A cute Kia

My white knuckles poked out of my racing gloves as I downshifted and prepared to make a fast drift through the tight corner. I could feel the back end lighten up, but the Goodyear performance tires (mounted on 16-inch alloy wheels) held their grip and as I came around. I upshifted without losing any momentum. Grinning wildly, I stole a glance at the sport steering wheel embossed with the all-important logo.

"Kia," it said.

And why not? It could happen. Keep in mind that many of the "sports cars" of the 1950s and ’60s had small four-cylinder engines, and were none the worse for it. The MGA 1500, for instance, made between 1955-59, boasted a four-cylinder in-line push rod engine of 1.489 liters. It was so small, you could bench-press it. With twin 1.5-inch SU carburetors, it produced all of 68 to 72 horsepower. It was fun to drive, and could top 100 mph!

The classic British sports cars disappeared not because they were too small or badly designed, but because they weren’t well made. OK, skip forward 40 years. Mazda is building a better Lotus Elan called the Miata, and people are buying them by the trailer load. Volkswagen reintroduces the Beetle, and that’s a hit, too. Later, here’s the Mini again, and the bottom line is healthy.

For 2005, we have another fun small car, the Kia Spectra5. No, that’s not a typo: Kia spells it just like the Mazda Protege5, a car it resembles in many ways. As with the Mazda, the Spectra5 is available in a lot of cool colors and is being pitched to the youth market.

The Korean company is sponsoring tours by rock groups, and even persuaded one Mark McGrath, front man for Sugar Ray, to pitch the car at last year’s New York auto show. (The band, in case you were wondering, consists of "southern California frat rockers," according to Amazon.com. They’ve apparently abandoned "damaged noisefests" in favor of catchy, Kia-friendly pop.)

The five-door Spectra5 is cute and affordable, at $15,535. (Base Spectras can be had for $12,620.) With a 2-liter, four-cylinder engine, the sporty Kia produces 138 horsepower, meaning it could probably run rings around an MGA. The Spectra5 comes with a five-speed manual transmission, speed-sensitive power steering, stiffer independent suspension and stabilizer bars to aid in that quest.

It’s also fun to drive, and very maneuverable. In stock, as-tested form it can deliver 25 miles per gallon around town and 33 on the highway. According to AutoWeek, the speed tuners have discovered the Spectra5, and all manner of aftermarket equipment, including a supercharger, is available for it. I’m sure there are already performance chips.

"I’ve wanted to push the company toward more performance, but we never had the cars to do it," Kia Motors’ Peter Butterfield told the magazine. "Now, with the Spectra4 and Spectra5, we can."

At a recent show, Kia showed off Green Scream, Silver Surfer, Firestorm, Flash, Blue Knight and Red Devil, the latter with the aforementioned Eaton supercharger.

I much enjoyed the Spectra5 myself, even without racing gloves. It appeared well-made and had comfortable cloth seats, useful cubbies everywhere and a back seat that suited my two kids. It was docile in traffic, but entertaining when the road opened up. What more does a young Sugar Ray fan want?

A Red Devil, anyone?