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2006 Kia Rio Sub-Compact Economy Station Wagon
Bigger, better and still ultra cheap
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New Car Review of the 2006 Kia Rio Sub-Compact Economy Station Wagon
Base MSRP Range: $10,570 - $14,350
Base Invoice Range: $10,155 - $13,620
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MSRP As Tested: $13,045
Versions: Base, LX, SX
Vehicle Category: Sub-Compact Economy Station Wagon
Engine Location: Front Engine
Drive Wheels: Front-Wheel Drive.
Standard Engine: 1.6-liter, Dual Overhead Cam, 16-valves, I-4, 110 â€' horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 107 lb-ft torque at 4,500 rpm.
Transmission: Four-speed Automatic, Five-speed Manual.
Fuel Economy (city/hwy): Automatic 29/38, Manual 32/35.
Standard Safety Features: Dual front airbags, Front side airbags, Curtain side airbags, Emergency inside trunk release.
Competition: Chevrolet Cobalt, Ford Focus, Honda Civic, Mazda 3, Toyota Corolla.
The longer I've been a dad, the more I've come to realize that babies defy the laws of physics.
First off, they create mass at a rate that would astonish Stephen Hawking. These cute, little, itty-bitty creations snack on small amounts of milk and baby food throughout the day before processing it into enough waste to fill a fleet of dump trucks. A few bites of mashed-up peas can provide them with hours worth of fluids that spew from every orifice in their little bodies, and the pace at which they go through diapers has got to be approaching the speed of light. They're amazing creatures.
And, of course, they require massive, industrial-size loads of materials to keep them clean and happy. You see someone packing their Land Rover so full of groceries in the Wal-Mart parking lot that you'd think they were preparing to spend a year on the African savannah, but no. It's just a week's worth of supplies for their six-month-old.
That's why I was a little bit worried about taking the new Kia Rio to go shopping. It's classified as a sub-compact, which typically means "the size of a shoebox," and I was nervous about having to cram the usual mountains of diapers, wipees, lotions, powders, soaps, baby food jars and the like -- not to mention all our adult necessities -- into a tiny economy car.
As I started to unload the shopping cart, I carefully packed all the stuff as tightly as possible into the trunk, thinking I'd need all the space I could get if I didn't want to carry frozen pizzas in my lap for the trip home.
By the time I finished, I couldn't believe my eyes.
Not only did everything fit in the trunk, there was room to spare. I could have fit another week's worth of diapers and wipees in there if I had to, and nothing had to ride in the back seat on the way home.
The Rio's new interior was equally impressive, at least from a roominess perspective. My whole family could ride in it comfortably, and I had enough leg and shoulder room in the driver's seat where I didn't feel the least bit claustrophobic, something I couldn't say about the '05 Rio.
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