2002 Rio RX-V?

[Forestry_Chick]

Hey guys,

My dad just picked up one of these and wants to trade me for my monstrous Buick because he doesn't drive nearly as much as I do. The MPG should be waaay better then the Buick... Kia claims that it gets 30 MPG (City). I have not read of anyone trying to improve Kia's in term of MPG, but I would sure like to try. Has anyone else tried?

This one is a 5 speed gas, manual, sport model with the roof racks and a small spoiler on the back. I have been thinking of putting a front guard on the bumper, wheel covers (pizza pans? ha), taking out the back seats (as only I or one other person is ever in the car) and putting in a plastic or foam floor in the back for protected extra cargo space. Once a week I have muddy/horsey gear to transport around.

Are the roof racks an issue? See images of car here : canadiandriver.com/2002/01/10/test-drive-2002-kia-rio-rx-v.htm

Having never done this before, I am wondering if those changes will really make a difference on something that is already going at 30 mpg. Does anyone else have suggestions?

Thanks :-)

[RandomFact314]

For the wagon you probably have the most luck with a partial kammback.
My girlfriend drives the sedan kia rio and gets around 24/25 MPG but has gotten up to 28 and she does not hypermile even a little so 30 would be possible I guess, It just depends on how you drive.

Changing how you drive is probably the best "mod" you can do if you do it right.

a SGII would help a ton

Also This will help you look at how roof racks effect your MPG:
http://metrompg.com/posts/roof-racks.htm

And This one for smooth pizza pan wheel covers:
Experiment: smooth wheel discs tested A-B-A - 4.6% mpg improvement @ 65 mph

[MetroMPG]

Deleting those racks will help a small amount:



They don't have cross bars, which is good. But don't forget that a vehicle rarely travels "straight" into the wind. We live in a world of cross winds, so on the highway those things are making more of a mess than you might think.

But we're talking a few percent difference - just a guesstimate.

I agree with randomfact: biggest, easiest gains are to be found in your driving techniques. Not discouraging mods (they help regardless of who's driving), but they're typically more work for smaller, incremental gains.

[Forestry_Chick]

Thanks for the replys and links...

but what is an SGII... forgive my ignorance

[RandomFact314]

Originally Posted by Forestry_Chick

Thanks for the replys and links...

but what is an SGII... forgive my ignorance

Scan Gauge II, It is instrumentation you hook to your car that tells you all sorts of things about your car including real time MPG, People at ecomodder half live by the things, but they work great.

[KE5TNY]

Well I dont have the cinco, but am routinely getting 33-37 on the highway.