(November 11, 2013) CHICAGO — The 2014 Kia Forte has been named  the winner of the Cars.com/USA Today/MotorWeek Compact Sedan Challenge. The challenge put seven compacts against each other in a series of expert and car shopper testing to determine which was the best overall compact sedan.

In addition to the winning Kia Forte, other competitors included the 2014 Ford Focus, 2013 Honda Civic, 2013 Hyundai Elantra, 2013 Subaru Impreza, 2013 Nissan Sentra and 2014 Toyota Corolla.

"The Forte truly stood out against the competition," said Patrick Olsen, Cars.com's editor-in-chief. "Between its dynamic exterior styling, impressive standard features for the price and excellent ride and handling, the 2014 Forte is a well-rounded car that checks off all the boxes of the perfect, affordable compact sedan."

Experts from Cars.com, USA Today, MotorWeek and a car shopper in the market for a new compact sedan tested the seven cars over several days and compared overall features, comfort, fuel efficiency and drivability.

Tests included:

    • 200 miles of driving on varying roads to test each car for real-world fuel economy.
    • One day of round-robin driving where each expert tested each car on the same route back-to-back to gather overall impressions on drive, features and comfort.
    • Testing by a car shopper in the market for a compact sedan who evaluated each car's overall comfort, features, styling and drivability.

"It's a common misconception that midsize sedans are the most purchased cars in the U.S.," said Olsen. "In reality, compact sedans are the most popular segment of cars worldwide. Compacts tend to be less-expensive entry-level cars that appeal to a wide range of buyers, and while you won't find any performance engines or extravagant features in them, shoppers will be surprised to see just how much the average compact sedan comes with at a truly affordable price point."

As with previous Challenges, the cars at the top were not too far apart, but some of the opinions of the judges were quite far apart. One sedan was the solid favorite for one of our judges, but it received the lowest score from our "real-life" judge, so opinions were clearly not unanimous. The judges for the Challenge were:

    Aaron Bragman, Detroit bureau chief for Cars.com
    Jennifer Geiger, Cars.com news editor
    Bill Jackson, Cars.com assistant managing editor/research and production
    James R. Healey, auto writer for USA Today
    Fred Meier, automotive editor for USA Today
    Brian Robinson, "MotorWeek" producer
    Carol Gluckman, librarian from Montgomery County, Md., who is in the market for a compact car to replace her current car

Why did the Forte win? "It stands out," Geiger said, "in a good way. Its dynamic exterior styling gives it an edge among conservatively styled competitors."

"The Forte vies with the Elantra in terms of many interior options and standard features at this price," Jackson said, and that sentiment was often echoed. "The interior is sporty yet simple, with nice materials and not over-designed, Meier said. "The echoed curves in the dash and door panels are a nice touch."

"The ride and handling are excellent," Bragman said, "second only to the Focus in driving fun and chassis sophistication. In fact, the Eco mode doesn't seem to affect drivability." The Forte's ride and handling mix was a winner for Robinson, who thought it was "better than most recent Kias." He also found the seats to be "some of the most comfortable" in the Challenge.

Here's how the competitors finished: Kia Forte, 780 points; Hyundai Elantra, 760 points; Honda Civic, 747 points; Nissan Sentra, 673 points; Toyota Corolla, 673 points; Subaru Impreza, 667 points; and Ford Focus, 618 points.