Tuning a Kia Rio 3: how to stand out from the crowd?

Everyone who has a car is eager to adapt it to their needs and tastes.

Our brother’s need for car tuning arises for many reasons:

• not satisfied with the dull appearance of the exterior design;
• I don’t like the body kit, wheels, headlight design, or airbrushing;
• not a comfortable and not attractive interior;
• are not satisfied with certain technical parameters, etc.

Important! The tuning procedure is often carried out only on those cars whose warranty has expired. Otherwise, re-equipping the machine may void the warranty.

However, it is possible to make car improvements at official dealers using both procedures and tuning parts approved by the manufacturers.

You need to start with styling

Before you begin the Kia Rio tuning , you should keep in mind that you need to start updating or modernizing the Korean from the outside. Experts recommend a tuning sequence as follows:

1. Carrying out external updates or styling.
2. Improvements to interior options.
3. And, making certain changes and modifications to the technical characteristics.

There are disagreements among the average car public about the purpose of tuning. At the same time, some believe that the main thing in this procedure is the creation of a bright and unique style, both in appearance and in the interior of the car in order to attract attention (in the form of envy!), so to speak, of neighbors in the garage.

And others are sure that the main goal of tuning is to improve both the qualitative characteristics of efficiency and the power, and, therefore, the dynamic parameters of the car.

However, the opinion of the Japanese tuning “guru”, namely Mishurumi Narato, confirms that both one and the other are right, because the appearance of the car will not matter if the car does not have strength and power.

And on the contrary, power qualities are useless options if the exterior and interior of the car do not captivate the eyes (do not arouse feelings of envy!) among ordinary people (neighbors in the garage).

Exterior tuning of Kia Rio

The famous German automobile designer Peter Schreyer worked on the exterior of the car. His achievements in this area are simply invaluable, just like the new KIA Rio, photos of which can be viewed here. Its stylish and slightly aggressive appearance appealed to many millions of car enthusiasts, who, seeing photos of new models, cannot help but note their unsurpassed design.

In the basic configuration, the car has quite expressive shapes: large headlights, a stylish “tiger” radiator grille, an original bumper, expressive fog lights. As you can see in the photo, Kia Rio, even in the minimum configuration, has bright and quite stylish elements and therefore it is very important not to overdo it when tuning.

Changing the appearance of the car

The most popular accessories for styling KIA RIO are such accessories that change appearance, such as:

• radiator screen;
• bumpers and body kits on them in the form of linings;
• fog lights. Headlight tuning or optics is probably the most common Kia Rio styling;
• spoiler and other tuning elements for Korean cars.

Also, external tuning includes various designs applied by airbrushing, design of relief surfaces, polishing, color changes and other changes in appearance, which are most preferred by Kia Rio owners

Gas struts on the hood instead of a “poker”

Replacing standard optics

Replacing standard engine protection

Car underbody lighting

Airbrush Kia Rio

Spoiler installation

As for painting, this type of styling has its own characteristics in that it is, firstly, a labor-intensive and, secondly, a multi-stage process:

1. Car preparation, which consists of dismantling all attachments, headlights and other optics. Dismantle the upholstery and glass.
2. Preparation of paint surfaces in the form of cleaning, stripping, washing, degreasing and polishing.
3. Primer and putty. This stage involves protecting the body from corrosion and leveling its surface.
4. Coloring. The procedure consists of 2-3 times applying layers of paint. Drying using special thermal lamps. Applying varnish to consolidate the protective properties of the paint.
5. Polishing is the last stage of painting, which is carried out using a grinding tool, as well as a special liquid.

Front end

The front of the car is visible to other road users and attracts more attention than the rest of the car. Front tuning usually involves replacing the headlights.

Sometimes lanterns are tinted with film and special varnish. This is not recommended: such changes impair light transmittance, which will cause an accident.

The front bumper is also being changed. It’s worth purchasing body kits for the entire car at once: when the front bumper is new and the rear is stock, it looks ugly and untidy. To save money, you can buy overlays. They do not change the appearance much, but are easy to install even with your own hands and cost much less than a whole bumper.

