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Kia Rio vs Volkswagen Polo

What's the difference?

VS
Kia Rio
Kia Rio

$19,975 - $28,990

2022 price

Volkswagen Polo
Volkswagen Polo

$22,490 - $43,880

2022 price

Summary

2022 Kia Rio
2022 Volkswagen Polo
Safety Rating

Engine Type
Inline 4, 1.4L

Turbo 4, 2.0L
Fuel Type
Unleaded Petrol

Premium Unleaded Petrol
Fuel Efficiency
6.0L/100km (combined)

6.5L/100km (combined)
Seating
5

5
Dislikes
  • Uninspiring drivetrain
  • Lacks active safety features
  • Hard, noisy ride

  • Solid service pricing
  • No rear centre armrest
  • No adjustable rear air vents
2022 Kia Rio Summary

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.

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2022 Volkswagen Polo Summary

The hot hatch wars, an on-going automotive conflict, fired up when Volkswagen lobbed a massive, Golf GTI-shaped salvo into an unsuspecting global car market in the middle of 1976.

Peugeot may have run a bold out-flanking manoeuvre with deployment of the 205GTi from the mid-1980s, and other skirmishes broke out soon after with the likes of Suzuki’s Swift GTi, but so far the German maker has retained majority ownership of those three little letters that mean so much.

Fast forward to 1995 and application of the GTI tag spread to the compact VW Polo, which close to three decades later brings us to the current, sixth-generation version.

It arrived in Australia in 2018, and four years down the track it’s time for an update, with subtle cosmetic tweaks and a significant safety upgrade included.

Volkswagen Australia invited us to the car’s local launch including a varied drive program, topped off with a hot-lap track session, to get a first taste of how it shapes up.

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Deep dive comparison

2022 Kia Rio 2022 Volkswagen Polo

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