The Volkswagen Polo may be the best-selling supermini in Europe, but competition in this segment is getting stiffer and stiffer. The 2017 Kia Rio, for example, would like for the Volkswagen Polo to put its money where its mouth is.
Being a Kia, the Rio has a pricing advantage to its name: £11,995 OTR versus £12,460 OTR for the cheapest five-door Polo on sale in the United Kingdom. When compared to its precursor, the fourth-generation Rio is £900 more, but it comes with more standard kit than the model it replaces.
The said on-the-road pricing applies to the Rio 1 trim level with the 1.25-liter naturally aspirated engine, 83 bhp, and Intelligent Stop & Go. Matched with a five-speed manual, the entry-level variant of the Rio needs 12.5 seconds for the speedo to reach 60 mph. Efficiency-wise, the least powerful petrol-powered engine drinks 58.8 mpg (4.8 L/100 km) on the combined cycle.
Three more engines are further available for the UK-spec Rio: a 1.4-liter naturally aspirated unit that can be mated to a six-speed manual or a four-speed automatic, a 1.4 CRDi that can return up to 80.7 mpg (3.5 L/100 km) combined, plus a 1.0 T-GDi turbo-three tuned to as many as 118 bhp. At the present moment, the crème de la crème is the Rio First Edition (£17,445).
As standard, grade 1 models brag with air conditioning, front electric windows with auto up/down for the driver, electrically adjustable heated mirrors, a 3.8-inch display, automatic light control, LED daytime running lights, and Bluetooth connectivity. Hill-start assist is also included.
Seven exterior colors are available for the all-new Rio, Sienna Brown being the standard choice. Clear White is another no-cost finish, whereas premium options include Smokey Blue, Blaze Red, Midnight Black, Graphite, and Satin Silver. The 2017 Kia Rio is covered by a seven-year/100,000-mile warranty.
The Rio is Kia’s best-selling model, moving approximately 475,000 units per year. In the United Kingdom, however, the Rio is overshadowed by the Sportage compact crossover and Cee’d compact hatchback.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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