Rating
Verdict Absolutely dire
You may have seen The Fly II, in which a scientist attempts to teleport a dog. In one of the most gruesome scenes I've seen in a film it arrives completely inside out. Well the Kia Rio is uglier than that.
Then I found out that it costs £7,508. And that looks like one of the biggest jokes in automotive history.
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But seriously, why is the Kia so bad? Well, what happens in an emerging economy is that the government doesn't want to see its cash being squandered on imported cars. So indigenous car firms are established, and to protect them huge import duties are introduced.
When things are going well, they decide to earn foreign currency . . . so, hey presto, Kia and the rest end up in Britain. But here our grandparents grew up with the car, whereas in Korea everyone's grandparents grew up on an ox. As a result any car is still a novelty.
Or maybe, just maybe, the problem the western car firms are having is that their cars are just too good, too complicated. In the heat of competition they've accelerated their technology to a point way in advance of what the customer needs.
So maybe the Kia Rio is actually what the market wants these days: something that's not very good, but probably good enough.
Price when tested (February 2004)
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£7,508 Model discontinued
Engine 1343cc, four cylinders
Power 80bhp @ 5500rpm
Torque 86 lb ft @ 3000rpm
Transmission Five-speed manual
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CO2/Fuel 42.8mpg (combined) / 157g/km
0-62mph 14.2sec
Top speed 103mph