Kia Rio Reviews

Mazda 2 Neo and Kia Rio go head-to-head in this comparative review.

Just when we were starting to think Kia was holding back its smaller engined Rio, trying to keep it away from the hands of reviewers  until we finally got our hands on one.And, guess what, it's not half bad? In fact, it goes nearly as well as the 2.0-litre Impreza that we happened to drive around the same time.This one's the bottom feeder, priced from $15,290 plus onroads ($200 less than the Hyundai equivalent i20). You can only get the S with three doors and the price is perilously close to that of the Mazda2 with five doors. But this car is as good as the Mazda, newer and better equipped too.1.4-litre four cylinder petrol engine produces 79kW and 135Nm. It's not direct injection like the 1.6 and the downside is that it if you want an auto it's going to be a four speed, not the more fancied six with the 1.6 and other models. But hey the manual's a six-speed and that's what we were driving.With a 43-litre tank it takes standard unleaded and has a range of about 750km. Rated at 5.7 litres/100km we were getting 6.6 after a couple of hundred kays according to the trip computer  but we'd expect this figure to improve over time.Sporty looking three door hatch. Goes suprisingly well. The manual is easy to use and the sixth cog leaves it nice and relaxed on the freeway. Full size spare wheel is a bonus. With its excellent economy and safety credentials this would make a perfect first car for teenagers.No worries here. Full five stars for safety with six airbags, stability control and anti-lock brakes with brake assist (even gets four-wheel discs which is unusual in this segment). Vehicle Stability Management oversees the whole system and can even adjust the steering pressure if things look like getting out of hand.For an entry level model it is surprisingly well equiiped with airconditioning, rear spoiler, Bluetooth, iPod compatible audio system, steering wheel phone and audio controls as standard. There's also a trip computer with distance to empy, the steering wheel is both tilt and reach adjustable and the driver's seat is height adjustable too.There's not much missing from the package. No alloys, but the 15 inch steel wheels are fitted with decent 185/65 profile tyres. The only thing we'd miss is cruise control.Our fears were unfounded. This has the same engine as the Hyundai i20 but with variable valve timing thrown in and slightly more power. The long and the short of it is that it goes okay, so if price is a consideration and you can't stretch to the 1.6  you won't be disappointed.

Incremental gains are the norm in the car industry, but not at Kia. The South Korean carmaker's latest Rio is such a quantum leap over its predecessor that it deserves a new name.If you could drive it with your eyes closed you would swear it was a premium small car from Europe, such is its tautness and finesse.DESIGNNow in its fourth generation, the Rio is yet another example of the attractive styling theme that permeates most of Kia's model range. From any angle it is well-proportioned with bold, confident lines and an athletic, purposeful stance.Add attractive pricing, lively performance, a stylish interior, respectable handling and a five-year warranty and the Rio banishes forever its previous life as a cheap and cheerless runabout.PRICEBut if the blandness of the previous model has gone so too has the budget price. The entry level 1.4 S at $16,290 for the six-speed manual (four-speed auto $18,290) is about $1300 more than its predecessor. Then comes the 1.6 Si at $18,990 (six-speed auto $20,990) and the 1.6 SLi at $19,990 (auto $21,990). On test were the SLi manual and automatic.Equipment in the S includes six airbags, stability control, a maximum five-star crash rating, brake assist, hill start assist, Bluetooth, single CD audio with MP3, iPod and USB connection, power windows, trip computer, heated mirrors and a full-size spare wheel. The Si adds the 1.6 engine, 16-inch alloy wheels, cruise control, higher grade audio, folding mirrors, upgraded instruments, fog lights and a centre console arm rest.ENGINE AND MECHANICALOutput from the 1.6-litre GDi (gasoline direct injection) engine is a class leading 103kW and 167Nm. Helped by short gearing, the six-speed manual is quick, eager and has plenty of punch for overtaking providing you are in the right gear.DRIVINGOn the highway it is spinning at an unobtrusive 2800rpm in sixth or about 300rpm more than the automatic, which doesn't feel as sharp as the manual and is noisier under load. If you like changing gears then the manual delivers with a slick gear shift and foolproof clutch. And it is $2000 less than the auto and a little lighter on fuel, with a combined average of 5.6l/100km compared with 6.1 in the auto, both a fraction more frugal than the 1.4. Suspension is well controlled, riding comfortably over bigger bumps and undulations, but spoilt by the SLi's overly wide tyres. All the controls and instruments are clear and easy to use, including intuitive steering wheel buttons. The hatch opens up a decent load area and the rear seats flip fold, though not to a flat floor.

We turn the spotlight on the car world's newest and brightest stars as we ask the questions to which you want the answers. But there's only one question that really needs answering ... would you buy one?What is it?This is the sedan version of Kia's new Rio light car though it's almost too big for that category. Kia has positioned 1.6-litre Rio Si sedan as a "fleet" car in one spec' only with a choice of auto' or manual. It's  on the same platform as the two Rio hatches and shares their underpinnings.How much?The manual is $19,690 with six-speed auto adding $2000 plus on roads.What are competitors?Almost too many to mention; Fiesta, Barina, Jazz, i20, Accent, Mazda2, Swift, Yaris, Polo.What's under the bonnet?It's the smallest capacity unit in Kia's new "Gamma" direct injection petrol range — a 1.6-litre, twin-cam with variable valve timing and variable induction that's good for 103kW/167Nm.How does it go?Pretty good for the class with adequate power, minimal noise and smooth running. Revs to 7000rpm without flinching. Better in the manual for the enthusiastic driver rather than the auto.Is it economical?Sips regular unleaded at around 6.0-litres/100km.Is it green?Ish. Low fuel consumption means low C)2 production rated at around 135g/km. Can't really tell you much about the manufacturing/recycling processes.Is it safe?Gets five stars.Is it comfortable?Has excellent suspension calibration for all round driving in Australia. Stable at speed, supple over rough surfaces, tracks straight and true on bumpy corners, no steering backlash, strong brakes. Good seats, roomy interior, large boot. Attractive interior styling with plenty of soft touch points including the dash.What's it like to drive?Great little all rounder but we prefer the manual though you'd have to go for the auto in the city. Good auto too lacks paddles and the engine sometimes falls into a torque hole as the transmission tries to rush to a higher gear to save fuel/cut emissions. Suspension is brilliant.Is it value for money?Yes. Plenty of kit, stunning styling though not as attractive as the hatches.Would we buy one?Yes, but we'd go for the five door hatch because it looks a bit better, especially around the rear quarters. Iy you've gotta have a sedan, well.

Kia's handsome Rio five door hatch has already won the Carsguide Car of the Year award for 2011. Now there's a wider choice with the arrival of three door hatch and four door sedan variants. All have been specifically set-up dynamically to suit local driving conditions with input from Australian suspension engineers.They are essentially the same underneath with the entry level three door selling from $15,290. Sensibly, Kia has kept the three and four door lineup small with the three door available in S and SLS grades, the former with a 1.4-litre petrol engine and the latter with a 1.6. The fleet-targeted sedan is in Si grade only with a 1.6 under the bonnet selling from $19,690.The 1.4 has a six-speed manual as standard or optional four-speed auto while the SLS has six-speeds in manual and auto available, something it shares with the sedan. Auto transmission adds $2000 across the board.The 1.4 is revamped from the previous Rio uprated to 79kW/135Nm. It features double overhead cams, variable valve timing but port injection instead of the newer and more efficient direct injection system. Fuel economy is a best of 5.7-litres/100km.The 1.6 is a new engine featuring direct injection, the smallest capacity engine in Kia's range with this system. It has dual variable valve timing and double overhead cams as well as variable intake. A timing chain is used instead of the usual belt thereby skirting any longer term replacement issue. The 1.6 is good for 103kW/167Nm and can sip at a low 5.6-litres/100km.Kia has done an impressive styling job on Rio inside and out with that handsome face, striking profiles in all three variants and sporty looking tail treatment. The soft feel interior is a marked step up on just about everything else in this segment featuring a classy, upmarket look, design and materials. Kia has been generous with equipment in all Rio variants, all of which score a five star crash rating.We were able to drive automatic versions of the 1.6-litre three and four door cars and finally a manual 1.6 three door in SLS grade. The last one we drove was our favourite because it was more engaging and simply more fun. It also looks the best with 17-inch alloys and low profile Conti tyres.The Rio has a decent audio, wide multi media connectivity, leather seats and LED daytime running lights on SLS. Not what you'd call a rip snorter in performance terms, 1.6-litre engine delivers respectable performance and excellent fuel economy but the ride is an well calibrated compromise for all round driving in this country - safe and sure.Did we tell you we like the styling - particularly of the three door. The four door looks OK too but isn't anywhere near as Euro-spunky as the little hatch.A great little car that will put a smile on your dial at an affordable price. Safe, economical, fun to drive with plenty of "wow" factor. No surprise it won Car of the Year.

