Kia Rio
Kia's
Rio may be heavily-accented, but it shows that having the
right parents can give you every advantage in the world…
What's
New
In many ways you're looking at an early preview of the next
Hyundai Accent, which is only due here in 2006. How so?
Well, Kia - now under the ownership of Hyundai - has been
on the receiving end of technology-transfer and platform-sharing
from its parent, of which the all-new Kia Rio is a beneficiary.
The
Rio, then, is to the next Hyundai Accent what the Audi A3
was to the VW Golf - essentially a fraternal twin. And in
our market at least, the Rio seems to play a genuinely useful
role. Now that Hyundai has set its sights on becoming the
next Toyota (don't laugh, because the Japanese certainly
aren't), Kia is still around to welcome car buyers looking
for honest, budget-friendly transportation from Korea.
And
if anyone thinks that budget shoppers have limited options,
Kia proves otherwise by offering the Rio in four or five-door
body styles, each available with 1.4-litre or 1.6-litre
engines, and each in turn fitted with five-speed manual
or four-speed automatic gearboxes which makes total of eight
choices.
How
it Performs
Assuming you're considering the 1.6-litre version, you're
probably looking for a bit of pep, and the Rio's motor delivers.
It's a torquey unit with a healthy amount of mid-range muscle,
so overtaking is never a chore and acceleration feels much
more vigorous than the stated 0 to 100km/h time of 10.2
seconds suggest.
Sporty
handling, though, is not really on offer. The suspension
set-up causes the nose to run wide if you enter a bend over
enthusiastically, but you can safely correct this by easing
off the throttle. The power steering is feather-light in
its weighting, and there's a rubbery feel to the clutch
and gear-lever action.
Overall,
the emphasis seems to have been on making the Rio comfortably
operable with as minimal effort as possible.
Further
attention must have been paid to making the Kia surprisingly
refined. The drivetrain and suspension work quietly, and
the cabin itself feels nicely sealed off from the din of
outside traffic.
Build
quality is also a big step up from Kias of just a generation
ago, and the space packaging creates a decently roomy cabin.
Even the switchgear manages to avoid feeling cheap, and
in a car that costs this side of $50,000, that's something
of an achievement.
How
it Stacks Up
The problem for Kia is that some of its Japanese competitors
have strayed into the right side of 50 grand as well. Both
the Nissan Sunny 1.6 and Mitsubishi Lancer, for instance,
cost juts a little more while offering niceties absent in
the Rio like an airbag (two, in the Lancer's case) and anti-lock
brakes.
The
Rio's newness gives it sharper styling, though, and if you
really want a bargain, there's always the 1.4-litre version.
It's not much slower, and if anything is even quieter than
the 1.6-litre, all for $2,000 less.
| Technical Specifications |
|
MODEL
Kia Rio 1.6
ENGINE
Engine: 1,599cc, 16V in-line 4
Max Power: 112bhp @ 6,000rpm
Max Torque: 146Nm @ 4,500rpm
TRANSMISSION
5-speed manual
TOP SPEED
190km/h
0-100km/h
10.2s
|
