2008 Kia Rio Reviews

Ewan Kennedy reviews the first generation, second generation and third generation Kia Rio, from 2001, 2007 and 2012, as a used buy.

Ewan Kennedy road tests and reviews the used 2000-2013 Kia Rio.

Kia Rio is a small-medium South Korean car that has picked up significantly in Australia since the launch of the all-new model of September 2011. After two generations of Rios with conservative shapes, the 2011 Rio came with stunning styling that pushes it ahead of many competitors from Japan and Europe from a visual point of view. Build quality wasn’t too bad on the first generation Rios, sold from July 2000, improved significantly in the gen-two cars from August 2005 and is impressive from 2011 onwards. The bodies of the older models were generally better assembled than their interiors, though we do see the occasional rough one inside and out.Tip: Don’t forget that professional inspection.The Kia Rio is sold as either a four-door sedan or a five-door hatchback and has good interior space that can seat four adults, though two grownups and two or three kids is a more practical load.On-road dynamics and build quality have improved over the years and the latest models provide a fair degree of enjoyment for the keen driver. However, some may find the ride a little too firm on rough roads. Try it for yourself during your private road test.A good set of tyres can work wonders for the handling and steering feel of older Kia Rios.Kia Rio is powered by a 1.5-litre four-cylinder engine in the pre-2005 series. If worked moderately it will sound and feel fine, but drive it hard and it gets noisy and can be harsh. Engine performance is generally fine as this is a relatively light car. But it can struggle a bit on hills, so it's smart to find a hilly area to do some of your pre-purchase road testing.The newer, from 2005, Rios have a more modern 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine that’s significantly more powerful, smoother and significantly better in the refinement stakes. The engine was further improved in the 2011 series Rios.A lower cost 1.4-litre engine was added to the range in March 2007, its performance is OK if you’re willing to work at getting the best from the car.Transmission options are five-speed manual and four-speed automatic in the first two Rio ranges. Six-speed units, both manual and automatic were a big feature of the all-new model that arrived in 2011, putting the car ahead of many of its rivals.The four-speed auto takes the edge of what performance the older engines do deliver. It’s smooth enough and obviously makes life simpler in the suburbs, the natural habitat of a vehicle like this.The experienced home mechanic can do a fair bit on a Kia Rio. Underbonnet access is good and these cars have old and tried technology. A workshop manual is a low-cost investment that can save you lots of hassles. Don’t do any safety-related work yourself, leave that to the professionals.Insurance is normally towards the lower area of mid-range, but seems to vary more than usual from one company to another. So it pays to shop around, as always make sure you understand what you get, and don’t get, for your premium.Poorly repaired crash damage will show as paint which doesn’t match from panel to panel; and/or a ripply finish in a panel. Check for tiny specks of paint on non-painted parts such as glass and badges. Look at the interior and boot for signs of general wear and tear.The engine should fire up within a second or so of the key being turned, even when it’s cold. As soon as it starts it should settle into a steady idle. There should be no smoke from the exhaust pipe even if the engine is worked hard. Letting it idle for about a minute, then flooring the throttle in a quick takeoff will aggravate the problem.A manual gearbox should be moderately light in its action and not crunch on any of the downchanges, no matter how fast they are made. The third-to-second gearchange is usually the first to give trouble. If the automatic transmission is slow at picking up a drive gear from Park or Neutral it may be because it’s due for a major overhaul.Check the brakes pull the Rio up squarely and that ABS, if fitted, operates when you push the pedal hard.Cars that have spent all their lives in the open air are far less desirable than those that have generally been kept under cover. Faded paint and dried out dashtops are the easiest way to pick ‘outdoor’ cars.

