Road Test: Kia Rio 1.25 EX

Price as tested: €16,495

+ Sharp looks, capable chassis, spacious, well made, excellent Co2
– Ummmm... nothing much really
= A massive thorn in the side of the European and Japanese Grandees

It has become a terrible old cliche, even in the short span during which it has been done, to say that Kia has ‘come a long way.’ But it’s true, Kia’s journey from bargain-bucket dreck to pukka performance has been rapid, steep and successful.

And no one model illustrates that better than the Rio. The first-gen, 2001, Rio was, frankly, awful. Pinched and narrow looking, with a horrid interior and a chassis of rare incompetence. It was utterly awful.

But then came the second-gen Rio and, suddenly, there was a sense of something good happening. OK, so it still looked a bit plain, but the chassis was decent (surprisingly good steering) and the cabin was airy, spacious and well made. It was good.

And now comes the all-new Rio and there can be no finer encapsulation of just how far Kia has come.

Peter Schreyer must take a solid chunk of the credit for this. The former Audi designer has done great work with Kia, but the Rio is possibly his best effort yet. It looks crisp and clean, with the combination of ‘Tiger Grille’ and big headlights adding a whiff of aggression. Certainly, it makes shrinking violets like the Toyota Yaris and Hyundai i20 look pretty ordinary, and even the likes of the Ford Fiesta and Suzuki Swift will be glancing, anxiously, over their shoulders.

Ever more anxiously once the driving experience has been tried out. Kia’s 1.25-litre petrol engine packs a reasonable 83bhp and Nm of torque, and returns a very impressive claimed 5.1-litres per 100km on the combined fuel economy cycle and 119g/km of Co2. So far, so economical, and we managed to get 6.0l/100km out of our test car on a briskly driven run, so the figures look realistic.

Better yet, it’s no sluggard. Neither is it a GTI, and you do need to keep the engine spinning above 2,000rpm to get any meaningful shove, but you can hustle the Rio along quite nicely and the 1.25 is sweet, revvy and enjoyable to stretch out to the redline, the snappy, easy gearchange working nicely.

And the chassis is up to the job too. Again, you won’t mistake it for a hot hatch, but there’s a very Ford-like feeling in the way the Rio deals with the road. It’s quite firmly sprung; never harsh or bouncy, but with a tautness that you could, on a dark night, mistake for sportiness. The steering feels well weighted and nicely balanced, and is pleasingly brisk across its locks. Front grip is excellent, with the economy-minded tyres only washing into understeer when really pressed. Best of all is a feeling of fluidity and competence about the way the Rio drives. There’s no nervousness, nothing waiting at the edges of adhesion to bite you, but instead a calm and assured feeling of, well, excellence frankly. It is, quite simply, very enjoyable to drive.

Inside the cabin, refinement is pretty good, although it does suffer a bit from the standard small car bugbear of road noise. The main dials are clear and neat, the seats comfy and the driving position good. All the major surfaces feel well made and screwed together and there’s a pleasing lack of cheap, nasty plastics. Space in the back is pretty good too, albeit behind the class leader, the Honda Jazz. The 288-litre boot is right on the class average, and can be expanded to 923-litres if you fold the seats.

This being a Kia, you’d expect the standard equipment list to be long,  and you’re not wrong. In €16k EX form, you get “ alloys, electric folding mirrors, Pod connection, Bluetooth phone, steering wheel audio controls, a full bevvy of airbags plus ESP stability control, hill start, air conditioning and a gear shift indicator. Most of which is also standard on the cheaper €15,295 LX version. Frankly, if Ford, VW, Toyota and Renault aren’t seriously looking to their laurels reading that list then shame on them.

It used to be that such major European and Japanese manufacturers could wave off comparison with Kia, pointing out that the lengthy equipment list was a smokescreen to hide drab styling, underwhelming driving experiences and poor safety records behind. No longer. The Rio isn not just every bit as good as a Fiesta, Yaris or Polo, it is in quite a few ways even better. The fact that it’s sensibly priced, munificently equipped and comes with a seven year warranty... well, frankly if that doesn’t put it at the top of your shopping list, I don’t know what will.




Facts & Figures

Kia Rio 1.25 EX
Price as tested: €16,495
Range price: €15,295 to €17,895
Capacity: 1,248cc
Power: 83bhp
Torque: 121Nm
Top speed: 168kmh
0-100kmh: 13.1sec
Economy: 5.1l-100km (55.3mpg)
CO2 emissions: 119g/km
VRT Band: A. €104 road tax
Euro NCAP rating: Not yet tested