The worst car I've ever driven; Kia Rio.
Discussion
Up until this week, the previous "worst car I've ever driven" was the Peugeot 307. But, rather fantastically, this week it has been surpassed in awfulness.
I had an Orange Kia Rio 2 hire car. I'm not entirely sure of the engine size, but it was very small and petrol.
Normally in such low-spec cars there are ounces of joy to be found. I believe it was editor Dan that recently did a blog on "Go with the flow", which brought out many lovers of base spec KAs or run of the mill VWs. But no, there was no single positive that I could find with this car.
The steering was dreadful; zero feedback because it was far too over assisted, even around the dead centre on a high speed bend.
The brakes were just as bad, not for their effectiveness (which wasn't exactly eye-popping) but because they were so light under foot that I couldn't feel any pedal resistance whatsoever at the top of the travel.
Internally, the build quality was questionable at best. Shutting the boot made me worry the inside was going to fall off and pushing large window switches reminded me of early 80s Peugeot clickiness. Fine for early 80s Peugeots, not for 2012 Kias.
I did wonder if the one diamond in this otherwise horrific coal face of a car would be the engine. But no. On one occasion I tried to rev it all the way through to the red line in second, to see what the higher up power was like. I got bored by 5000rpm. Actually bored to the point where I didn't care what would happen next.
I've seen a few of them on the road, so I assume that they are well received; perhaps the price point and 7yr warranty really do entice people in.
Now of course, I am a car enthusiast but I don't hate the Kia Rio because it doesn't have a 4 litre engine or red 4 point harnesses, merely because it could have been so much better and my excitement of trying a new car quickly turned to annoyance.
I believe the appropriate sign off in this modern twittering age is; Hash tag, just saying.
I had an Orange Kia Rio 2 hire car. I'm not entirely sure of the engine size, but it was very small and petrol.
Normally in such low-spec cars there are ounces of joy to be found. I believe it was editor Dan that recently did a blog on "Go with the flow", which brought out many lovers of base spec KAs or run of the mill VWs. But no, there was no single positive that I could find with this car.
The steering was dreadful; zero feedback because it was far too over assisted, even around the dead centre on a high speed bend.
The brakes were just as bad, not for their effectiveness (which wasn't exactly eye-popping) but because they were so light under foot that I couldn't feel any pedal resistance whatsoever at the top of the travel.
Internally, the build quality was questionable at best. Shutting the boot made me worry the inside was going to fall off and pushing large window switches reminded me of early 80s Peugeot clickiness. Fine for early 80s Peugeots, not for 2012 Kias.
I did wonder if the one diamond in this otherwise horrific coal face of a car would be the engine. But no. On one occasion I tried to rev it all the way through to the red line in second, to see what the higher up power was like. I got bored by 5000rpm. Actually bored to the point where I didn't care what would happen next.
I've seen a few of them on the road, so I assume that they are well received; perhaps the price point and 7yr warranty really do entice people in.
Now of course, I am a car enthusiast but I don't hate the Kia Rio because it doesn't have a 4 litre engine or red 4 point harnesses, merely because it could have been so much better and my excitement of trying a new car quickly turned to annoyance.
I believe the appropriate sign off in this modern twittering age is; Hash tag, just saying.
Edited by TonyHetherington on Friday 27th January 13:15
Depends what you want from a car really. Most white goods cars are the same as they are set up to be driven by a variety of people in a number of conditions where they dont care for or need to rev out to the limiter or have pin sharp steering or a solid brake pedal.
For its intended purpose it probably works very well? They seem to get very good reviews.
For its intended purpose it probably works very well? They seem to get very good reviews.
You *really* want me to drive a Matiz, don't you?! 
They always seemed to me like they were purposefully pointed at that specific "poor quality but it's still a car" end of the market, along with City Rover, TaTa etc. But the Rio is £10k, and putting itself up in comparison against a Polo!
They always seemed to me like they were purposefully pointed at that specific "poor quality but it's still a car" end of the market, along with City Rover, TaTa etc. But the Rio is £10k, and putting itself up in comparison against a Polo!
