Auto News 5

The old Kia Forte was a decent car with terrible timing. It debuted four years ago, just ahead of a tidal wave of vastly improved small cars like the Chevrolet Cruze, the Ford Focus, and the Hyundai Elantra. To add insult to injury, the car's launch coincided almost exactly with the federal government's Cash For Clunkers initiative, forcing Kia to divert much of its advertising budget toward promoting the program. The compact never recovered, becoming a rare underperformer in Kia's lineup. Although the brand's overall sales have nearly doubled in the last five years, the Forte doesn't do any better than the Spectra it replaced.

Eleven miles up, eleven miles down. No police, no black ice, no farm traffic. Simply eleven miles of the most gorgeous road: corners of all radii, dips and crests, climbs and descents, some blind stuff and some wide open, the black tarmac covered with a light-gray dusting of winter salt. When you hit the Sport Plus button, and pull the gear lever to the left into M, you can feel it straight away: the limits are quite low, the car feels rather nervous, the electronic helpers enter the game much earlier than expected. How come? Because it's 7 degrees outside, the road salt is acting like fine sand, and the fly yellow Cayman S is shod with Michelin Pilot Alpine M&S tires. They are at their best in a relatively narrow temperature window. When cold, the grip slackens suddenly, like a broken fishing line. When really hot, the footwear indulges in ridiculous slip angles, but as long as you keep them in their comfort zone, they will encourage you to put the new Porsche to the real test.