In the front part, the radiator grille is often changed. The bumper often comes with an already modified radiator grille, but if you bought a trim or decided not to update the bumper at all, then you can also change the radiator grille to your liking.

The hood of a car is usually changed to increase the air flow under it. This is required for those who have increased the engine power and need additional cooling and ventilation.

An air intake is sometimes installed on the roof. On racing cars it plays a functional role, but on regular cars it is designed to change the appearance, which is only worsened by such a detail.

Tinting and stickers are applied to the windshield, for example, inscriptions in a beautiful font on the bottom edge of the glass.

Interior tuning

As for tuning the interior, as well as styling, you should not do it yourself - this is work for real professionals who, firstly, have skill based on experience. And, secondly, they have at their disposal professional equipment to update the salon for the following procedures:

• either reupholstering the seats, or replacing them, for example, with a sports type;
• or reupholstery or replacing it with leather or other material. For example, equip the driver's armrest with a special insert;
• implementation of noise and vibration insulation by establishing better quality than.

Youth tuning of the interior involves updating the lighting using both simple and more complex manipulations:

• replacing the interior lighting lamp;
• replacement of standard signal and additional external lighting;
• installing additional lights along the roof trim;
• illumination of the driver’s feet, as well as the navigator’s;
• other lighting options with a wide choice of colors, as well as a choice of certain LED lighting elements.

Installing an armrest with USB

Floor mats Eva

Eco leather covers

Additional door seals

Installing handbrake protection

Alcantara seat covers

Installing additional buttons and cruise on the steering wheel

Rubber mats in niches

The cabin should be quiet

For the interior decoration of an already high-quality interior, we can only recommend upholstering it with leather and installing an Alcantara ceiling. If desired, it is recommended to provide front lighting for the legs and door edges.

When it comes to noise in a car, the Kia Rio 3 model suffers from the front arches. To solve this problem, you can use sound insulation - you need to glue the entire interior with sound-proofing material. Such tuning, however, will take a lot of precious time and will be expensive.

It is better to install protection on the arches themselves, which should first be glued on the inside with soundproofing material. Such simple tuning will make your stay in the car more comfortable.

Technical engine tuning

The most common technical tuning procedure is the firmware of engine control drivers, called chip tuning. There are two irreconcilable opinions about engine modernization.

Proponents of updating the KIA RIO 1.6 power plant give the following example of improving its technical and operational parameters in the form of:

• increasing power from 112 to 122 horsepower;
• increasing rotational forces from 146 to 161 Nm;
• improving the engine's sensitivity to the gas pedal;
• smooth traction;
• comfort of engine speed control.

As for opponents of the firmware, they argue the harmfulness of such a procedure:

• increased fuel consumption;
• increased wear of loaded parts;
• reduction in engine life.

Regarding fuel consumption, opponents object that as a result of engine modifications, specific fuel consumption actually increases, but per unit of power, and not at all per driving distance. Which, in general, is far from quite the same thing.

Transmission and brake upgrades

Modernization of the KIA RIO transmission may affect such elements as:

• clutch. By improving the performance characteristics of clutch parts;
• Checkpoint. By replacing an automatic transmission with a manual transmission and vice versa;
• Gearbox gears. Replacing gears to increase or decrease the gear ratio of the box.

Regarding the modernization of the Kia Rio suspension , these are manipulations such as:

• installation of either stiffer or, on the contrary, softer springs;
• replacement or installation of transverse stabilization elements;
• increasing or decreasing ground clearance;
• installation of air suspension with the ability to adjust ground clearance from the driver's seat.

As for tuning the brakes , this means installing silicon brake pads, calipers, using discs of increased diameter and thickness. It should be kept in mind that upgrading the brakes must precede upgrading the power plant.

Transformation options

The Kia Rio 3 should be improved in the following areas:

• you can significantly increase the acceleration dynamics of the car;
• increase the degree of its stability;
• add sound insulation in the Kia Rio 3 interior;
• equip additional protection for thresholds and bumpers;
• deflectors;
• arrangement of decorative elements.