Kia Rio
The last time I was reading about a Kia I was making jokes about how they could pick up whole sheep in their talons and fly off to feed their young.The Kia Rio in which we drove around Wales for a fortnight didn't have talons and we most definitely didn't pick up any sheep even though the opportunity did arise. I liked it immediately because it was red, although my wife dutifully informed me that this was not the way to start a serious-minded review. Still, nice colour. We had been looking for a replacement for our family car and we figured that this was a great chance to check out the competition.
Initially the handling seemed strange but I soon realised that this was more about what we were used to because when we went back to our old Vauxhall Corsa two weeks later we found that the heap was atrocious to drive. So let's get it straight: the Kia handles really well. What first threw us was the steering, which is incredibly responsive, a plus as we soon discovered when tackling the small blind roads of the Gower where it is important to feel in control of your vehicle. During our time away we also had a great deal of motorway driving where we happily found the acceleration to be excellent for the size of engine. Considering the load we were carrying (we have an almost 2 year old and therefore pack most of the house, minus shed, when going away) we were able to cruise at a very respectable speed. More importantly we always felt confident when pulling out of junctions.
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We have an older but typical small engine, small emission city car and this was one reason why we were interested in trying the Kia Rio as we will soon have to find a suitable replacement. The Rio falls into all the categories we need and for a small car the space is surprisingly good. A real boon was the fact that it is a four door; anyone with a small child will know that this helps considerably and for a passenger in the back it was a rare treat to actually be in control of the amount of air coming in the windows.
Similarly, price-wise it compares favourably with other cars in its class and we found that the fuel economy was slightly better than our current car. Of course you would expect this of a newer model but still we were impressed as we had believed ours to be a stand-out example in this range.
I have to say we didn't find many negative points about the car at all in our two weeks. We thought the safety feature of airbags might be a problem in accommodating our child but discovered immediately that the front passenger airbag could be easily disabled. Obviously ideally, children in car seats should be secured in the back. However we have found that Tom cannot get our full attention all of the time when placed in the back and we are suckers for punishment. So in the front he went.
I have to say, we did notice that all-round visibility was poorer than our Corsa. Overall there is a lot of glass in the Rio but when overtaking or parking we found that a little more stretching and manoeuvring was needed before all the angles were covered. This wasn't a huge problem but did highlight an area that we presently take for granted. Of course our current car is a hatchback and this naturally lends itself to a better rear view.
Altogether test driving the Rio was a very pleasant surprise. It offered a comfortable, confident ride with air conditioning and the full gamut of electric controls easing any difficulties that might arise in long journeys with a car seat in the front. And, when all is said and done, it was a lovely colour.
Dave Fouracre
August 2007
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