2018 Kia Rio vs Mazda 3

What's the difference?

The Rio GT-Line is the penultimate Rio experience, and honestly the only one in the range I’d consider. 

The changes under the bonnet and to the standard safety offering are ones that the car has desperately needed since it launched in Australia and help push the Rio back to the forefront as one of the best-equipped, well-priced and most entertaining to drive small hatchbacks on the market.

If it was just a little faster and sharper it would reach beyond itself and into hot hatch territory, but there’s still room for a fully-fledged ‘GT’ grade… Are you listening, Kia?

The 3 is a terrific car and continues to improve with every yearly update, however minor. The uplift in the Neo Sport may not look like $1000 worth, but having that proper screen and reversing camera - along with standard AEB - starts to make sense over time.

In 2017, I said the pick of the range was the Maxx and I still reckon the Maxx Sport is the one to go for - it has a good package of safety equipment and a sensible spec list, without the frippery of the increasingly oddly priced Touring. The not-that-much-more SP25 is similarly specified, but only worth it if you want the extra power. Not everyone does.

The new i30 and forthcoming new Corolla are giving the Mazda3 more of a hurry-up these days, especially in price and spec but the i30 now has the driving dynamics to go with it. And with the Kia Cerato rapidly closing in, every little bit of competition is making the 3 a better car than before.

And it's still by far the best-looking car in the segment. For many, that's what will tip them over the edge.