Renault Clio vs Kia Stonic

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?

This might be Kia's best defence yet against the wave of cheap Chinese SUVs currently crashing against our shores.

It's the Kia Stonic, and this update brings mild hybrid technology, which lowers your fuel bill while upping your power. There's also some new tech stuff and some new safety stuff, as well as a refreshed front-end look.

Critically, though, it's not actually new. The Stonic launched globally back in 2017, before an updated version arrived in Australia around 2021. This is yet another update, albeit a significant one, which means the Stonic has been given dual-cab ute levels of longevity in the market.

All of that should be helping Kia to keep the pencil sharp, with the new range kicking off at $28,180, plus on-road costs.

Not quite China cheap, but not too far off it.