
lengthy roster of inadequacies. The car is neither quick nor fuel efficient,
and neither comfortable-riding nor agile. And while its pricing is
reasonable, it’s not less expensive than a number of much better cars.
The Forenza rides comfortably enough over smooth pavement,
but anything else will reveal its lack of composure; it is jittery over
smaller road imperfections, it slams over larger ones, and recovers slowly.
And it feels particularly ungainly, with excessive body roll and numb, slow
steering, the worst of any current small car. The 2.0-liter 4-cylinder
returns an even more disappointing combination of poor acceleration and the
poor gas mileage of the group, and it is rough and noisy while doing this.
Road noise is noticeable as well.
Inside, the Forenza’s
front seats are too low, but comfortable and supportive overall, and there
is decent space. The rear seat could also be higher, the cushion is flat,
and legroom is deficient for larger occupants. However, adults do fit, which
is more than can be said about too many of the others here.
 The
interior is surprisingly well-constructed, one of the car’s few strong
points. The dash design is tasteful, and it makes use of high quality
materials that fit together quite well, though a few of the plastics look a
lot better than they feel. The instruments are conveniently placed, and the
gauges are large and clear. Drivers sit comfortably, though a bit too low.
The rear head restraints partially obstruct the rearward view, but
visibility is good overall. The door openings are a bit narrow, and the
seats a bit low, but the well-shaped roofline contributes to generally easy
entry/exit. The trunk is reasonably sized, and conveniently shaped.
The Forenza is marketed
as an inexpensive alternative to the class leaders, but it only undercuts
the best-selling Toyota Corolla by a few hundred dollars at $15,409, coming
out more expensive than many superior competitors. At that price, it
includes a now-rare cassette/CD combination and a tire-pressure monitor, but
curtain-style head-protecting side airbags and traction control aren’t
offered.
Overall, the Forenza
disappoints in the most basic ways while bringing in oddly devoted attention
to detail in others. This helps the car look good at first glance, but it is
clearly mediocre or worse under any subsequent evaluation, and without a
sufficient price advantage to come close to compensating for that.
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