Is there going to be a 2023 Kia Rio?
The Car Connection Expert Review Show
October 23, 2022 Likes
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Buying tipWe strongly recommend automatic emergency braking, which unfortunately means ponying up for a Rio S with the Technology Package. features & specsThe 2023 Kia Rio is a rare subcompact car that may make more sense than a used compact car.What kind of vehicle is the 2023 Kia Rio? What does it compare to? The Rio is the cheapest Kia model and one of the least-expensive subcompact cars on the market. Compare it to the Hyundai Venue and Nissan Versa. Is the 2023 Kia Rio a good car? Review continues below It’s a nice enough small car for those who want the comfort of a big warranty. If it came with more standard crash-avoidance tech, it would rate higher than the 4.8 out of 10 we assign it. (Read more about how we rate cars.) What's new for the 2023 Kia Rio? An oil-level sensor is the only thing new this year. The Rio comes in sedan and hatchback forms, both of which share relatively plain styling that manages to look more like compact car classy than subcompact stingy. Hatchbacks are a little zippier to behold, though even then it takes adding the only available option package to replace dingy steel wheels with classy alloys. It’s a charmer inside, too—at least for the price. The Rio includes a big 8.0-inch touchscreen that’s not light on features and functions. The 120-hp inline-4 serves up adequate power for commuting and enough grunt to keep the Rio in its lane at highway speeds. The standard continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT) mostly operates in the background. There’s a fair amount of wind and road noise, but the Rio has an upscale, well-damped ride. It bests more than a few like-priced used compact cars. Four people can squeeze in the Rio in a pinch. Sedans have a pretty big trunk, but hatchbacks offer the utility of a fold-down rear seatback for even more space. Crash-test scores are just OK, and Kia charges a lot for automatic emergency braking. That’s a shame since Nissan includes that tech as standard on its Versa. How much does the 2023 Kia Rio cost? Including a mandatory destination charge, the 2023 Kia Rio costs $17,505 to start. That money buys power features, air conditioning, an 8.0-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility, and 15-inch steel wheels. Pony up for the Rio S and you’ll pay about $500 more for a split-folding rear seat, cruise control, and keyless entry, plus the opportunity to spend another $1,800 for a package containing automatic emergency braking, active lane control, automatic high-beam LED headlights, alloy wheels, and automatic climate control. Where is the 2023 Kia Rio made? In South Korea. The 2023 Kia Rio fades pleasantly into the background.Is the Kia Rio a good-looking car? It’s just fine, thank you. The Rio wears pert, clean lines that make little statement. It’s just as simple inside. Straddling the fence between boring and bold, the Rio is a perfectly average 5 out of 10. Sedans have a Europe-in-the-1990s cleanliness to their sharp lines and unadorned panels. If you rented an Opel on a trip to Rome in 1998, you know what we mean. Hatchbacks are shorter overall, with a trimmer rear overhang, but their long roof affords them a marginally sportier look. The Rio is pleasant enough inside, with a big 8.0-inch touchscreen towering over the center of the dash. Simple climate controls are nested below. S versions have a three-spoke steering wheel full of buttons, which is a nice touch at this price point. Gray and black interior hues offer little emotion. Review continues below The 2023 Kia Rio is a perfectly adequate commuter.It’s not quick and it’s not fun, but the 2023 Kia Rio has a pleasant, well-engineered feel. It rates a 4 on our scale with a point dialed back for middling acceleration. Is the Kia Rio 4WD? No. It is a front-wheel-drive vehicle. How fast is the Kia Rio? Kia tasks the Rio’s 120-hp 1.6-liter inline-4 with moving a fairly lithe 2,800 lb or so of sheet metal. It’s up to the job, but only to a point. The CVT that shuffles power forward works innocuously to keep the engine in its power band. It can get a little loud, but it’ll settle down at cruising speed. The 15-inch wheels have fairly big sidewalls, which conspire with soft suspension tuning to overcome the limitations imposed by a short 101.6-inch wheelbase. There’s little in the way of sophistication here with the front struts and rear torsion-beam setup, but the Rio manages to take in big bumps well enough. Alert, quick steering livens things up and keeps the Rio settled