Car: 2008 Kia Rio Sports 1.6
Price: £10,095
Acceleration: 0-62mph in 10.2 seconds
Average consumption: 43.5mpg
C02 emissions: 153km
Eco rating: 7/10
In a word: Nice!
The reason I was given the chance to test drive the Rio is because Kia have just updated the Rio range, despite it only being two years old, to make it more affordable and more environmentally friendly. Rio models boast fewer emissions, lower tax bands, exempt from congestion charges and a more fun drive.
I don’t want to sound like an advert for Kia or get carried away with having a new car at my disposal for a week but I have really enjoyed driving it in comparison with my little six year-old Ford Fiesta 1.25.
At first glance it was almost love at first sight, with its sexy, sporty black leather and red stitch trim interior, sports pedals and 16-inch alloys (which I scratched ever-so-slightly thanks to some blind old fart on Tesco Junction roundabout!). However, I felt slightly disappointed that it came in silver, the same colour as my Fiesta and the most common car colour on the road, and that it looked a little box-shaped. But as our week together progressed my love for the Rio grew until it was a full-on love affair.
When *loml clapped eyes on my Rio he said he liked the look of the Sport model and said Kia was probably trying to move away from the OAP market and moving towards a younger type of driver- like me. (Young!?) He also said that offering a three year unlimited mileage warranty was very brave but also a very good selling point.
The big road test for me was my weekly journey to Chester for my shorthand class. Usually in order to get up Rhuallt Hill without being overtaken by countless HGV's I have to get a good run up before the start of the hill in my Fiesta. I have to really put my foot down and it’s not until everything is shaking in the car and the CD starts jumping that I know I’ll make it up the hill at a decent pace otherwise my speed just decreases to about 40mph. But I had no problem with the Rio, it took the hill in its stride, kept a constant speed and even picked up fine letting out a little growl after I had to break sharply mid-hill for a lorry pulling out in front of me.
It has definitely got some power when you need it and although I still think it looks a little boxy I do really like the Rio and just wish I could keep it forever.
On a 45ltr fuel tank capacity I drove roughly about 460 miles before I needed to put any fuel in which works out 46 miles per gallon, now I'm no petrol head but even I think that's very economical.

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