TonyHetherington said:
You *really* want me to drive a Matiz, don't you?!
They always seemed to me like they were purposefully pointed at that specific "poor quality but it's still a car" end of the market, along with City Rover, TaTa etc. But the Rio is £10k, and putting itself up in comparison against a Polo!
And they're a horrendous sack of sThey always seemed to me like they were purposefully pointed at that specific "poor quality but it's still a car" end of the market, along with City Rover, TaTa etc. But the Rio is £10k, and putting itself up in comparison against a Polo!
t too.'cause it's got a VW badge people flock too them, but in reality, AWFUL cars.
As mentioned in th courtesy car thread I had a Panda recently, it was actually a bit scary to drive it was so poor. Steering was artificially heavy and weighted up randomly, brakes are either on or off, nothing happens when you touch the accelerator and then all of a sudden it's at 3000 revs a second later, impossible to get comfortable in it if you're not a midget, etc.
Presumably because elderly people buy them the city mode steering and zero effort controls are probably very wwelcome but to me it was incredibly unsettling. The terminal understeer and top-heavyness of the thing was appalling, compared to something like a used Polo it's a wonder anyone buys them.
Presumably because elderly people buy them the city mode steering and zero effort controls are probably very wwelcome but to me it was incredibly unsettling. The terminal understeer and top-heavyness of the thing was appalling, compared to something like a used Polo it's a wonder anyone buys them.
NotDave said:
TonyHetherington said:
You *really* want me to drive a Matiz, don't you?!
They always seemed to me like they were purposefully pointed at that specific "poor quality but it's still a car" end of the market, along with City Rover, TaTa etc. But the Rio is £10k, and putting itself up in comparison against a Polo!
And they're a horrendous sack of sThey always seemed to me like they were purposefully pointed at that specific "poor quality but it's still a car" end of the market, along with City Rover, TaTa etc. But the Rio is £10k, and putting itself up in comparison against a Polo!
t too.'cause it's got a VW badge people flock too them, but in reality, AWFUL cars.
I've had three Polos and all three have been absolutely briliant
MKII Coupe S (1.3) handled like a go-cart and had wonderfully weighted steering (no PAS) and swallowed stuff like an estate car with the rear seats folded
MKIV 1.4CL Didn't handle or go as well as the MKII but was a nce drive just lacked the same level of feel in the controls
MKV 1.6 GTi went, stopped and almost handled as well as a 205 GTi *just the ability to adjust your line in a corner on the throttle was missing.
If you are refering to a Post 2001 Polo then carry on because I have no experince of them
B'stard Child said:
If you are refering to a Post 2001 Polo then carry on because I have no experince of them
as OP was comparing NEW CARS.
2004 Polo 1.9 SDI - leased. 2k miles on clock. interior nice. everything else s
te.2004 Polo 1400cc petrol - MILs - Spent 6 weeks with VW, with court action threatened as they tried to avoid putting a new engine in under warranty when the rings went 1week after purchase. Interior is falling apart. And it munches head light bulbs.
2001 - mate at uni. Hers always needed something for MOT and did 6k miles a year tops.
2007 or 2008 one, chap at work. His DD....... Electrical gremlins. Various trips to VW under warranty with "quibbling". Also parts when it does need something are steep.
PLUS 1x office colleague, has 54 plate 1400cc ibiza..... Which is the same car is it not?
yearly service & MOT always end up needing more stuff, that costs a lot for what it is. He's a petrolhead too, his other car is a imamculate (and usually broken) TVR.... and he's a mech fitter by trade, and looks after them
Chris71 said:
TonyHetherington said:
The one I drove is a Kia Rio 2, '61 plate. I'm not sure it can get any newer 
Old stock. Trust me, that's not a new shape Rio...I drove a really old Rio in Malta last year, and it was astonishingly bad. But it had received a lot of abuse in its short life by the looks of things.
Review of new one: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/car-manufactur...
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff