All New Kia Rio Makes A Big Impression

Media Release
Kia Motors New Zealand

NEWS

March 21 2017

All New Kia Rio Makes A Big Impression

AUCKLAND – March 21 2017

The all new 2017 Kia Rio has gone on sale in New Zealand sporting a distinctive look, sharper handling, more passenger space and new technology. The 5-door Kia Rio has grown in size and stature as it enters its fourth generation, featuring a longer wheelbase, bigger cabin and a much more purposeful stance.

“The all new Rio is the perfect car for today’s busy towns and cities, making it more relevant now than ever before,” says Todd McDonald, General Manager of Kia Motors New Zealand.

“The improvements in space and refinement, together with the additional technology and connectivity available in the new Rio are very compelling for such a competitively priced car. All models are more highly specified than before including new standard features like Android Auto™ and Apple CarPlay™.”

Mr McDonald goes on to say that the styling changes have made the all new Rio look much bigger and it now has more confident presence on the road.

Created by Kia Design teams in Germany and California under the leadership of Peter Schreyer, the appearance of the new Rio is defined by straight lines and smooth surfacing. The car has a distinctive new look and more mature character than its predecessor thanks to the longer bonnet and more vertical nose and rear hatch.

New Rio wears the latest evolution of Kia’s ‘tiger-nose’ grille, which is now thinner in height and wider across the front of the car, integrated with the newly designed bi-function headlamps and daytime running lights. The wider looking ‘face’ gives Rio a stronger overall appearance.

In profile Rio’s lengthened, more balanced stance is achieved with a long bonnet and longer front overhang, a 10mm longer wheelbase (now 2,580mm), thinner more upright C-pillars and shorter rear overhang. Overall, the new car is 15mm longer than its predecessor, at 4,065mm in length and 5mm lower (now 1,450mm tall). Straight, clearly defined lines run down the full length of the car’s shoulder and along its doors, further stretching the appearance of the Rio for a more confident look.

Thanks to the longer wheelbase and other changes to the structure, the 2017 Rio has one of the most spacious cabins and one of the highest cargo capacities (325 litres VDA) in its class. Leg room is up for both front seat and rear seat occupants, with the new model offering more shoulder room than most other cars in its class. While is 5mm lower in height, front and rear headroom are among the best in the B-segment.

Rio now provides a greater view outside, due to the lower window line around the car, thinner C-pillars and relocated door mirrors (improving the driver’s view of other traffic behind them).

Inside, the modern and stylish cabin features more sculptural forms and a more ergonomic layout, with softer and more textural surfaces surrounding the occupants.

The seats have been redesigned to provide greater support for all passengers. For the first time, composite leather upholstery appears in the top model, the Rio Limited. Drivers will appreciate the tilting and telescopic steering wheel adjustment and the dashboard is now curved around the driver to provide a better view of the instruments and information.

At the centre of the dashboard is a new ‘floating’ 7-inch touchscreen that houses the six speaker infotainment system, including Android Auto™ and Apple CarPlay™ on all Rio models, and doubles as the sat nav in the EX and Limited. This is the first time sat nav has been fitted to the Rio and includes SUNA live traffic alert updates.

Rio now offers the Android Auto™ connectivity system designed to work with Android™ phones running 5.0 (Lollipop) or higher. It lets users access some smartphone apps and functions through the infotainment system, such as voice-guided Google Maps™, hands-free calls and voice recognition, as well as stream music from Google Play™.

Apple CarPlay™ for iPhone® 5 or newer is also available, which will enable Siri to control some of the phone’s various functions and apps, including navigation via Apple Maps and calls. Apple CarPlay™ supports other audio apps, including music streaming and audiobook services.

Among the stand out features of new Kia Rio is the on-road performance. Kia’s chassis development teams sought to introduce greater driving appeal, with more agile and immediate handling, while improving ride comfort. The Rio sits on fully independent MacPherson strut front suspension and a torsion beam rear axle.

The development of a stiffer bodyshell, based on greater use of high strength, lightweight steel (now 51% of the structure), gave R&D teams the freedom to develop a more compliant suspension system. The new Rio has a more sophisticated spring and damper set-up than the outgoing model, improving the car’s compliance and comfort at all speeds while maintaining its more enjoyable, engaging handling characteristics.

For New Zealand, the Kia Rio benefits from the more advanced RS damper valves specified in the ANZAC suspension upgrade programme undertaken by the Australian based ride and handling team, who have tuned the balance of driver enjoyment and ride comfort to an even higher degree.

Power comes from the all-aluminium, 16-valve 1.4-litre MPI engine that has been refined to deliver improved, driveability while ensuring excellent fuel economy and low emissions.

A new electronic management system governs the engine to enable the 74kW peak power to be delivered at a lower 6,000rpm instead of 6,300rpm, but more importantly spread much of the 133Nm of torque across a broader rev range before peaking at 4,000rpm, down from 4,200rpm. Most models are equipped with a smooth 4-speed automatic transmission, but a 6-speed manual is available on LX.

The new Kia Rio is on sale in New Zealand from $22,490 – and every Rio benefits from Kia’s impressive 5 Year/100,000km Warranty Programme and Roadside Assist package.

-o0o-

© Scoop Media