Test Drive: 2012 Kia Rio SX

By Kevin Harrison

Leather seats. Navigation. Bluetooth. Satellite radio. Push start ignition. Keyless entry. Back-up camera. LED lights. 17 inch wheels. Sport tuned suspension.

If you heard all of these things, you’d likely think the car that was being referred to was a BMW or an Audi. And likely the last vehicle to come to mind when hearing all these features is the sub-compact Kia Rio. Well start training your brain to think of the Rio because all that stuff was indeed on the 2012 Kia Rio that I had for a week. It was mind boggling.

The Rio is a close cousin of the Hyundai Accent, both of which were for people who only cared about getting from point A to point B and not much else. The Rio was the favourite for rental car fleets everywhere. It was the butt of most automotive related jokes.

Following the trend of just plain building better cars, Kia has injected the same formula for it’s entry level compact. But there’s obviously more to a car than just fancy features. Does the Rio have the complete package or does it as dull as its predecessor?

While the previous generation Rio’s styling could only be described as bland (and that was when you felt like being polite) the current generation is a sight for sore eyes. It’s easily the best looking vehicle in the compact segment now, hands down. Basically Kia took the sleek and handsome Optima and squished it down to the Rio’s size. It’s a formula that you’d think would result in a horrid and awkward looking thing, but it actually works quite well. The signature Kia grille along with the circular headlights and LED side markers give the Rio and aggressive, yet classy look. The side profile is sleek and those 17 inch wheels are quite eye catching, as is the high belt line and LED tail lights out back.

Inside, the features, quality and layout rival some of the best in the business. Everything feels of top notch quality for the most part. There are switches at the bottom of the centre stack which mimic something you would find in an airplane cockpit. As cool as they are, they seem out of place and don’t flow with the rest of the interior design. The seats are comfortable and supportive and rear seat leg and head room is adequate. With the high rear deck, rearward visibility can be a bit of a challenge, but then that’s where that back-up camera comes in. The image is crisp and clear and even bests some back-up cameras in much more expensive vehicles, in my opinion, such as the Prius and the Equinox. Although they were not needed in the balmy temperatures of April, the heated seats come on quickly as I found out by accidentally hitting the button. That is a good thing is -30 degree temperatures.

The Rio gets its power by a 1.6 litre four cylinder which produces 138 horsepower and 123 pound feet of torque. This is when you become reminded that you’re sitting in a sub-compact car. While the engine can’t be described as sluggish, it’s certainly not going to win you any drag races. That said, it’s competitive for this class and more than adequate for daily commuting around the city. On the highway, the engine tends to be noisy when passing, but it calms down once you’re cruising along. A six-speed automatic came with my tester and it’s generally competent. Shifts are adequate, however they can be a bit delayed when shifting yourself.

As surprising as most of the features were on the Rio, probably the most shocking to me was the decent amount of steering wheel feedback to the driver. Typically in the sub-compact class you’re pretty much lucky to get numb steering, let alone nice weighted steering. In addition, handling is quite good too thanks to the the sport tuned suspension and those 17 inch wheels on low profile tires. The Rio certainly doesn’t handle like a BMW but it can take a corner with confidence and it is now at Honda Fit or Ford Fiesta levels of agility.

The Rio is rated at an impressive 6.6 L/100 kms city and 4.9 L/100 kms highway. However during my time of mixed city and highway driving, fuel consumption was disappointing, more like mid-size sedan fuel economy. This could be chalked up to the added weight of all those nice features, however I seriously doubt the would affect fuel efficiency to such a degree. I even tried all the fuel efficient driving techniques that I know (and believe me, I know a lot) and I didn’t really see much improvement. Given that the temperatures remained around a steady 12 degrees, I’m not quite sure what could cause this other than perhaps the Rio needed an oil change and new air filters.

So, the Rio is a amazingly equipped, good looking, good on gas (on paper anyway), spacious, sporty car that can definitely give its competition a run for its money. There’s no doubting that. But there was actually a few troubling things I experienced in just a week’s time:

1) No matter how much I tried to fill the Rio’s tank to the brim, the fuel gauge would never quite read that it was full.

2) The satellite radio signal was about as reliable as a politician’s promise. No matter how long or short the trip, the signal would cut out at least three times per trip. I’ve never experienced a lost satellite signal on any satellite radio equipped press vehicle, let alone several lost signals per trip. It got to the point when I almost preferred listening to pure silence. I’m not sure if this is an issue on Kia’s end of Sirius’ end, but I’m sorry, this is a service people pay for and they should have the ability to use it without constant interruption.

3) After driving a few friends home one evening and dropping them at the front door, one of them wasn’t able to get out. Why? Because the rear driver’s side door wouldn’t open. At least not from the inside. The door could still open from the outside, which was odd. That could get annoying if you transport back seat passengers on the regular.

4) There was about two days when it seemed like I was living in Thailand not Nova Scotia as it pretty much monsooned like nobody’s business. It wasn’t until the next day when I went to put something into the trunk that I realized that it was completely soaked. The compartment underneath which houses the spare tire was pretty much turned into a small pond. I’m not even sure where the leak originated from as the trunk seemed fine after closer inspection.

While it’s necessary to point out those four issues, to be fair, it’s rather unlikely that all Rios experience those same problems and they are probably isolated to this press vehicle. It’s a bit of a shame because it rather spoils an otherwise great vehicle.

But at the end of the day, the real story here is that Kia has essentially taken the bar and raised it rather high. While it’s unlikely that most people will opt for this fully equipped model, lesser trim levels are still decently equipped and, of course, the Rio is available as a hatchback as well. Basically, there is lots to choose from when it comes to selecting a Rio that suits your wants and needs. No matter which kind of Rio you choose, you’ll definitely end up with a winner. And because of that, it’s now time for us car nuts to look elsewhere for the butt of automotive related jokes.

*Note: Typically my reviews feature a number of pictures throughout the review and in a gallery at the end, however this time I was not able to do this due to a mishap which erased most of the pictures. My apologies! The few that are in the review is courtesy of Garry Sowerby and Lisa Calvi. Thanks guys!

As Tested Price: $21,695

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