Used 2020 Kia Rio

The 2020 Kia Rio comes in sedan and 5-door hatchback variants, a refreshing option as some manufacturers offer only one or the other. The Rio may look small, but it can easily accommodate tall drivers with long legs. The rear seat is smaller than some competitors, but still usable.

Kia has a well-earned reputation for offering a lot of features at a very reasonable price, and the Rio certainly lives up to this standard. Although we’d like to see more standard driver assists, at least automatic emergency braking is available on the S trim. The Rio does well against the Chevy Sonic, Nissan Versa and Mitsubishi Mirage, but its resale, interior dimensions and overall fun-to-drive factor still fall short of the Honda Fit, Toyota Yaris and close relative, the Hyundai Accent.

The 2020 Kia Rio offers a nice blend of a comfortable ride and precise handling. It’s no race car, and we know most buyers won’t expect it to be, but when it comes to cornering and rapid lane-change maneuvers, the Rio proves quite capable. There’s plenty of room inside the 5-passenger cabin, and the 5-door with its large hatchback opening and folding rear seats, can carry a surprisingly large amount of stuff.

The new 1.6-liter engine puts out 10 less horsepower than last year, but the new CVT transmission is more efficient, with no noticeable loss in performance and a substantial gain in fuel economy (33-mpg city/41-mpg highway). On the road, the Rio is quiet for this class of car, even at highway speeds.

Kia does interiors well, and the Rio’s is no exception. It’s roomier and more upscale inside than you might expect, and even the base LX model has several appealing convenience and tech features. The infotainment screen is well placed near the top of the dash, and the controls for the stereo and air conditioning are logically placed and easy to reach. The LX and S share a 7-inch touch screen that is easy to read and quick to respond. Additionally, the 2020 Kia Rio boasts lots of handy controls on the steering wheel that tilts, but does not telescope.

Both the 4-door sedan and 5-door hatchback versions of the 2020 Kia Rio are attractive cars with Euro-influenced styling and a mature look that’s uncommon in its class. Even though the sedan and hatch share the same wheelbase, the sedan is almost 13 inches longer. All Kia Rios are fitted with 15-inch steel wheels featuring wheel covers.

TECH-FRIENDLY INTERIOR
Entry-level motoring doesn’t mean leaving tech behind. The standard audio system in the 2020 Kia Rio includes a 7-inch touch-screen infotainment system with connections to Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. It also features a USB port and rearview camera and can be upgraded to add a charging port and SiriusXM satellite radio.

SAFETY FEATURES
As one of the least expensive subcompact cars, it’s a pleasant surprise to see autonomous emergency braking as part of the Rio S optional-equipment list. The system monitors the traffic ahead, and if it detects a collision is eminent, will warn the driver and apply the brakes, slowing or stopping the Rio before an accident can occur.

Notable standard equipment on the LX includes a tilt steering wheel, a trip computer, air conditioning, 7-inch touch-screen infotainment, heated-power side mirrors, a rearview monitor and Bluetooth. The S sedan adds a front-center armrest, a 60/40-split-folding rear seat, a USB charger, UVO telematics, keyless entry and cruise control. The 5-door Rio hatchback, available only as an S model, is equipped similarly to the S sedan, but remember that its handy cargo area expands to 32.8 cubic feet when the rear seat is folded.

While there aren’t many options on the base LX sedan (other than Aurora Black Pearl paint, for $195), the 2020 Kia Rio S is available with LED headlights, forward-collision assist, advanced tire-pressure monitor (shows individual tire pressures on the LCD display), SiriusXM satellite radio and a 3.5-inch supervision meter cluster LCD display

The sole Rio engine is a new-for-2020 multi-point direct-injected 1.6-liter 4-cylinder with 120 horsepower. Joining the new engine this year is what Kia is calling an “iVT” automatic transmission, which is basically a CVT with intelligence that can adapt shift logic for improved performance and fuel economy. Given the big jump in the 2020 Kia Rio’s fuel economy over last year’s model (five mpg more in the city and four mpg on the highway), we’d say replacing the previous 6-speed automatic was a good move.

1.6-liter inline-4
120 horsepower @ 6,300 rpm
112 lb-ft of torque @ 4,500 rpm
EPA city/highway fuel economy: 33/41 mpg