2003 Kia Rio

Powering the lightweight Rio is a 1.6L four-banger rated at 104 horses with enough spunk for most motoring situations.

The remainder of the Rio's limited options list includes alloy wheels, a body-colored rear spoiler and floor mats. Perhaps more importantly, the Rio comes with Kia's 5-year/60,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty and 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain guarantee.


Faced with real-world driving demands that spanned everything from grocery-getting to extended freeway commutes, the Rio did a respectable job of holding its own in all traffic conditions. Limited rear-seat legroom makes the aft quarters best suited to kids, and the decidedly vague suspension tuning would really benefit from an upgrade in the shock-absorber department. But overall, this well-styled, well-screwed-together econocar deserves solid marks for being quite serviceable and surprisingly civil, given its fundamental mission as a basic-transport module. (www.kia.com)