2018 Kia Rio Hatchback First Drive Review

Sporting wider and more aggressive styling, Kia’s subcompact Rio 5-door hatchback is all-new for 2018, helping elevate the segment's incentives for new car buyers.

Quebec City, QC – Gone are the days of the uninspiring, poorly designed, my-Dad-made-me-drive-this small car. Today’s era of subcompact sedans and hatchbacks – with the likes of the Hyundai Accent, Honda Fit, Toyota Yaris, Nissan Micra, and others – have stepped up their game on every level, from sleeker styling and better driving dynamics to more excellent cabins with more features and additional cargo space.

silver 2018 Kia Rio Hatchback sideview on the street in front of large tree
2018 Kia Rio Hatchback. Photo: Amee Reehal

And in the world of new cars, perhaps no other segment has seen such drastic improvements over the past twenty years or so than the underrated subcompact. The incentives and features are growing, the gap between these and the slightly larger compact cars is shrinking, and best of all? The price points remain reasonable and within reach for most young students, urbanites, and first-time car buyers entering the daunting world of vehicle ownership.

New Features to the Redesigned Kia 5-Door

silver 2018 Kia Rio Hatchback rear profile parked on street in Quebec City
2018 Kia Rio Hatchback. Photo: Amee Reehal

Entering 2018, the fourth-generation Rio is entirely new, available in a sedan or 5-door iteration. It gets a sportier look, a spacious cabin, and better driving dynamics thanks to a broader, lower body coupled with a longer wheelbase versus the outgoing 2017 version. More technology finds its way into the cabin via Apple CarPlay and Android Auto (standard on EX models), an all-new telematics system (UVO Intelligence), and an updated floating tablet-style head unit. Power remains the same with the 1.6L, 130-hp engine carried over from last year.

2018 Kia Rio Hatchback Interior

2018 Kia Rio Hatchback interior front
2018 Kia Rio Hatchback. Photo: Amee Reehal

Inside, Kia paid extra attention to the more minor details and incorporated softer plastics throughout for a little more premium feel, as opposed to the harder, cheap finishing found in other small cars. The door panels are a one-piece design, reducing noise and clutter, and at the centre stack, all the controls are placed above the shifter so everything is within reach. At the same time, the cavity below, with a USB and 12-volt outlet, offers ample storage space, including a second mini-self to hold phones, wallets, and small items.

2018 Kia Rio Hatchback interior steering wheel up close
2018 Kia Rio Hatchback. Photo: Amee Reehal

The only gripe is the absence of a retractable cover or compartment to hide the devices from the plain site (everything is exposed), especially when they’re plugged in, and you’re not inclined to disconnect them when stepping out for a bit (the centre armrest storage with lid doesn’t have a USB port). Not a deal breaker, but still. 

Floating Head Unit

2018 Kia Rio Hatchback interior centre stack area and touchscreen
2018 Kia Rio Hatchback. Photo: Amee Reehal

Popular these days, from subcompact and compacts to luxury vehicles, is the floating-style head unit and screen, for what it’s worth, looks like a tablet duct taped to the dash. The new 2018 Rio gets the same treatment, but the styling isn’t invasive; the head unit design is clean and squared-off (as opposed to round and bubbly as in some competing products – but hey, it’s a personal preference).

Cabin Space and Updated Seats

2018 Kia Rio Hatchback interior front seats
2018 Kia Rio Hatchback. Photo: Amee Reehal

The new cabin is overall more spacious. Aside from its wider, longer dimensions for 2018, which creates all this extra real estate, upfront, the lower dash and elevated panels (i.e., glove compartment area) have been raised considerably, offering more legroom and knee space for today’s young buyers who, for some reason, are getting taller and taller.  

The new, 2nd-generation seats in the all-new Rio are now lighter, slimmer, and produced from higher quality steel. But the bigger deal here is the heated seats for the cold months: they’re now controlled via an electronic control module so heat levels automatically lower based on time duration (preventing overheating of the system and seat material — yes, it’s possible to have seats that overheat. From experience, it’s usually in these smaller vehicles and compact crossovers). Black cloth comes standard on the LX and EX trims, with black leather on the higher-level EX Tech.

Cargo Friendly

2018 Kia Rio Hatchback interior rear trunk space
2018 Kia Rio Hatchback. Photo: Amee Reehal

Collectively as a society, we’re all accumulating more and more crap. Young buyers, in particular, are no exception. Some of it is legit (sporting gear), some not so much (hoarding). Nevertheless, you can’t go wrong with extra cargo space to haul all of this around, and the Rio, in its 5-door version, has stepped it up. The hatch opening is both wider and heightened while the luggage tray depth also increases. There’s also a convenient cargo privacy cover to conceal everything when the hatch is closed.

