Kia Rio vs Renault Clio

What's the difference?

Australia is experiencing a mass extinction event.

Like the dinosaurs before them, and hopefully not the bees in the near future, the sub-$20,000 car is nearing the bitter end.

An evolutionary dead-end, as higher emissions and safety regulations relegate older models (read Mitsubishi Mirage) to the great scrap-heap in the sky and prevent newer ones (read Honda Jazz) from leaving their local markets.

For you, this means there are quite literally a handful of brand-new vehicles left in Australia which wear before-on-road price-tags under the magic $20,000 number.

One of them is the car we’re looking at for this review: The Kia Rio S, with the catch being you’ll have to be happy changing gears yourself.

So, is this most basic Rio worth your while, or is it best left as a puzzling fossil for future generations to study? Let’s have a look.

I'm going to reveal something of myself here - I used to be a RenaultSport Clio owner. This is what the purists call what we now know as Clio RS, and I find myself constantly corrected yet unrepentant. It was a 172 - a nuggety three-door with wheels that looked too small, a weird seating position and a 2.0-litre naturally aspirated engine that was big on torque as long as you belted it.

It was a classic and you could still see the links back to the epoch-making Renault Clio Williams, that blue and gold Mk 1 Clio we never saw in Australia that redefined the genre. The current Clio has been around for four years now and I even drove this current RS Clio at its launch in 2013, memorable for the sudden bucketing rain that drenched the circuit and made things very interesting indeed.

This Clio was a big change from the cars that went before - slimmer-hipped, less aggressive-looking and with a 1.6-litre turbo engine, five-door-only body and (gasp!) no manual, just Renault's twin-clutch EDC transmission. It was a hit, at least with enthusiasts. Back then it was the dawn of a golden age in small hot hatches. But that was then, this is now. With a small power bump and a couple of features thrown in, is the ageing RS still at the pointy end?