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Tim Britten28 May 2014
REVIEW

Kia Rio 2014 Review

Kia's Rio hatch still looks good after three years on the Australian market

Kia Rio SLi
Road Test

Thanks to the influence of one of the world’s top auto stylists, Kia’s top-shelf Rio SLi five-door hatch hits the ground running. And, thankfully, the good looks are supported by an all-embracing competency that enables the Rio to stand face to face with the best of its Japanese and European competition - all this from a Korean car-maker that not so long ago was struggling to survive.

Kia, in the last few years, has become the Korean car brand you just can’t ignore.

Not so much because of the numbers it’s steadily chalking up on the annual sales scoreboards, but more because of a growing public awareness of the brand’s pervasive sense of style. Kia is out-stripping many of its competitors in this regard, even sister brand Hyundai.

The latter is perhaps a bit strange given the fact that the styling teams for both Kia and Hyundai are headed by one person – the inimitable Peter Schreyer. His deft hand with the styling pen was best known for its influence on the design language of German brand Audi, particularly the first Audi TT introduced locally in 1999.

His presence at Kia – he took up the job in 2006 and has since been elevated to a presidential role in the Hyundai-Kia group – has been little short of profound.

With a clear vision of where the brand needed to go, Schreyer gave Kia purpose and identity across its range of models, and has been largely responsible for the company’s emergence as a competitor not to be ignored.

From a lower-rung presence in new car sales, Kia has been steadily gaining public acceptance to the point that, in Australia, its year-to-date sales are only 300 or so units behind the tech-focussed Japanese brand Honda – a big leap from its previous position as an also-ran market presence.

But that’s enough preamble; we’re here to talk about the car that remains the highest-selling model in the Kia lineup – the light-class Rio.

Introduced here in its current, fourth-generation form in 2011, the impeccably styled five-door hatchback (there is also a three-door model available) embodies practically everything introduced into Kia’s DNA via Peter Schreyer.

Still arguably one of the best-looking cars in its segment, the Rio hatch backs up its appealing visual presence with an all-round competence that partly explains why it has been recognised in publicly-voted polls such as the carsales.com.au People’s Choice awards in 2012.

It was also our choice in a recent comparison with prestige manufacturer Audi’s A1 light car.

A week in the top-shelf Rio SLi five-door (there is an identically-priced three-door version, the leather-trimmed and climate-controlled SLS) demonstrated why Kia is creating a stir just about everywhere it goes.

Sitting on 17-inch wheels a turbo hot-hatch would be proud of, and announcing its presence with a set of LED daytime running lights, the Rio hatch is consistently impressive from stem to stern, and continues with the positive vibes right through to the interior.

A clean, soft-ish dash, intuitive control layout and close attention to minor trim details give it an almost Germanic appearance that suggests it’s not the materials you use that are important – it’s how you use them.

It’s often subtle – as in the way the control knobs and even the air vent surrounds are presented and finished – but the overall impression is one of quality and style.

Never mind that the grab handles above the doors snap shut rather than retract elegantly, that the closing doors tend to clang rather than quietly thump, or that, even at the top levels, only the driver gets one-touch power window operation – the Rio conveys an impression of being, if not a touch above its competition, at least right up there with the best.

It’s comfortable for the driver and front passenger, although not so much for those travelling in the back (very tight legroom is partly compensated by good headroom) and rear vision is compromised by swoopy styling. The C-pillars are so large, and the tapering rear side windows so small, that there are significant blind spots.

The cloth-trim seats are up-to-the-task though, and the driver gets a two-way adjustable steering column, as well as a height-adjustable seat to take care of long-distance comfort.

The Rio’s truncated tail affects luggage capacity through: In full five-passenger mode, the boot will carry just 288 litres. Some compensation can be found in the SLi’s standard, full-size alloy spare wheel.

The Rio SLi is powered by Kia’s competent 1.6-litre Gamma engine using direct injection and dual continuously variable valve timing to extract a decent 103kW at 6300rpm, as well as a very impressive-for-capacity 167Nm at an understandably high 4850rpm.

Although it’s quick enough, the Rio SLi is no hot hatch: Kia claims zero to 100km/h acceleration, in manual form, in 10.2 seconds. The sequential-shift six-speed auto is obviously pretty efficient because it reaches the same speed only 0.1 of a second slower.

Out on the road, the auto Rio SLi doesn’t feel like a slouch, whether slipping in and out of heavy city traffic, or cruising the freeway. It revs happily past its peak-power 6300rpm and the auto kicks down intuitively enough, neither hanging on to gears too long, or anxiously downshifting at the slightest provocation. A welcome modicum of driver influence is available via the lever-controlled manual override.

Kia says the auto Rio SLi returns an ADR Combined fuel consumption figure of 6.1L/100km, although on test the best figure we saw was 7.0 – much of our driving was on freeways, so it’s difficult to imagine getting much better in a more urban driving mix.

Driving fun is not written out of the equation: The SLi’s 17-inch alloys with their Continental 205/45-series tyres contribute to the firm ride and the sharp turn-in via a reasonably quick electric power steering system that swings the wheel from lock-to-lock in 2.75 turns.

Noise levels transmitted through to the interior when driving on the open road are on the higher side of the spectrum, but then again we are talking about a light-class car here, aimed more at urban driving than interstate marathons. That said, the flick-switch cruise control buttons on the steering wheel are intuitive and easy to use without need for visual reference.

The Rio feels tight on the road, free of any insistent squeaks or rattles, which is indicative of a solidity contributing to its safety credentials.

With a reasonable list of standard-equipment items – the SLi comes with automatic-on projector headlights, static cornering lights, LED daytime running lights and an enhanced brake package – the top-shelf Rio is not a really cheap light car, but it is, apart from being exceedingly handsome, highly competent, well put together and boasts a maximum five-star safety rating.

Really, there’s not a lot more you could ask.

2014 Kia Rio SLi pricing and specifications:
Price: $21,990 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol
Output: 103kW/167Nm


Transmission:
Six-speed automatic
Fuel: 6.1L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 145g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety Rating: Five-star ANCAP

What we liked: Not so much:
>> Styling inside and out >> Tight back seat
>> Generous equipment levels >> Poor aftward vision
>> Perky engine performance >> Small cargo area
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Written byTim Britten
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