SA Road Tests

Welcome

This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. I drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under real-world South African conditions. Most, but not all, the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.

My most recent drive is on the home page. Archived reviews and opinion pieces are in the active menu down the left side. Hover your cursor over a heading or manufacturer's name and follow the drop-down.

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Six-packed: 2019 Kia Rio 1.4 TEC auto

Upping the stakes

Pics by Motorpress
Posted: 1 March 2019

The numbers
Price: R311 995
Engine: 1396 cc, DOHC, 16-valve, four-cylinder petrol
Power: 74 kW at 6300 rpm
Torque: 135 Nm at 4200 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 12.9 seconds
Maximum speed: 175 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 8.0 l/100 km
Tank: 45 litres
Luggage: 325 – 980 litres
Turning circle: 10.2 metres
Ground clearance: 140 mm
Warranty: 5 years / unlimited km with roadside assistance
Service plan: 4 years / 60 000 km

Sitrep? Do people still say that as shorthand for Situation Report? Probably not, but Kia Rio’s current sitrep in South Africa looks like this: The fourth, or YB, generation arrived in 2017. Compared with its fore-runner, Generation UB, hatchback versions are 19 mm longer on a wheelbase lengthened by 10 mm. They are also 5 mm wider and stand a similar amount lower. An extensive facelift was part of the deal. Average monthly sales over the past year run at 333, making it the local company’s second-biggest seller after Picanto.

The only detail that changed recently is that the elderly and little-loved four-speed automatic gearbox has been retired and replaced by the Group’s six-speed unit. Among its highlights is that it works better, helping the car to cut its zero to 100 km/h time from 13.2 seconds to 12.9 and increasing top speed from 166- to 175 km/h. By way of celebrating this we were let loose in a top-of-line TEC model recently.

To put things into perspective, the range covers two engines, four trim levels and three gearboxes. LS is the basic 1200 cc car that offers five-speed manual transmission only, while 1400 cc LX, EX and TEC, in ascending order of desirability, can be had with six-speed transmissions; either manual or automatic. Because our main concern is with the new automatics, we won’t spend time on the 1.2-litre manual right now.

LX grade gives you a manual air conditioner; 15-inch alloy wheels with 185/65 tyres; electric windows front and rear; 60:40 split rear seatback, electric folding mirrors; a six-speaker RDS radio with Bluetooth, MP3 playback, auxiliary and USB connectors and remote controls on the reach- and rake adjustable steering wheel. It also offers automatic lights with welcome and follow functions, fog lamps, height adjustment for the driver’s seat and a 3.5-inch TFT screen. Safety kit consists of two airbags, ISOFix anchors and ABS brakes.

EX ups the stakes with voice recognition, LED running lights and position lamps, a seven-inch infotainment system offering Car Play and Android Auto, projection headlamps, reversing camera and rear parking assistance.

TEC upgrades the air conditioner to automatic with power defrosters for front and rear screens and upsizes the wheels to 17 inches with 205/45 tyres. Then it adds LED rear lamps, rain sensing wipers, cruise control, an electrochromic (self-dipping) interior mirror, alloy pedals, leather seats and a total of six airbags. It is the only grade that offers an optional sunroof – at R8000. Quality of fit and finish is up to the expected Korean standard.

Once we’d had some adaptive gearbox settings seen to, the Rio 1.4 TEC automatic performed rather well. It accelerated smartly and kicked down well under normal circumstances but it could occasionally be made to hunt if treated harshly. Revs at 120 km/h in sixth gear were around 2800. A steady band of pulling power, 125 Nm to 135 Nm, is available between 3000 and 5300 rpm.

Overall performance was smooth, quiet and respectably comfortable despite the low profile tyres fitted to this model.

Family matters include a neatly shaped 325-litre boot fitted with a light, bag hooks and lashing rings for convenience. A fully sized alloy spare is in the usual place under the floorboard. Release handles for the 60:40-split seatbacks can be reached easily from behind and they fold flat but with a step. Back seat passengers are well catered for with your 1.85m, SA standard, backseat driver declaring that he had plenty of head- and knee room even if his feet were slightly squeezed. A USB recharging point is provided.

Kia Rio, as sales numbers confirm, is still a good, solid and popular car. The new six-speed automatic, provided your car has been dealer prepped properly, is much nicer than the old one too.

Test unit from Kia Motors SA press fleet

We drove a Kia Rio 1.4 manual in 2017

And a facelifted LX automatic in 2021



What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.

Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.

I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material.

If ever I place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with a very similar vehicle already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.

Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. There are no advertisers and no “editorial policy” rules. I add bylines to acknowledge sponsored launch functions and the manufacturers or dealerships that provide the test vehicles.  And, as quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so you can see I do actually exist.

Comments or questions?

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