2018 Renault Clio vs 2022 Kia Picanto

What's the difference?

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?

The difference between ‘cheap’ and ‘inexpensive’ is the difference between the Kia Picanto and most sub-$20,000 cars.

Kicking off from $15,990 before on-road costs (ORC), the popular hatch represents Australia’s only complete sub-B supermini experience, with a full range, affordable pricing, excellent aftersales and a welcome absence of obvious cost-cutting measures.

By not being feeble, flimsy, expensive or hopelessly outdated like all the rest, the Picanto is serious about treating budget buyers with respect while offering consumers real choice. Nobody else seems to provide such qualities quite like Kia can.

To that end, we take a long look at the most-expensive – or, if you like, Australia’s least-expensive sporty hatch – version of the Picanto, the intriguing GT.