Cutting-edge technology costs a bundle and the cost is inevitably passed on to customers, but Kia wants to give the world hybrids and fuel-cell cars that don't break the bank.Kia and its sister company Hyundai have already developed a petrol-electric hybrid Rio sedan and have also created a fuel-cell version of the Sportage crossover wagon.And they are not just pie-in-the-sky concept cars.They are running vehicles and Kia is working hard to bring the technology to showrooms at the right price.Kia admits its fuel-cell vehicles are still a way off, but petrol-electric hybrids could join the range as early as 2009, although a 2010 start is more likely.The Rio hybrid might not be for public sale yet, but the South Korean government is already running 780 of them and will expand the fleet to around 3400 over the next two years.At this stage, each Rio hybrid costs about $40,000 because the numbers are so small, but Kia's aim is to substantially undercut the existing Honda Civic hybrid at $32,990 and the Toyota Prius at $37,400.Understandably, keeping quiet about exact prices.But Kia is happy to show what it is doing. It rolled out a Rio hybrid in Seoul just before it was delivered for South Korean government duty.The Rio is not a groundbreaker but does show the company has the expertise to produce a competent hybrid vehicle.It uses a 1.4-litre four-cylinder petrol engine linked to a 12kW and 95Nm electric motor situated between the engine and the continuously variable automatic gearbox, a similar layout to the Honda IMA hybrid system.A battery pack in the boot is recharged through engine braking.The petrol engine, which has been slightly modified to run in the Rio Hybrid, switches off at idle and fires up when the driver lifts his or her foot off the brake.The electric motor assists the petrol unit under acceleration, which allows it to use less fuel.At this stage, the fuel economy of the Rio Hybrid stands at 5.3 litres/100km, which is pretty good, but greater gains are expected with the next-generation hybrid that Kia and Hyundai are working on at the moment.Further into the future, it has a green system that could deliver far greater improvements using a hydrogen fuel cell to power an electric motor.There are still a lot of challenges to overcome, including fuel-cell stack life and a hydrogen fuel infrastructure, but the benefit is that there are no exhaust-pipe emissions except water.The Kia/Hyundai fuel-cell work started in 2000 with technology bought from US-based UTC Power.Since then, it has developed and improved the system and took the honours at this year's Challenge Bibendum in China, beating fuel-cell vehicles from much bigger players including Daimler, General Motors and Nissan.The Sportage fuel cell is more than a concept car, with cars operating in South Korean and US government test fleets.Kia's fuel-cell senior research engineer Kim Saehoon says the company is not sure when it will introduce a fuel-cell model but is on track for production by 2012.He says hydrogen-powered cars will cost more, but not for long.“It may cost 20 per cent more (than a petrol model) but you would save money because hydrogen would be much cheaper than petrol,” he says.“Our target is that by 2020 to 2025, a fuel-cell vehicle would cost the same as a regular ICE (internal combustion engine) car.”On the roadA brief test drive at the Hyundai-Kia Technology Research Institute just outside Seoul proved the company is serious about fuel-cell technology.The test car was a Sportage fuel-cell prototype that had an 80kW fuel stack powered by hydrogen stored under pressure at 350 bar.It had a range of around 380km and can crank up to a top speed of 140km/h, but the project is limited by the life of the fuel-cell stack, which stands at 1500 hours.A rough calculation reveals that a car operating with an average speed of 60km/h would need a new stack after around 90,000km, but stack life is expected to be increased as technology improves.As for the drive, the fuel-cell Sportage drove much like an ordinary model, with a few major differences.First, it was almost silent. There was a slight electric whine from a gear reducer under the bonnet, but that was pretty much it.There were no gear-style step changes from the transmission and the Sportage accelerated smoothly. The performance was adequate for city driving.The test car was 250kg heavier than an ordinary model, which doesn't help, but Kia is confident that future fuel-cell models will actually be lighter.It might not be quite as exciting as a potential car of the future, but the Rio hybrid was impressive.The drive experience was much the same as an ordinary model's and it accelerated just as hard as an ordinary petrol Rio.The continuously variable automatic transmission meant the Rio engine made a slurring sound as it worked away, but it was no different from other CVTs in showrooms today.A charge indicator showed the electric motor lending a hand under acceleration and drawing energy when the car slowed.The engine stopped as soon as the car did, but fired up when the brake was lifted as the current model needs the petrol engine to run whenever the car moves forward.Kia is planning to develop its hybrid drivetrain further so the car can run up to a certain speed on electric power alone. That would be a big plus.The Kia-Hyundai developments are good news for the car world, as opening hybrid technology to budget-conscious buyers would be a major step forward for the fast-developing South Korean brands.