Driving
The Kia is available with 2.0-litre or 2.7-litre V6 petrol engines, but we prefer the 2.0-litre turbodiesel. There's a fair amount of diesel clatter at idle, but once on the move it delivers power progressively, and at cruising speeds is impressive refined. It serves up its power in a progressive manner too. So it's a shame the Kia's clutch action is snappy which, combined with a less-than-slick gearbox, makes smooth progress difficult. What's more, dynamically the Magentis feels flimsy. It rolls through corners, and this increased body movement means it works its front tyres much harder. There's also a lot of dive when braking, and the middle pedal is soft under-foot too. The steering is light and vague, and never inspires confidence. Unfortunately, the soft dynamic set-up doesn't translate into a decent ride quality either, because while the Kia is cushioned over smooth surfaces, the dampers don't control suspension movement. As a result, it can become crashy over imperfections, while kickback through the wheel is a problem. Still, stability control is standard.
See also:
Starting the engine
WARNING
Always wear appropriate shoes
when operating your vehicle.
Unsuitable shoes (high heels, ski
boots,etc.) may interfere with your
ability to use the brake and accelerator
pedal, and the c ...
Windshield defrosting and defogging
Manual climate control system
To defog inside windshield
1. Select any fan speed except “0”.
2. Select desired temperature.
3. Select the or position.
4. The outside (fresh) air position is ...
Interior Features
Test drivers say the Rio and Rio5 have easy-to-read gauges and generally like
the layout of the dash, but the praise ends there. The Rio’s barebones interior
comes with a four-speaker audio syst ...


