Our family has definitely experienced a variety of cars. From jeeps and vans to station wagons and convertibles I feel that we are car connoisseurs. When I was asked to test drive a Kia Rio I truly wondered how it would compare.
When our Signal Red 2012 Kia Rio SX arrived I was definitely impressed. I immediately noticed the navigation system. All my stereotypes flew out the window…automatic ones at that. A leather wrapped steering wheel with controls at a fingertips reach was able to tilt and move in and out. I think my favorite feature of the car was the back up camera. I work at a school and have 2 children so backing up always scares me. To know that I have that safety feature definitely put me at ease.
My husband loved the Bluetooth Wireless Technology and immediately synced his phone (um…who’s doing the test drive here?). First tip…you can’t sync when the car is moving. I was trying to set up the feature for him and even pulled out the manuals to see what I was doing wrong. Another good safety feature.
The car had USB and auxiliary input jacks. This makes it easy to plug in your iPod or iPhone and have your music stream through the car speakers. If you aren’t an “i” family no worries, you can do the same with your android phone. I love that there is the capability to charge 2 phones at once as well. Oh, and the stereotypical sales pitch for all women…cup holders. There were plenty of them. Which is great while traveling. We had our coffee in the middle cup holders and could store bottles in the door. The back seat was full of them as well.
Sirius satellite radio kept us commercial free which was nice on our long drives. Even though it stayed on the 90′s most of the time we had a large selection to choose from. You receive a free 3 month subscription to get you started. In one of our happy meal toys we received a book on CD – no worries again – this car has a cd player.
Did I mention that the Rio had heated seats? The side power mirrors are also heated and fold in and out for convenience. Auto on and off headlights will assure that you never end up with a dead battery for forgetting to turn them off. Another great feature is that even though the car is automatic it has the option to switch it to manual (another plus for my husband). The backseat was quite roomy as well. Big enough for 3 cousins to get silly in!
As you can see there are many perks in the Kia Rio. How is it on safety? There are airbags galore: dual front, front seat mounted on the sides and full length side curtain. The seats sit lower (or are the windows higher?) which I feel is a great safety feature. I don’t have to worry about my child’s head hitting against the window. Traction control and anti-lock brakes are included. There are also the anchors for children’s car seats at the lower part of the seat as well as the tethers up top.
We took our Kia Rio on the ultimate test drive. It’s one thing to drive a car around town, but we took ours on a mini-vacation to visit family 4 hours away.
We loaded our luggage in the roomy trunk and the hubs was glad to see there was enough room for his golf clubs. The Rio gets 30 city mpg and 40 highway mpg. I was so excited when we were able to fill up our tank for only $37!
If you are looking for a compact cost-efficient car without losing luxury, I would definitely recommend the Kia Rio.
