Kia Rio

In the late 1990s Ford was in a serious quandary about replacing its entry-level Festiva. The small three and five-door hatch had been its second biggest seller after Falcon and with such healthy numbers and a new model in the wings, the car's manufacturer, South Korean maker Kia, was keen to sell it under its own right in Australia.

Ford was in there battling all the way, but in July 2000, Kia emerged the victor and launched the Rio. The three door hatch was gone and in its place came a four door sedan, but with a revitalized regime in Seoul, Ford wasn't getting anything, and much to its disappointment, it bowed out of the bargain basement market altogether.

What was Kia's third generation of the small car, was very much a case of getting what you paid for but up against its then compatriot rivals like the Daewoo Lanos and Hyundai Accent, it could hold its own.

On the price front, the Rio was also up against some of the Japanese makers like Mazda and Holden's European sourced Barina, but value for money was Kia's big claim, with the company pointing out that the Rio was a four or five door, well equipped and had a 1.5-litre engine while some its rivals at the same price were only three-door hatches with 1.3-litre powerplants.

Much has changed in this market though over the past three years and all but the Koreans have moved more upmarket. Both Daewoo, and Hyundai, which now owns Kia, have also moved in a very different design direction for their entry-level hatches with the Kalos and Getz adopting taller more versatile Euro-style bodies.

Along with the change in style have come some marked improvements in quality, space, and refinement. Hyundai's prices have moved up slightly with the 1.5-litre Getz five-door manual priced at $16,990, but the new Kalos 1.5 is lineball with the Rio hatch at $14,990.

With the four-door sedan accounting for less than 10 percent of the light car segment, Hyundai no longer offers one so now the only real direct competitor for the Rio sedan is the Kalos, both also priced at $14,990.

Despite the small sales volumes, there are obviously some people in this market that prefer a four door so it was that version of the upgraded Rio that we tested, to see if it has kept up with the competition.

Visually, the car has been sharpened up at the front end with new bonnet and sheetmetal forward of the A-pillar, while the tail has also undergone some styling modifications.

But it is mechanically that Kia claims the biggest improvements have been made.

The engine is a 1.5-litre unit that generates a maximum outputs of 71kW and 132Nm and while Kia claims it has undergone minor revisions to improve refinement, you would be hard pressed to notice. It is coarse at best and when pushed into the higher reaches of the rev band becomes very loud although in performance terms, it offers enough power to get the car off the line and keep up with the traffic flow. The $2000 optional four-speed automatic provides reasonable shift quality when not being stressed in slow urban traffic but when faced with a hill or a sudden thrust of the right boot, it does tend to hunt around a bit looking for the right gear.

A number of modifications to the suspension have improved the handling slightly and the car is reasonably composed on the road with well weighted steering and predictable understeer. Bigger brakes pull the car up easily although caution is advised in the wet as they are quick to lock up and the 13-inch Hankook tyres don't offer a great deal of grip.

The stiffer body and stronger suspension does, however, mean that the ride is less than comfortable. It's average over smooth tarmac, but as soon as you get onto rougher urban roads, the car jiggles about and nearly every imperfection in the road surface can be felt through the seats. Kia claims the seats use a new variable density foam for comfort but they still feel too thin and don't offer much support on longer trips.

They are covered in a new cloth trim, which now also features on the doors, but like the rest of the interior, remain an inoffensive, but rather bland grey. Space inside is reasonable up front, with plenty of storage cubbies and good door bins, but rear headroom and especially legroom, is minimal. There is also only a lap belt for the centre rear passenger.

The boot is a decent size with a capacity of 269 litres that can be expanded by folding the one-piece rear seat back down.

Kia's value for money spin means that the car is reasonably well equipped and comes standard with central locking, driver airbag, air conditioning and radio/CD player. On our test car, however, the locally-fitted, Kia manufactured sound system died on the second day which meant the few minor squeaks and rattles became more evident.

Despite the minor improvements, the Rio is still a car that is made down to a price, and even at that price, there are better products around, most of them in the used car market.