aspire/rio knuckle comparison

[F3BZ]

this was touched upon in a recent post about aspire MC's. finally got these cleaned up enough for pics. the aspire knuckle is from a 95 auto. the rio from an 01 auto although it has been mentioned that the knuckles are the same for auto or MT for each respective car. the most obvious difference is the lump i've outlined on the rio knuckle. i can't see any reason this can't be whacked off and contoured to a similar aspire-like lump. the only dimensional difference i measured is shown in the picture where the tie-rod mounting hole is approx. 3/16" farther from the steering rack. otherwise all bearing diameters/depths, strut mounting hole bore/centers and control arm bore are identical. maybe the aspire tie-rod end can be screwed out enough to absorb the 3/16" difference without compromising safety. somebody with some front-end geometry experience might want to speculate on whether the decreased angle of the rio tie-rod arm would make for better/worse steering feel/response.

[Pocket_Rocket]

Where's the pic???

[FB71]

from the pics, it looks the Rio steering arm is slightly shorter. Shorter steering arms will give you more rapid steering response, but will increase steering effort, especially at low speeds. This was most likely done because the (assumedly) comes atandard with power steering.

[DuritzCrows17]

hm, how much better are the breaks on a rio than an aspire assuming they are better?

[25Horseplay]

Maybe a nice upgrade if you had PS.

[FB71]

actually, would probably be a kicka$$ upgrade for autocross...

also, the later Rios ('03-up I think) have bigger front brakes then the Aspire. In fact, just today I was thinking about swapping late Rio brakes onto Aspire knuckles...

[Pu241]

also, the later Rios ('03-up I think) have bigger front brakes then the Aspire. In fact, just today I was thinking about swapping late Rio brakes onto Aspire knuckles...

Having never seen either the Rio or the aspire knuckle/rotor/caliper
can you just bolt the Rio rotor and caliper onto the aspire knuckle?
Or is it more involved?

[FB71]

not sure. It's something I'm going to try to investigate this at the boneyard this week.

[Pu241]

Take pic and let us know!

Let me know if you find any 80-'84 diesel rabbts/jetta there too!

[FB71]

will do

[F3BZ]

while picking up the knuckle at the yard i disconnected the caliper and removed the rotor from the lone rio and carried them over to the row of aspires. i could see no difference between the aspire and rio parts. the yard was closing and i didn't have time to actally remove the aspire caliper/disc and see if the rio parts would bolt on but it looked like a perfect match. (ditto for hubs). maybe next trip.

[FB71]

older Rios, up thru '02 I think, are the same as Aspires. I'm going to try to compare the newer Rios (larger front discs) to the Aspire, and see if the Rio rotors, calipers and bracket will bolt to an Aspire hub/knuckle.

[Safety Guy]

Nice work, F3BZ!

Karl

[monkeyracing]

Just a thought...seeing as KIA is a subsidiary of Hyundai, and they share platforms, wouldn't it be possible the some of the smaller Hyundai vehicles would also share the hub design?

Jim

[festivaWES]

Hyundai accent I don't think will work i just looked at mine today i have a 01 GL and the measurements for the 2 bolts for the bottom spring mount are 2 3/8 versus the festiva's 2 1/8, I don't know what the dimension of the aspires is from center to center I'll measure when i get home. On the upside everything else outside of that dimension looked almost exactly of the festiva. I also have a 05 kia spectra I'm going to take off the spindle assembly and check that out to. They come with 16" wheels stok though...so i don't know if 15 inch wheels will work with that setup if it ahppens to fit.