2010 Kia Rio vacation rental

[SentraSE-R]

Rented a basic economy car in ABQ for a vacation trip with my wife and granddaughter (HS graduation present).

Car is a bare bones 2010 Kia Rio, with manual windows and door locks, and no cruise control. Alamo wanted $10/day for a co-driver - too steep. We picked up the car 5/20 and packed it for departure 5/21. It had 1226 miles on it, and had no dings - amazing for a rental car. It's surprisingly roomy. We got three small suitcases, a laptop, and two day packs in the trunk. The food went in the back seat with the granddaughter.

5/21 I drove 520 miles from ABQ to Estes Park, CO. The Scangauge started with a 13.5% calibration, the same as in my wife's Elantra and my Scion xB. The Kia comes with a 1.6 L VVT engine, close to my Scion's 1.5, so that's where I started. I could see the MPG was optimistic, as current avg MPG went as high as 53 MPG , and it was actually about 41 MPG for the tank. I gassed up after 318.5 miles, and it only took ~7.77 gal, for a 40.94 MPG average. After the fill-up, I adjusted the Sg calibration to 22%, mindful that the tank may not have really been full when we picked the car up. We stopped at the site of the Ludlow Massacre, where 27 miners were fired, and killed when they refused to leave the town. There was a Prairie Dog colony nearby. We also saw several groups of Pronghorns, long before we got to Wyoming (the next day).

5/22 we drove into Rocky Mtn NP, and found a herd of Elk inside the main entrance. Trail Ridge Road was closed, so we were unable to go above timberline. I drove us up to the Black Hills via Nebraska, which was surprisingly lush and green, and not nearly as flat as I expected. We saw a couple of groups of Bison and Pronghorn up close, in Wind Cave NP south of Custer, SD. I tanked up in Scottsbluff, NE and got a very impressive 46.3 MPG for 445.8 miles. My main Hypermiling techniques have been to HS P&G, between 50 (actually 55 more often than not) and 65 mph. The MPG was a bit pessimistic, so the Sg calibration went back to 18.5%, and I've left it there since. We spent 2 nights in the Black Hills seeing Mt. Rushmore, Wind Cave NP, Jewel Cave NM, and other local sights.

The Kia seems to do well under those HS P&G conditions, as I was able to raise my indicated mpg avg into the mid-high 40s regularly with this routine our second day. It's starting out soundly beating the Toyota Yaris I rented for a week last Summer. The Yaris averaged 41 or 42 MPG over 3 tanks, with just me and my grandson and our luggage, driven about the same. The Kia is doing it with three people and a full complement of luggage.

We had two days (5/23-24) with heavy 40-50 mph crosswinds and headwinds that were sending tumbleweeds flying. I got three poor mpg tanks crossing SD, to the point where I said 'the heck with this,' and pushed our speed to 70 mph. The 60 mph tanks were 38.1 and 36.3 mpg, and the 70 mph tank was 31.3 mpg. We got into MN and IA, and turned around heading for the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone.

My 5/25 tank covered the last portion of my plains trip into Jackson Hole and the Star Valley. Mpg for this leg was 42.24 mpg.

We spent two days in Jackson, and didn't buy gas again until this morning. Today's tank averaged 45.57 mpg.

I wouldn't have considered the earlier Hyundai Accents and Kia Rios because they didn't have DFCO, and Kia's had a poor reputation until Hyundai stepped in. Now I'll consider them as serious Fit and Yaris competitors, with $2500-4000 discounts. If I can consistently pull low-mid 40s mpg with an automatic tranny Rio with 3 people and all our luggage, 45 mpg unloaded should be achievable most of the time, and 50 mpg with the manual transmission.

[ShadeTreeMech]

I would have considered a Kia junk without a second thought and was going to pick on ya for renting the worst built car in the world.

Hyundai bought them out you say? They make some decent cars, maybe a Kia isn't all that bad, especially with those economy figures. Is a Rio a small SUV? Can't recall, Kia falls into my don't care list usually

[SentraSE-R]

Hyundai bought a 51% share of Kia in 1998 (since reduced to 36%). Kia reliability and reputation have gone up since. The Rio is Kia's equivalent to the Hyundai Accent. It's a 4 door sedan with (I think) the same 1.6 VVT engine. At $11,695 for the Rio, and $13,645 for the Accent, the $9,995 Accent loss leader may be harder and harder to find.