on longer highway stints, too. Braking is fine, but you’ll have to add the S version’s Technology Package for four-wheel discs. Review continues below There’s a lot more room in the 2023 Kia Rio than you might expect.The Kia Rio will happily slide into just about any parking lot, even with four adults and their luggage aboard. We rate it at 5 out of 10, which is a good showing for a subcompact car. At 172.6 inches long, sedans are about a foot longer than hatchbacks. All that extra length comes aft of the rear seats, where four-doors have a long overhang and a fairly big trunk while hatchbacks have a trim design but the ability to pack things high. As for interior comfort, the 2023 Rio models serve up comfy enough front seats. The rear seat can squeeze in two adults in reasonable comfort. Three is asking a lot, though. Sedans have nearly 14 cubic feet of trunk room. Hatchbacks have an impressive 17.4 cubes with the rear seatback upright and nearly 33 cubes with it folded down. Note that base sedans lack a split-folding rear seatback. Plenty of chintzy plastic trim inside reveals itself when tapped, but nothing looks especially cheap. Review continues below The 2023 Kia Rio is easy to see out of, but it lacks standard automatic emergency braking.How safe is the Kia Rio? It’s one of the only new cars to lack the ability to brake on its own when it senses an impending collision. That’s not good, especially since the tech is bundled in a $1,800 option package on the range-topping version. Still, we add a point above average for good outward vision thanks to narrow roof pillars and few over-the-shoulder impediments. The NHTSA hasn’t crashed the Rio recently enough for our ratings system. The IIHS has mostly good things to say, but front-passenger impact protection rates “Acceptable.” Review continues below It’s light on frills, but the 2023 Kia Rio counters with an affordable price.The 2023 Kia Rio is one of the cheapest new cars you can find. For $17,505, the base sedan comes with an 8.0-inch touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility, power features, air conditioning, and 15-inch steel wheels with hubcaps. There’s no base version of the hatchback. All that is backed by an impressive 5-year/60,000-mile warranty. We dial a point back for the lack of crash-avoidance tech in base form, but we wind up back at 5 thanks to the warranty. Which Kia Rio should I buy? We like the Rio S, which costs $500 or so more for cruise control, a split-folding rear seat, keyless entry, and a few other niceties. The Rio S hatchback runs $15,585. How much is a fully loaded Kia Rio? We’d add to the Rio S hatch the $1,800 Technology Package, which tosses in automatic emergency braking, active lane control, automatic high-beam LED headlights, satellite radio, a digital instrument cluster screen, automatic climate control, push-button start, alloy wheels, and rear disc brakes. That’s a lot of stuff for the cash, though it does start to erode the Rio’s value proposition. Review continues below The 2023 Kia Rio is a miserly choice.Is the Kia Rio good on gas? It won’t make you friends with your local gas station. All versions are estimated at 32 mpg city, 41 highway, 36 combined. That’s a 5 on the TCC scale, making the Rio one of the thriftiest gas-only cars on the market. Review continues below Continue Reading The Car Connection Consumer ReviewWill Kia stop making the Rio?Kia will likely discontinue the Rio after the 2022 model year. Over the last few years, subcompact hatchbacks and sedans disappeared from the U.S. market. This includes the discontinuation of the Ford Fiesta, Honda Fit, and Toyota Yaris.
Is Kia making a 2022 Rio?The new 2022 Kia Rio has had a facelift compared to its previous model and includes additional features including digital air conditioning, multifunction steering wheel, and electric door locks. The 2022 Kia Rio is powered by a petrol MHEV powertrain, generating up to 118 hp and 147 cubic feet of torque.
Which of the following is a feature of the 2023 Rio's technology package?The technology package adds LED headlights, 15-inch alloy wheels, chrome door handles, rear disc brakes (as opposed to drum), satellite radio, push-button start, a 4.2-inch driver information display, and automatic climate control.
What type of transmission comes in the 2023 Kia Rio?Every Kia Rio gets its power from a 1.6-liter inline-4 engine mated to a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT) directing the go to the front wheels. It produces 120 horsepower and 112 lb-ft of torque, and it returns 33 city/41 highway mpg.
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