2016 Kia Rio

The 2016 Kia Rio is now a five-year-old design, and it wears its age well. Formerly known for bland, rounded shapes, Kia has tossed out its generic look since the arrival of design director Peter Schreyer a few years ago. Now its cars, the Rio included, are crisp and well-proportioned. They look influenced collectively by everything that does well on the Continent, and the Rio too has an obvious European influence from Schreyer's hand.

Of the pair of Rio body styles, the five-door hatchback stands out as the more cohesive design. But while the sedan seems a bit tall and proportionally challenged, as is often the case with four-door subcompacts, it does a far better job of making the the shape work in such an abbreviated length than do cars like the Ford Fiesta four-door. On either body, the neat contrasting grille, swept-back headlights, and rounded rear end call out to classic hot-hatch lines without getting too carried away. The Rio has a rakish visual stance thanks to angled creases in its body sides.

A slightly restyled front end and changes to the lights front and rear will really only be noticed by Kia aficionados, but they do distinguish this year's model from its aging brethren. The designers have also given the Rio two new colors: Urban Blue and Digital Yellow.

Interior materials convey a premium feel despite some throwback details, including toggle switches for the climate control system. A large touchscreen display is included on high-end models, and for 2016, Kia has added satin-finish bezels around the air vents (which we like) and a new piano-black center console around ancillary controls and the audio system (which we don't). Honestly, we've been tired of piano black trim for a while now. Kia has also added more noise-suppression foam to various structural members this year to soothe cabin noise.

The 2016 Kia Rio has looks that may evoke a European hot hatch, but its powertrain doesn't deliver anything like that promise. It's not painfully slow, but it won't be setting records for acceleration either.

Only one engine is offered, a 138-horsepower, 1.6-liter direct-injection inline-4. It revs smoothly up its power band and is mostly muted, and you'll find either the 6-speed manual or 6-speed automatic to be a good way to manage how the power gets to the front wheels. For 2016, by the way, a manual gearbox is no longer offered on the Rio hatchback, just on the sedan. Either transmission delivers relatively slow acceleration times—about 10 seconds from rest to 60 mph. 

The automatic has no performance shift mode, but its gears are well-spaced. An "Active Eco" button is optional on the base trim and standard on all other Rios; when pressed, it softens the throttle response, and on automatic models it changes shift timing for improved efficiency.

As for on-the-road handling, the little Rio stays composed when driven either gently or at whatever pace the engine can deliver. The steering isn't as nicely weighted or communicative as that of the Ford Fiesta. In fact, it's on the numb side of average. And the Rio has none of the Chevy Sonic's eager scrabble, though it handles pretty well for a small, inexpensive hatchback with a short wheelbase and basic strut and torsion-beam suspension.

The ride is comfortable, without the bobbing, bouncy, harsh aspects of small-car ride quality. The top-of-the-line Rio SX models add a little more steering heft, to befit their "sportier" character (which is largely in appearance), and are perhaps slightly harder riding due to lower-profile tires one larger wheels. The sacrifice in ride quality is minimal compared to other, larger SX models in the Kia lineup, where the engineers seem to have substituted "rough" for "sporty."

The 2016 Kia Rio has less interior space than a number of its subcompact competitors—especially the Honda Fit hatchback and the Nissan Versa sedan, which are the giants of the segment. The Rio has a sloped roofline, which puts it just behind its sibling the Hyundai Accent in overall interior space. If you're after cargo versatility, the Honda Fit is still a far more flexible pick, but compared to some other small cars, including the equally small Ford Fiesta, the Rio is a competitive package.

The Rio has good front seats, with relatively long bottom cushions for the class, and long seat travel. The sporty Rio SX models get more seat bolstering—it's mild enough that no one's really going to object to the addition. But in the back seat, with the front seats near the back of their travel (for an average-to-taller driver), there's very little rear knee or foot space to speak of, and head room is on the tight side too.

The Rio hatchback offers up a cargo area of 15 cubic feet, whereas the sedan has 13.7 cubic feet of trunk space. Overall, cargo space is no better than you'd expect of a subcompact—although big boxes and travel bags will fit within the nicely squared-off cargo hold or the sedan's sizable trunk.

