The 2016 Kia Rio Sedan made its global debut at the 2015 Chicago Auto Show alongside the Rio 5-Door that bowed in Paris last year.
The Rio gains more Euro-centric styling cues for the 2016 model year, including revised front and rear. New fog light surrounds and rear reflectors, revised grill inserts similar to those on the Optima and Soul, and inward-positioned headlamps further contribute to the compact’s updated design. The compact also receives two new colors this model year: Urban Blue and Digital Yellow.
Power for the Rio continues to come from a naturally aspirated 1.6-liter four delivering 138 horsepower and 123 lb-ft of torque to the front via a six-speed manual or optional six-speed auto; the Rio 5-Door no longer has its manual.
Other features for the Rio (in LX, EX and SX trims) include: SiriusXM radio; air conditioning; hill-start assist; power windows/door locks; electronic stability; remote keyless entry (EX, SX); 17-inch alloys (SX); push-button start (SX); and standard power sunroof (SX).
Both Rio Sedan and 5-Door are due in showrooms sometime in Q1 2015.
Those headlights. They are just awful. Why, Kia?
Cause everybody seems to be doing the same thing, huge plastic headlight covers which eventually get all cloudy and not only block the light, but look awful too.
Yes, but these ones look like weird cat eyes and intrude heavily into the hood.
Aerodynamics, and visibility to other drivers, that’s why. Plus styling.
It is possible to make headlights that are plenty visible and aerodynamic without makings them look completely awful.
This is a cheap car, people expect it to look like a piece of sh!t – and it does.
With today’s rounded noses (both in plan (from above) and in profile), designers are confined to a triangular area that is bounded by the radiator on the inside, the hood on top, and the wheel well from below. It is not even possible to make them square.
But yeah, the cat eye look of these is just plain weird. I don’t think they intrude into the hood cut line; but the overall shape is just strange. But I think the shape of the grill was already supposed to resemble the nose of a jungle cat; so they just carried the anology another step further.
Not sure if it’s an improvement.
Anyway, the whole front look of the Rio looks better on the hatch.
Doesn’t quite look right on the sedan.
Along the same lines, the Versa hatch looks better than its sedan counterpart.
It’s a Neon with a little Fit around the windshield, with a train wreck for a front end, and devil-horn headlights.
If it’s not dirt cheap with 72 month financing or 149 dollar lease specials, only the legally blind or supremely gullible will buy this thing.
I wonder if they improved the passenger front seat. My father and I took a rio 5 out for a test drive just shortly after the current model was released. Since my father was in the market for a car, he drove first and I sat in the passenger seat…to which I felt like I was sitting in a barrel… I am 5’10” and I could barely see over the dash line…and the window line was at jaw level. When my dad and I switched positions, I could feel a huge difference in the drivers seat (much more comfortable), but my poor father at 5’4″, could not see well out the front or side window.
He ended up witha 2013 Hyundai Accent Hatch which surprisingly has much better seats.
Funny, if you asked me yesterday “Hey Corey, what body styles of Rio do they make?”
My answer would have been “Hatchback, and sedan.”
I thought they made this car for years already. I think I credit Forte sedans as Rios.