Kia Rio S 2012 Review

Cheap and cheerful ain't what it was when Kia's basic light car offers so much

Kia Rio S

Road Test

Price Guide (recommended price before statutory and delivery charges): $15,290

Options fitted (not included in above price): Nil

Crash rating: Five-star (ANCAP)

Fuel: 91 RON ULP

Claimed fuel economy (L/100km): 5.7

CO2 emissions (g/km): 135

Also consider: Hyundai i20 Active, Toyota Yaris YR

Once upon a time dads would recommend their daughters buy a three-door hatch to keep the little tackers from bailing out of the back seat at highway speeds. Those were the days before universal central locking.

Now mothers (and dads) are increasingly aware of the potential for back strain from loading kids into the rear of a car over a forward-folding front seat. Thus, the only reasons to buy a three-door model boil down to price and (perhaps) aesthetics.

Kia's new Rio in basic S-grade trim and with manual transmission (a six-speed box) costs $15,290 and is $1000 cheaper than its five-door equivalent. It features the same 1.4-litre four-cylinder as the five-door Rio S, rather than the more powerful 1.6-litre engine in other Rio variants. The 1.4 is a port-injected engine that uses slightly more fuel than the direct-injected 1.6, but is still frugal.

Although this variant's combined-cycle fuel consumption is 5.7L/100km, we didn't see the trip computer post a figure below 8.1L/100km. But that was still impressive for a car that was mostly peddled around the suburbs during the week in our possession. The official city cycle figure for the car is 7.7L/100km — so the trip computer's (real world) figure was quite close to that.

Not the most inspiring engine in the world, the 1.4 does produce decent torque across a wide band. It's a little raucous above 5000rpm, but has enough torque to slot into a higher gear long before then, without falling off the pace.

That torque (135Nm) is handy for easy starts without riding the clutch and the Rio with this powertrain combination also launches well. In contrast, the 79kW power figure is disappointing — both on paper and in reality. The engine will hold the car at a given speed on hills and it will cope readily with short-shifting for economy, but it doesn't feel especially lively in respect of straightline performance.

It's really aimed at eking out the fuel for optimum range, rather than powering ahead of diesel-engined SUVs or V6-powered sedans. Just keep telling yourself, it's no fuel hog...

A clear hint is the Rio's shift-indicator light, which prompts the driver to change up a gear. It's unexpected seeing such an item of kit in such an inexpensive car and, unlike similar systems in other cars, this one works appropriately.

Due to the engine's native torque (and good refinement at lower revs), the Rio 1.4 can cruise around town in a very high gear (hovering between 1500-2000rpm), without the engine labouring or the driver wincing. Typically, the light in the dash will display an up arrow and the number of the gear to select perhaps a second or so ahead of the moment a careful driver would choose to change up anyway. It's potentially a boon for less experienced drivers to learn how to get the most out of a fuel tank.

Compared with the last manual Kia driven (the Cerato), the Rio offers an almost exceptional shift quality from its manual box. The lever glides from one gear to the next, rapidly but smoothly. It snicks into place precisely and responsively. This is a great manual box for learners. It's aided by the engine's throttle response — no engine flare encountered while shifting — and the fairly good clutch take-up.

The Rio in this level of trim comes with steel wheels and plastic wheel covers. Its 185/65 R15 Kumhos contribute their fair share of noise on country roads, but on freeways it's wind noise that dominates. There was precious little rumble or roar from the driveline when cruising -- although it was hard to separate any such noise from the whisper of road noise at open-road speeds anyway). The engine's complete lack of noise and vibration at idle is a real eye-opener too.

The tyres acquitted themselves well for grip and ride comfort, although the Rio's spring and damper settings are firm by the standards of many rivals in the Light car segment. The corollary of that is there's very little body roll in harder cornering.

At low speeds the steering weight is light, but it becomes significantly heavier as the speed rises. At cruising speed it's probably heavier than many of the Rio's rivals.

While turn-in was up to scratch, the steering felt vague when the car was pointed straight ahead. But committed to a corner it came alive and delivered the sort of feedback to make the driver feel secure pressing on. Handling-wise, the Rio tracks well through corners and the line will tighten noticeably when easing off the throttle, but even with power applied the grip is determined and the Rio won't be knocked off line by mid-corner bumps.

The Rio is well equipped. For example Bluetooth and audio streaming are standard. Once the smart phone was paired — and provided it was also enabled correctly — the driver could simply select 'Media' from the car's audio system and punch the enter button to run music from the phone when prompted. It doesn't get much easier than that.

The Rio is a comfortable little car in other ways too. The seats are nicely shaped, but well bolstered for lateral hold and the driving position is excellent; readily adjusted for optimum reach of the controls and line of sight to the instruments.

One criticism is that the heavyset C-pillars and narrow tailgate glazing obstruct the field of vision to the rear. The stylishly swept-back A-pillars also blocked the view of traffic lights on a couple of occasions.

Design of the dash is appealing and highly functional, with everything right-sized and intuitive to use. We're not so keen on the orange-on-red graphics in the centre fascia display for audio and trip computer functions, but most people could live with that. The steering wheel seemed slightly too large in diameter — although it did facilitate a better view of the instruments and complements the level of power assistance — and the tricot fabric chosen by Kia to upholster the seats is a little drab and uninviting, but it seems hard-wearing.

Similarly, the plastics used throughout the interior are hard to the touch and not especially pretty. But one shouldn't forget that this is the cheapest Rio in the range, after all.

Kia has acknowledged that no amount of clever packaging will overcome the basic shortcomings of a vehicle with two fewer doors than the ideal, so they've engineered the three-door Rio accordingly. For instance, easier access is gained from the passenger side of the car. The front passenger seat tilts and slides forward easily, dragged from the hand-pull on the shoulder of the seat. This leaves more room for feet to negotiate the normally tight squeeze between the front seat and the B pillar.

The rear-seat passenger can pull this seat back into place for the front-seat occupant, or that passenger can shift it back into the correct position with a secondary hand-pull on the base of the seat. Once you understand the way the seat works, it's fairly straightforward and it's not like passengers will be standing around in the rain for an extended period waiting for the rear-seat occupants to board.

The driver's seat doesn't work the same way and this is one concession Kia asks Rio owners to make. It's bracketed near the door by a guide to hold the seatbelt in easy reach for the driver. Kia has not provided the driver's seat with the same facility for easy access to the rear as on the passenger's side, lest the seatbelt guide and the seatbelt be fouled by the wider range of seat travel. It's a good safety feature anyway —all passengers need to board the car from the kerb.

Once in the rear seat, the Rio is very accommodating. There's plenty of headroom for adults of average size and even with the front seat brought back as far as possible, there's still (just) enough kneeroom for adults.

Evaluating a bare-bones car such as the Rio S is a reality check. Often motoring journalists conclude that buyers would be better saving longer to purchase a better class of car. Thankfully, in this instance, that's not so. The Rio S is a proper car with strong core qualities and the right basket of goodies.

It says something for how far Kia has come in recent years that the Rio S three-door is more expensive than the Toyota Yaris YR by $300. Even more interestingly, it can readily justify it.

Read the latest news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at carsales' mobile site…

Kia Rio S 2012 Review

Tags