For 2016, Kia has added additional sound-deadening foam to some structural members, to quiet the cabin. The interior materials are soft where needed, and made of harder plastic where occupants aren't likely to touch them. The material design and assortment doesn't get too crazy, which is a welcome change from certain small cars that are obviously targeting the youth market by laying on a thick layer of infotainment that gets in the way of basic functions.

The 2016 Kia Rio is hardly at the head of the class for safety, and it's rapidly moving toward the less-impressive end of the scale. That applies both to its safety ratings and the standard and optional equipment offered on the lineup.

The IIHS gives the Rio the top "Good" ratings for moderate frontal impact protection, roof strength, and rear impact. Its side-impact gets just an "Acceptable" score, and the real concern is the new small-overlap front collisions. There, the IIHS rates the Rio as "Marginal," just one step above its lowest rating. Several new or updated subcompacts do considerably better on that latest test, by the way.

As for federal regulators, they give the Rio a four-star rating overall, with four and five stars in frontal and side impact testing, respectively, and a four-star rollover rating. But there, too, the federal testing includes a few cautionary notes. During side impact testing, the NHTSA noted intrusion at the area of the left rear door, and the interior door panel actually struck the torso of the rear passenger dummy—at a level of force that it says could have resulted in thoracic injury.

As for safety equipment, the usual list is present: dual front, side, and side-curtain airbags are standard, as are anti-lock brakes and stability control, plus a hill-start assist function. Bluetooth pairing is available, and a feature we recommend for safer driving. A rearview camera is optional, and also a part of the Eco package for the Rio EX model this year. It's recommended too, because the five-door Rio has some notable blind spots at the rear pillars.

One of the 2016 Kia Rio's strong suits is the features it offers for the money, even in its base Rio LX configuration. That trim level includes air conditioning, a USB port, and even satellite radio. On hatchbacks you also get 15-inch wheels, tilt steering, steering-wheel audio controls, split-folding rear seat backs, and a standard rear spoiler. The sole option on the base LX is a Power package that adds power windows and locks, as well as a keyless entry.

If you want a manual gearbox, by the way, you'll have to stick with the base LX—and this year it's only available on the sedan. All Rio hatchbacks are now automatic only, one of several ways in which the Rio configurations are more limited than some buyers may want. The automatic adds $1,240 to the cost of the Rio LX sedan.

The mid-level Rio EX models add tilt/telescoping steering, cruise control, Bluetooth, and power windows, locks and mirrors. The Eco package and its "Idle Stop & Go" engine stop-start system is available only on the EX model, and for 2016, it now includes the rearview camera that's also a separate option. New for 2016 is an Appearance and Designer package, which jazzes up the cabin with a two-tone interior treatment that features black cloth with gray leatherette trim and gray contrast stitching.

At the top of the range, the (theoretically) sportier SX model includes standard automatic headlights, a slightly different appearance, 17-inch wheels, sport suspension tuning, larger front brakes, fog lamps, power-folding heated side mirrors, a rearview camera, and LED taillight and headlamp accents. Kia's UVO infotainment setup, a Microsoft-powered system with voice controls for phone and audio, is standard on the SX and optional on the EX.

Options on the SX include a navigation system (which replaces the UVO system), as well as a $2,500 Premium package that bundles keyless ignition, leather upholstery, heated front seats, and a sunroof.

As fuel-economy rules continue to tighten, the 2016 Kia Rio is slipping behind in its segment, which is now led by the 36-mpg combined rating for the Honda Fit. By comparison, the Rio can only manage 31 mpg combined from either the manual (27 mpg city, 38 highway) that's now available only on the sedan, or the 6-speed automatic (27 city, 37 highway). There's an Eco model in the EX grade, but its improvements are hardly noticeable: 28 mpg city, 37 highway, 31 combined with a 6-speed automatic.

The ratings that came with the car in 2012 were higher, but Kia reduced them after an investigation into testing issues with a number of Kia and Hyundai models.

The Eco package offered on the Rio EX adds stop-start technology that will automatically turn the engine off at some stoplights to save fuel that would otherwise be wasted at idle. It automatically restarts as soon as you start to release the brake pedal. Also included in the package are low-rolling resistance tires, a few aerodynamic improvements, and new for 2016, the rear-vision camera as well.

The Eco package doesn't do much for EPA ratings, but it may be helpful for drivers who habitually encounter a lot of stop-and-go traffic.