Kia Rio

My feedback for the brief test drive yesterday.

Styling, equipment , interior and exterior no complain.

The auto transmission on the test car seem to be poor, can feel the gear changes during normal acceleration. Pickup is poor, probably due to the over size tyre and rims, The powerplant in my opinion cannot handle the bigger tyre size in this model. A 16 inch and 1 size smaller tyre might improve the ride in acceleration. Cabin road noise generated by the tyres intrusive, rear passenger(wife) complain car noisy.

The car look sporty but performance does not match.

Tried the Kia Rio the other day, here are some of my thoughts.

Visually, the car looks quite nice. I like that it looks a lot bigger than it actually, especially because of the front and rear bumpers. I think its a good looking car. The inside is spacious, well equipped and generally well done. Its not as flashy as maybe a Ford, but it works.

The drive isn't exciting, though, especially for a hot hatch. The engine is lacking, and i need to really rev it quite high to get any kind of performance out of it. The handling is also not great. Steering is vague and lacks sharpness, and the car just doesnt drive very well. I guess its the trade off for economy and efficiency, but is that really so important in a hot hatch?

Overall, i think it's a very value-for-money, practical car for people who want a good looking car for not a lot of money. But its definitely not for more enthusiastic drivers.

Overall quite appealing looks. Back seat leg room is acceptable for a small car. Boot space a little small but it is a small car! Big rims for a small car, however pick up is slow and not recommended to anyone looking for a hot hatch that zooms off from stationary. 6 air bags in place, pretty safe car.