UVO Intelligence: App/Web-based remote services

We’re beginning to see Apple CarPlay and Android Auto make their way into new vehicles. Within a few years, we’re sure this will be a must-have as we continue to rely on our devices, eliminating the need for expensive and usually archaic nav/infotainment systems.

silver 2018 Kia Rio Hatchback rear head on shot parked on street
2018 Kia Rio Hatchback. Photo: Amee Reehal

But the next step is automakers introducing their own app-based and web-based remote, telematic systems that deal with the long-distance transmission of computerized information. Ford recently introduced FordPass, and now Kia unveils UVO Intelligence — a first for the automaker, with the all-new Rio being the first vehicle in the family to offer it.

It’s an embedded modem inside the car head unit, eliminating the need for a phone and offering a full suite of remote services that tap into the Rio’s brain, from remotely starting your car to activating the heated steering wheel — all from an app or a browser. Mechanical advantages include monthly vehicle health reports to help troubleshoot any internal issues.

But there will be a cost. Fortunately, UVO Intelligence is free for the first 5-years right now.

2018 Kia Rio Power and Performance

pair of silver 2018 Kia Rio Hatchback on the street
2018 Kia Rio Hatchback. Photo: Amee Reehal

The 2018 Rio is powered by the same engine from last year: a 1.6L making 130 horsepower and 119 lb.-ft of torque paired to either a 6-speed manual or 6-speed automatic transmission. However, it’s been retuned to improve low-to-mid-range acceleration. These power numbers aren’t huge, nor should they be, but they are on par with the other two leaders in the segment: the Honda Fit and Hyundai Accent.

2018 Rio Power versus the competition

Here’s how the new Rio stacks up against the competitors, ranked in terms of horsepower:

VehicleHorsepower (Torque lb.-ft.)
Kia Rio130 (119)
Hyundai Accent130 (118)
Honda Fit130 (114)
Chevy Sonic125 (125)
Ford Fiesta120 (112)
Nissan Versa Note109 (107)
Nissan Micra107 (107)
Toyota Yaris106 (103)
Chevy Spark98 (94)
Fiat 50098 (98)
Mitsubishi Mirage74 (74)

Safety Features: New Braking System

silver 2018 Kia Rio Hatchback sideview parked on old street
2018 Kia Rio Hatchback. Photo: Amee Reehal

As you’d expect, the new Rio comes with a whole new group of safety features — from an improved, more high-strength body to the new Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB): a new braking system that activates the brakes when it detects dangerous, sudden braking by the car ahead; when traveling between 8 and 80 km/h, the new Rio will come to a complete stop. However, the AEB is only available on the EX Tech trim.

2018 Kia Rio Hatchback Exterior Styling

silver 2018 Kia Rio Hatchback side view in front of church
2018 Kia Rio Hatchback. Photo: Amee Reehal

Kia certainly isn’t slacking when it comes to its exterior styling, thanks almost entirely to Mr. Peter Schreyer (former Audi design head), who brought home countless design awards in recent years.

Redesigned with some heavy European flair, the Rio’s new look is streamlined yet beefy and sculpted. Styling is always a personal preference, but there’s no doubt this hatchback has some serious curb appeal, and so do many others in this class. But this 5-door sits lower than most of them, and with its new wider, longer stance, it definitely sports a more aerodynamic presence, which separates it from the pack.

silver 2018 Kia Rio Hatchback parked on road in front of old Quebec building
2018 Kia Rio Hatchback. Photo: Amee Reehal

The front treatment still finds the Kia tiger nose grill flanked by small projection fog lamps, U-shaped LED daytime running lights, and long stylish LED signal repeaters on the side mirrors (all three on the EX models). The rear treatment includes a standard rear spoiler on this 5-door only and a standard rearview camera; a step up from the entry-level, the Rio EX trim, rear styling consists of a chrome beltline running front to back across the windows, and LED lightbar taillights (EX Sport).

Wheel Choices and Colours

blue and silver 2018 Kia Rio Hatchback models on the street
2018 Kia Rio Hatchback. Photo: Amee Reehal

The standard offering is 15-inch steel wheels with covers, while options include the 15-inch alloy rims on the EX and larger machine-finished 17-inch sport alloys on the EX Sport and EX Tech. Six different paint colours offer a lot of metallic this year, including a new Ice Blue for 2018.

2018 Kia Rio Hatchback Specs and Images

CategorySpecification
Engine1.6L Inline-4
Power130 horsepower
Torque119 lb-ft
Transmission6-speed Automatic
Drive TypeFront-Wheel Drive (FWD)
Curb WeightApproximately 2,714 lbs
Wheelbase101.6 inches
Length160.0 inches
Width67.9 inches
Height57.1 inches
Cargo Volume17.4 cubic feet (Behind Rear Seats)
Maximum Cargo Volume32.8 cubic feet (With Rear Seats Folded)
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Amee Reehal
Amee Reehalhttps://www.ameereehal.com/
Shooting cars and bikes professionally since film was a thing, for over 20 years, Amee has collaborated with the major automakers and agencies, and his work has been published in various global outlets including MotorTrend, GlobeDrive, SuperStreet, Chicago Tribune, PerformanceBMW, and others. He’s an automotive writer and founder/managing editor of TractionLife.com, focusing on digital marketing & SEO for the past ten years (backed by a marketing degree, go figure). Find him travelling, spending time with his kids and family. Or golfing, poorly.