The Car Enthusiast drove the
previous Kia Rio in petrol form a couple of years ago and found it a hoot to drive. The Rio was replaced with a more mainstream car in 2005, with the range including a new 1.5-litre turbodiesel engine option. Not only is the Kia Rio diesel claimed to be more economical than its petrol counterpart, it's also more powerful, producing 108bhp instead of the 95bhp; and more tellingly, 173lb.ft of torque rather than 92lb.ft. An interesting idea this, the diesel engine being the performance option as well as the economy alternative.
Not only the performance option on paper either; in day to day driving I was quite taken aback by the performance of the Kia Rio diesel. Acceleration in any gear was brisk once 1400rpm had been passed with the engine pulling strongly from there to the peak power point at 4000rpm. The red line doesn't arrive until 4500rpm although there seemed little point in taking the engine this high up the rev counter (admittedly, the engine was willing and smooth enough). Better to use the ample torque to make quick progress. Not only was the acceleration surprising, I also didn't expect the absence of traction control (it's an option) to make any difference, but in the damp the Kia Rio diesel could spin its front wheels exiting roundabouts, more to the amusement of the driver than to any real detriment of the handling.
I had expected the extra weight of the diesel engine to blunt the roadholding compared to that of the petrol-powered car, but any deterioration in cornering was unnoticeable and if anything, the extra torque of the diesel engine pulling the Kia Rio out of corners made it even more enjoyable. At any vaguely sensible speed the Kia Rio diesel went where it was pointed, and only when really pushing the envelope did understeer start to set in; a nice safe warning that it's time to slow down a bit. Even in the wet, grip from the 195/55 R15 tyres was good allowing very brisk progress to be made. Better still, even though the ride along bumpy B-roads could hardly be called cosseting, it was also never uncomfortable. The Kia Rio is very good at dealing with the bumps and allows the driver to keep pressing on. Passengers realised the road was bumpy, but the car smoothed out the worst, faithfully followed the driver's instructions and gave no reason to be perturbed.
Our test car came in LX specification adding another £1,000 to the on-the-road list price of the Kia Rio (in addition to the £500 premium the diesel engine commands over petrol), but even so our car still came in at a fiver below £10,000. The LX specification adds 15-inch alloy wheels, front fog lamps, better quality interior trim, electric/heated door mirrors, electric rear windows, extra airbags and remote control central locking with alarm to the already decent specification of the GS model, which has air conditioning and an MP3 compatible CD/tuner. Kia also gives free insurance for seven days so you can just pop down to the dealership, sign up for one of the finance packages and drive away knowing you have time to transfer your own insurance cover across.
After I had calmed down from hooning around the local lanes, I had a chance to take stock of the interior. Anyone expecting the low price to be reflected in a cheap interior could be in for a surprise; the LX specification metal effect trim on the dash and steering wheel was reminiscent of the
Ford Focus and the red/black patterned cloth seats were pleasing to the eye. The driver's seat is manually height adjustable separately at the front and the back of the base, which in theory should make finding that perfect driving position easy, but on medium length journeys I would start to fidget and wonder if the seat pointed slightly askew towards the door. A quick wriggle and I seemed to settle back into a reasonable position; certainly it was never uncomfortable.
For a relatively small car, the Kia Rio is rather spacious inside, rear legroom being very good and even boot space being more than enough for the weekly shopping run. Fold the rear seats flat and space increases from 270 to 1145 litres; useful for trips to the garden centre etc.
This is a diesel car and still I haven't even mentioned fuel economy such is the dominance of its performance advantage. You've probably seen the clever TV commercial where the Kia Rio diesel drives majestically past the Hicksville, USA garage complete with the masked "bad guy" awaiting anyone unfortunate enough to stop. With a fuel tank capacity of 45 litres and a claimed combined fuel consumption of 60.1mpg adding up to a potential range of nigh on 600 miles, at least part of that commercial is not fictional. Even using more of the performance than might be reasonable, we still achieved around 55mpg or so. That combined figure of 60mpg is entirely believable given a modicum of restraint.
Downsides to the Kia Rio are few. It's not the best looking car on the road, but then again its more inconspicuous than ugly; some would call this a plus point. Certainly for the first few days in my tenure, I kept walking past the Kia Rio wherever I had parked it; it just didn't stand out at all. In common with the
Hyundai Sonata we recently tested, the metallic paint had much finer particles than usual, and didn't give off quite the same level of "metallic-ness" found with most other manufacturers, but don't mistake this for looking cheap; just different. Other detailing such as the rear light shape suggests no skimping on styling budget, even if the Rio is not beautiful.
I didn't like the fact that the front number plate didn't sit flush on the front bumper; the moulding for it was far too small unless you are lucky enough to have "A1" or similar as your registration number; sitting proud of the bumper made it look like a moustache. And I still dislike the fact that some manufacturers from the East will insist on having the stalks the 'wrong way round'. Maybe it's not a problem for owners who drive just the single car regularly, but for those of us who swap cars as often as our suits, it's downright dangerous indicating with the wipers, washing the screen when meaning to flash the headlights, etc.
Thankfully, these downsides are all but meaningless compared to the good points of the Kia Rio diesel. It's an excellent little car, more so when the price is taken into account. The additional £500 charge for the diesel engine makes the petrol version almost redundant unless you are allergic to smelly diesel pumps, and even the extra £1,000 for LX specification seems fair value.
Kia Rio UK range overview
- Kia Rio 1.4 GS: £8,495
- Kia Rio 1.5 GS CRDi: £8,995
- Kia Rio 1.4 GS Automatic: £9,495
- Kia Rio 1.4 LX: £9,495
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Kia Rio 1.5 LX CRDi: £9,995
- Kia Rio 1.4 LX Dynamic: £10,495
- Kia Rio 1.5 LX CRDi Dynamic: £10,995