For some of you it really is a case of four doors and a boot or no deal. Never understood that myself. Still, takes all sorts - last week I actually saw someone driving a Dodge Avenger. Marketing types, being insightful in a way that mere hacks are not, understand there are people, whole populations indeed, for whom a hatch is seen as a bit déclassé.Only a sedan confers that vital sense of upwards mobility - so it is in the US and Japan. Most of Asia for that matter. It matters not that the four doors in question have on the whole tended to look all too like what they are - misbegotten and deformed siblings of a hatchback onto which a boot has been whimsically whittled.Pity the poor designers who must make silk purses from such pig's arses. So why bother with a sedan take on Kia's Carsguide Car of the Year winning Rio five door hatch?Because here's a small sedan that is all its own thing, an all but clean sheet design drawn by the inspired pen of Peter Schreyer, whose deft shapings have, perhaps more than any other single factor, transformed the way in which cars from Korea are seen. It helps that this sub-compact car's performance is not out of keeping with its visual promise.The four door comes in mid-spec SI trim with a choice of six-speed transmission to drive the willing direct injection four cylinder engine. Tags of $19,690 for the manual and $2K more for the self shifter border on those asked for the next size up, but the Rio sedan is something of a segment shifter.It's a fairly full bowl of fruit to boot, with leather trim, 16-inch alloys, front fogs, six speakers and soft touch materials that make for one of the better cabins in this class. Not that there's a plethora of four door  competition of this size at the moment, Mazda having given up on that version of the Mazda2 and the new Yaris widely felt to be poorer than the one previous.Here's a maker of economy cars which grasps that it's one thing to stuff a cheap tin can full of gadgets in the guise of value, quite another to deliver a polished package. Of the more than 40 carmakers active here, Only Kia, Hyundai, Mitsubishi and - for the moment - Skoda offer a five year warranty.Like most Asian carmakers, Kia is largely turbo petrol engine averse, though it is one of the few to employ direct injection, which, combined with those six speeders, realize as little as 5.6l/100km in the manual and a bare 0.5 more in the auto. Much of the tech sort resides in the work of Graeme Gambold's Kia Localisation Project.Competitor cars (most notably in this case our 2010 Car of the Year, VW's Polo) are each driven some 2000km in order to gauge to what extent the Kia needs to be tweaked from the distinctively different Korean market car. The factory is then requested to recalibrate Australian issue cars accordingly."They're aghast at some of the settings we ask for, but we get the eventually," he says. Essentially, Gambold - an engineering wizard in those dark arts of spring rates, steering, damping, pitch, yaw and tyre pressure - has adapted a softly set up car into one that you can drive not just in town but with assurance at speed on the open road.Can this man do no wrong? Not a half decade has passed since Kias looked as anonymous as their lowly place in the order of things dictated. Now, thanks to Herr Schreyer - who penned the original and game changing Audi TT -  Kia surely has the world's most visually striking range of affordable cars. While to my jaded, rheumy eyes, the new three door hatch wins the beauty contest, the sedan establishes something of new aesthetic benchmark.You will of course make up your own mind, but when you do I'd be interested to know: Do you think the sedan looks about a size bigger in white? Does to me. It's highly functional too, retaining the five door's internal dimensions and adding a formidable 389-litre boot that accommodates a full-size alloy spare. Hello? Volvo?It's this appearance of "legitimacy" as much as the impressive engineering aspects (more of which in a moment) that confirms small cars are no longer the secondary jigger you give the missus (or the mister), but a fully fledged family vehicle. As Kia's marketing chief, Steve Watt - a marketeer to whom I'll gladly defer - says: "Light cars are heading out of town now. They are a household's primary car."Five-star crash integrity is achieved with a battery of active and passive measures that until all too recently were at best optional at this end of the market, including six airbags and electronic stability control across the range. Where some rivals persist with old style drum rear brakes, the Rio wear discs fore and aft. Gambold looms in this chapter too, the neutral handling balance he has engineered is as crucial to the safety equation as any electronic device.It says much for the capability of this little device that the hotfoots among the media mob were lamenting the lack of a turbo-charged engine. In any guise , with any number of doors, the Rio is a confident, neutral handler that will almost certainly exceed the demands of its likely owners. The sixth cog of the auto serves it well, running the engine at 2500rpm on the freeway, with little external noise to suggest this is among the smallest class of cars. On a mixed open road and commuter traffic run from Sydney to the Central Coast hinterland, we used 5.8L/100km.Only on the steeper peaks of the Pacific Highway was a firmer foot required.  A manual mode allows a degree of shifting for yourself and, should the occasion, arise, is useful for stirring progress. Chiefly, though, it's the degree to which the Rio works away from the city streets that truly opens up the road.An award winner that shifts shape and looks the goods in any guise.

Mazda 2 Genki and Kia Rio SLi go head-to-head in this comparative review.