I have only one complaint about the Rio so far. In ferocious 40+ mph crosswinds, there've been occasional (three times) harmonic vibrations that sound like a car horn honking at me from my left.

[ShadeTreeMech]

I would say a 40+ mph crosswind wouldn't be a daily occurance, thankfully

a VVT engine in a cheap car, you say? Might have to hunt one of those down in a few years. I'd kinda thought the Kia had gone up in reliability since it's inception, just no first hand evidence.

[JeepNmpg2]

I have to agree, Kia has gotten a lot better since their introduction to the US, I bought a 2006 Minivan from them and couldn't be happier. Actually I'm looking to take it accross the country here in a few weeks (moving some household stuff and visiting friends) so I won't be able to touch factory MPG, but I am eager to see what I can manage with a trailer on for 2600 miles of mostly flat terrain. It will be my first time using it with the scangauge that I've had such good luck with my Jeep in.

[SentraSE-R]

Scangauge indicates my current tank will be 45-46 mpg. I drove from Cody, WY to Missoula, MT today, ~420 miles.

[jkp1187]

I had a Kia Rio rental in Georgia a few years ago. It hauled three adults and luggage around Atlanta and Augusta in relative comfort. Kia's really made some positive strides lately.

I really like the look of the new Kia Forte Koup -- it looks like it's a car that should cost more than it apparently does. (The exterior, anyway.)

My last rental car was a Chevy Tahoe. (They were supposed to give us an Altima-sized car, but it was all they had available when we showed up.) Very comfortable ride, but in a few tight corners it felt like it was going to tip over, and I think we averaged 17 mpg in mostly highway driving. And some elderly passengers found it very annoying to have to climb up into the seats. The thing dwarfed everything else on the road save semis -- which is saying a lot, because this was in Texas....

[SentraSE-R]

miles gallons avg
318.5 7.778 40.94883003
445.8 9.633 46.27841794
293.1 7.686 38.1342701
315 7.524 41.86602871
164.6 5.01 32.85429142
324.4 8.934 36.31072308
349.2 7.952 43.91348089
250.3 5.926 42.23759703
383.8 8.422 45.57112325
436.9 10.129 43.13357686
338.4 7.258 46.62441444
274.1 6.276 43.67431485
0
0
0
0
total
2836.7 67.431 42.06818822

If I throw out the two outllier tanks which occurred under >40 mph crosswinds, my OA avg rises to 43.89 mpg. I have two more fills before completing the trip and returning the car. My current tank is >47 mpg, but I still have half the tank to drive.

[ShadeTreeMech]

I'm glad Kia is doing much better in the quality department. Means they can be in the pool of possible future used cars for me. That and maybe they can teach Detroit a thing or two about value for money.

I rode with my mom to Dallas in an 89 suburban with bad shocks and about pissed myself when she got into the curves. She's used to it but i was freaking out (mind you I'm accustomed to an Explorer and a minivan, so larger vehicles don't bother me.) I can't imagine being in a newer vehicle and feeling like it's about to roll over and feeling comfortable enough to stay in the thing.

GM has been putting out better cars, but compared to the average Nissan or Honda, they're garbage. I hate saying it as an American, but it's the truth. When I go used car shopping, I'd never dream about buying the Chevy over the Nissan. A Chevy minivan with 80K miles scares me more than the Nissan minivan with 160K miles. When my Nissan made minivan went out, I didn't think twice about putting in another motor, despite the 188K miles on it. if it had been a GM product, I would have scrapped it and never looked back.

[Clev]

Originally Posted by jkp1187

My last rental car was a Chevy Tahoe. (They were supposed to give us an Altima-sized car, but it was all they had available when we showed up.)

Last time they tried to pull that crap on me, I flat-out refused, telling them that I don't drive SUVs and they had better find me a car. I ended up getting a Prius for the price of a compact.

Rental companies don't seem to realize that some people have to pay for their own gas. Every time, they try to "upgrade" me to some POS truckster, and every time, I've gotten them to find a car--any car. (Hell, even the Buick Lucerne, which did 32 mpg average, was better than the 19 mpg PT Cruiser I got previously.)