Before a thousand letters from Mazda and Volkswagen fans start clogging my inbox, not to mention all the Honda Civic enthusiasts scorned because I didn't even mention their favorite brand, let me explain. I pushed the little Kia beyond its capabilities, up one side of a mountain via hairpin corners unlike anything available anywhere else but Europe (yeah the roads are that good in this

The Spectra's 138-hp 16-valve 2.0-L four-cylinder engine gives it plenty of punch. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press)

part of California), and then down the other side. It corners with barely any lean, even when the front end pushes out in over-exasperated understeer - what happens when the tires finally lose adhesion with the pavement and plow the front end of the car over the double yellow lines into oncoming traffic (none of which was oncoming fortunately). This process is by far safer than the opposite reaction common to rear-wheel drive cars - oversteer kicks the back end of a car out of line. From one tight, twisting corner to the next the little Spectra can zoom-zoom with the best of its rivals' non-sport-tuned compacts due to rack-and-pinion steering and that fully independent suspension system I mentioned previously, featuring MacPherson struts up front and a multi-link setup in the rear. Speaking of zoom-zoom, the Spectra uses a 16-valve, dual overhead-cam 2.0-L four-cylinder with continuous variable valve timing that produces 138-hp at 6,000 rpm and 136 lb-ft of torque at 4,500. It connects to the front wheels via either a standard 5-speed

The autobox shifts nicely with no obvious flat spots unless under heavy loads on steep inclines. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press)

manual transmission or an optional 4-speed automatic. The engine, while extremely smooth at idle and delivering balanced refinement all the way up to redline, works especially well with the automatic transmission due to a robust 136 lb-ft of torque. It's spirited at takeoff and capable of strong highway passing once underway. The autobox shifts nicely with no obvious flat spots unless under heavy loads on steep inclines, something that another cog in the system would most likely improve. Obviously the 5-speed manual makes acceleration and car control that much more exciting. It's a surprisingly slick shifter, snapping from one gear to another in a precise manner with no balkiness at all. This is a major breakthrough as such performance was not the case in previous Korean transmissions. Then again, neither were suspension systems that could rival anything in a respective class. How things are changing.